 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Former President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, removed from power by military officers, has died in his home in the capital, Bamako, at the age of 76.
His death was confirmed on Twitter by Abdoulaye Diop, a former minister of foreign affairs, and by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali.
By Ikbale Bouziane*
MARRAKECH (IDN) — It is common that each religion has its own new year celebrations that mark events or simply cherish the divine orders of days and months. These festivities usually mark the end or beginnings of new cycles of prosperity and being thankful for God’s blessings. However, the Jewish culture celebrates an entire holiday that is specifically dedicated to trees. The choice of trees emphasizes their importance to human beings and the environmental ecosystem as a whole.
Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) — With the geo-political battle between China and the United States gathering momentum in Asia, whoever can define democracy better and demonstrate that it works for the betterment of the people, could win the battle in coming years.
One may argue that there is no such battle for democracy because it is a battle between democracy and authoritarianism with China clearly in the latter box. But, while the Covid pandemic has been devastating the world, China has moved aggressively to redefine democracy as a development right accusing the West, and the US, of weaponizing human rights and democracy.
By Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN) — The German city of Koblenz on the banks of the river Rhine has made history. The Higher Regional Court there has convicted a former senior Syrian intelligence officer, for crimes against humanity.
The man, known as was charged with complicity in the torture of thousands of people between 2011 and 2012 in the Al-Khatib Branch of Syrian General Intelligence in the capital, Damascus.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Distinguished philosopher, writer, and teacher Kwasi Wiredu, born in Ghana and recognized on three continents, has passed away at the age of 90.
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy cites Wiredu for his decades-long study of “conceptual decolonization” in contemporary African systems of thought.
By Caroline Mwanga
NEW YORK (IDN) — The UN Secretary-General António Guterres is deeply concerned about the impact the conflict continues to have on civilians in Ethiopia. He said he was deeply saddened by reports that more than 50 civilians were killed and injured in an airstrike in northern Ethiopia, on January 7.
By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — Disarmament advocates working within the Global Council of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons have called on the five Nuclear-Weapon States Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to follow up the affirmation made by them in their Joint Statement of January 3, 2022, that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought". The Abolition 2000 has urged the United States, Russia, the UK, France and China to undertake "genuine action" to change current nuclear-war fighting policies, end the costly and destabilizing nuclear arms race, and eliminate nuclear weapons.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) — This fourth issue of Sustainable Development Observer focuses on the global health crisis that has been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and pharmaceutical industry’s greed—at the cost of peoples' health. While the world’s media has gone berserk about a new "Omicron" variant of the COVID virus, the World Trade Organisation has quietly postponed a ministerial conference that had as its main agenda item, an Indian and South African initiative supported by over 100 countries to waive patents on COVID vaccines and other medical testing systems and equipment.
Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf
This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.
After constant Cold War rhetoric and sabre-rattling, the presidents of the USA and Russia talk to each other about the Ukraine conflict and more generally about the security architecture in Europe. The EU is directly affected but is left out and wonders.
BONN (IDN) — In recent years, observers of the security situation in Europe have been reminded of the times of the Cold War. Ice age, confrontation and mutual mistrust prevail.
Viewpoint by Dr Ram Puniyani
This article is the 17th in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is a former professor of biomedical engineering and former senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (now Mumbai) and meanwhile a social activist and commentator. This article was first published on NEWSclick on January 3, 2022.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.