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News briefs compiled by Suresh Jaura*
TORONTO | NEW DELHI (IDN) – The focus of news in Indian media in the second half of June was on the start of human trials by India's 'first' indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, a nod to Indian start-ups to participate in space activities, emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975, persecution of 'dissenters', restrictions against Chinese goods, and Russian assurances to stand-off with India against China.
Viewpoint by Marshall Auerback and Jan Ritch-Frel
Marshall Auerback is a market analyst and commentator and Jan Ritch-Frel the executive director of the Independent Media Institute. This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.
NEW YORK (IDN) – Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers has recently conceded: "In general, economic thinking has privileged efficiency over resilience, and it has been insufficiently concerned with the big downsides of efficiency." Policy across the globe is therefore moving in a more overtly nationalistic direction to rectify this shortcoming.
News briefs compiled by Suresh Jaura*
TORONTO | NEW DELHI (IDN) – Though India became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council on June 17, with undisputed support from all countries in the 55-member Asia-Pacific Group for a two-year term in 2021-22, the country's relations with its South Asian neighbours are strained and in some cases antagonistic. One view is that the country is being "strategically encircled".
Following are news briefs underlining that view:
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW (IDN) – Russia and the United States, since the end of the Cold War, have had confrontations on many issues, and it is highly unlikely if both will ever find something in common. There have been differences on regional issues from the Middle East and North Africa through Asia to Europe. Now the latest, that has drawn both global leaders into sharp antagonism is the proposed [re]deployment of US military forces from Germany to Poland.
Viewpoint by Yossef Ben-Meir
The writer, Dr Yossef Ben-Meir, is a sociologist and president of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) in Morocco.
MARRAKECH (IDN) – Bill Nichols served as a volunteer consultant to the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) through the Farmer-to-Farmer Program (F2F) for two weeks in January 2020. Originally from New Mexico, now residing in Boston, Bill collaborated as an F2F volunteer with four of HAF’s tree nursery cooperatives in southern Morocco.
Viewpoint by Inge Kaul
The writer, Dr Inge Kaul, is Senior Fellow, Hertie School, Berlin and Non-resident Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development, Washington, DC.
BERLIN (IDN) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen organized two spectacular fund-raising events, one on May 4 and the other on June 27, 2020. The first drive collected €9.8 billion and the second €6.15 billion, including €4.9 billion announced together by the EU and the European Investment Bank.
Viewpoint by Patrick I Gomes
The writer, Dr Patrick I Gomes, was Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States for five years until Angola's Ambassador to the European Union, Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, took over on March 1. The 79-nation inter-regional body officially became the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) on April 5, 2020. Dr Gomes was previously Ambassador of the Republic of Guyana, to the EU in Brussels.
Viewpoint by Marshall Auerback
The writer is a market analyst and commentator. This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.
NEW YORK (IDN) – Major talks between the United States and the European Union to establish a shared tax framework for multinational companies broke down on the issue of seeking to secure an agreement on digital taxation. Big tech, which is heavily a U.S. creation, has long been in the sights of European economies, as their profits and revenues have soared and they have increasingly become major components of the 21st-century economy.
Viewpoint by Dr Natalia Kanem and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Dr Natalia Kanem is the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka Executive Director of UN Women.
NEW YORK (IDN) – As the Syria crisis enters its 10th year, the situation is especially dire for women and girls, with the effects of COVID-19 compounding the risks and hardships for millions of people inside the country and for refugees around the region.
Today nearly 12 million people in Syria require urgent humanitarian assistance and around 4 million depend on cross-border aid. Some 5.7 million Syrians have fled and are now residing in countries throughout the region.
Viewpoint by Alfredo Saad Filho*
LONDON (IDN) – The COVID-19 pandemic has stress-tested countries, economies and political systems like never before. Nowhere has the outcome been more devastating than in Brazil, arguably the country with the worst pandemic response in the world.
Brazil’s vulnerabilities are visible in the mass graves in São Paulo and Manaus. The country is competing with the USA for the largest number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases (more than one million) and the highest number of fatalities (above 50,000 – but likely to be a vast undercount). Disturbingly, there is no sign that Brazil’s cases or deaths have peaked yet.
This interactive WHO dashboard/map provides the latest global numbers and numbers by country of COVID-19 cases on a daily Basis.
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