THE WORLD

Photo: SFC Commander, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. CC BY-SA 4.0

Uganda President's Son Led Elite Force Linked to Rights Abuses

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Senior military commanders, including the son of President Yoweri Museveni, have been named in a case before the International Criminal Court for a wave of abductions and torture—adding new charges to claims levelled by opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, the former reggae singer known as Bobi Wine.

Prosecutors at the ICC are already reviewing an early submission from Wine that described widespread human rights abuses before presidential polls held in January.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 May 2021

Photo: Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, is the largest city in the country and is separate from the Maputo Province. In the image the Port of Maputo is featured, the second largest in East Africa.

Mozambique In Search of Political and Economic Security

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) — While speaking during a signing ceremony of an agreement formalising World Bank support of US$100 million assistance to the affected districts, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi unreservedly reiterated his detailed plan to enforce nation-wide security by cracking down on the militant groups who have been staging attacks in parts of the northern province of Cabo Delgado since October 2017.

He also informed that courage, persistence and determination are necessary for the full-fledged fulfilment of the plan, as well as time for modernising and building the capacity of the Mozambican forces, adding that his government has to tread cautiously in choosing what type of aid to accept from other countries.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 May 2021

Middle East Coordinator Calls for New and Timely  Palestinian Election  Date

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — A senior UN official in charge of the region has urged the Palestinian authorities to set a new date for heading to the polls, originally scheduled for May 22.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had announced the postponement of the planned parliamentary elections, amidst a dispute over voting rights in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, according to news reports.

: Radwan Jakeem; THE WORLD; Middle East; 01 May 2021

Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting the Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg on the sidelines of India-Nordic Summit, in Stockholm, Sweden on April 17, 2018. Credit: India PM's Office

In Norway, Even Prime Minister Not Above COVID Law

Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI (IDN) — On April 9, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg was fined 20,000 kroner ($2,352) for breach of COVID rules during her 60th birthday celebration on February 26.

It was nothing remotely like the Shashti Abda Poorti (celebrating completion of 60 years of age) seen in India.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 01 May 2021

Photo: Dr Jargalsaikhan Enkhsaikhan (Credit: Global Peace Foundation) against the backdrop of Chinggis Khaan (Sükhbaatar) Square in Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city of Mongolia. CC BY-SA 4.0

Time to Think Beyond Current NWFZs

Viewpoint by Dr Jargalsaikhan Enkhsaikhan

The writer is Chairman of Blue Banner NGO, Former Mongolian Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

ULAANBAATAR (IDN) — Post-cold war peace dividend has not realized. Though the number of nuclear weapons of the two largest nuclear weapon holders—Russia and the United States—was reduced but then the reduction process came to a complete halt. The number of states possessing nuclear weapons has almost doubled against the background of further modernization of such weapons, lowering the threshold of their possible use and the increase in nuclear weapon spending. The non-proliferation regime is gradually weakening.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 30 April 2021

Photo: In 'good old days', India and Russia signed agreements for the cooperation and use of GLONASS-K satellite at CeBIT 2011—a global navigation satellite system, providing real time position and velocity determination for military and civilian users. CC BY-SA 2.0

When from Russia With Love Was About Bonding, Not Bond

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Amidst the raging epidemic and desperate clamour for vaccines, along with oxygen and hospital beds, comes news that Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, is expected in India by May end. Russia has also been forthcoming with a lot of other support and assistance as India finds itself desperately short of medicines, oxygen and hospital beds for battling a huge second surge of the coronavirus where the daily infections exceed 300,000 and deaths are at an all-time high.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Russia; 30 April 2021

Photo: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Roscongress Foundation Alexander Stuglev with Roscongrees Foundation in the backdrop. Credit: Roscongress Foundation.Collage of photos of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Roscongress Foundation and Head of the Coordinating Council under the Secretariat of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum (RAPF) Alexander Stuglev

Russia Keen to Strengthen Partnership with Africa

Kester Kenn Klomegah* Interviews Roscongress' CEO

MOSCOW (IDN) — As the epidemiological situation begins to stabilize through mass vaccination and building herd immunity, the 24th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is finally set to take place on June 2-5, 2021. This unique Russian forum is expected to bring together politicians, corporate business directors and investors from different parts of the world. The organizing committee will do everything in its power to ensure that the event is held with all the necessary measures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 29 April 2021

Photo: Debris of Afghan civil war: A boy runs past a destroyed Soviet-made armoured tank on a Kabul street, Afghanistan. (File photo)

Viewing Post-American Afghanistan Through Looking Glass

Viewpoint by M.K. Bhadrakumar

The writer is a former Indian diplomat. This article was first published in the Indian Punchline.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Ex-CIA officer Bruce Riedel at Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, whose familiarity with Afghanistan is never in doubt, has held a looking glass to figure out the future course of events even as the US troop withdrawal commences.

History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. Riedel sees in the haziness old familiar shapes appearing—the erstwhile Northern Alliance warlords. And he invokes the fate of the communist regime led by Dr Najibullah after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 29 April 2021

Photo: Many Pacific nations are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Image: In the Eye of the Storm.

New Zealand’s Climate Aid in the Pacific Comes With Strings Attached

By Matthew Scott*

A special feature moved in association with the Asia Pacific Report.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (IDN) — The beach is vanishing, one day at a time. The sea approaches the coastal village. It will not be negotiated with. With seawater flooding the water table, crops that have fed the islanders for centuries are losing viability. The problem is invisible, under the people’s feet. But it demands change.

Each year, the cyclones have seemed to get more volatile and less predictable. What used to be a cycle of weathering the storm and rebuilding has become a frenetic game of wits with the elements.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 29 April 2021

The State of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka: Are the Government’s Policies Effective in Controlling it?

Viewpoint by Sunil J. Wimalawansa

The writer is Professor of Medicine: Director, Cardio-Metabolic Institute, New Jersey, U.S.A.

NEW JERSEY, USA (IDN) — The SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) affected the entire world; many died, millions got sick, and the misery continues. Second and third waves of SARS.Cov-2 infection are devastating most countries.

Non-strategic lockdowns and curfews (as in Sri Lanka) further aggravated the peoples’ misery, sufferings, daily lives, and economies, more than that from the virus. The toxic combination of COVID-19 and curfews devastated local productions and supply chains, livelihoods, people welfare, food security, and the county’s economy.