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Photo: Mushroom-shaped cloud and water column from the underwater nuclear explosion of July 25, 1946, which was part of Operation Crossroads. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Strong Plea for Early Entry into Force of Nuclear Ban Treaty

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – On the eve of a crucial international conference, an eminent Buddhist organization advocating a nuclear-weapon-free world has called for the signing, ratification and early entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) adopted by 122 UN member states as a sign of their resolve to overcome nuclear terror in the interest of protecting human rights and dignity.

Since the adoption of the TPNW in July 2017, non-nuclear-weapon, nuclear-weapon and nuclear-dependent states are meeting for the first time in the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) – Second PrepCom of the 2020 NPT Review Conference – from April 23 to May 4 in Geneva.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 20 April 2018

800 Million People Face Dire Prospects Despite Upturn in Global Economy - UN Report

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations in a major report has warned that the prospects of about 800 million of the world's poorest people remain dire. Though the global economy is experiencing a moderate upturn, and momentum around sustainable investing is growing, the vast majority of investment is still short-term oriented and commitments by the international community to create sustainable economies are not being met.

The report Financing for Development: Progress and Prospects finds an increasing interest in socially responsible investing, but that is no substitute for a broader transformation in the financial system, it states, adding that the current system rewards investors, financiers and project managers that prioritize short-term profits.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 20 April 2018

Japan Funds UNIDO Project to Boost Employment in Lebanon

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

VIENNA | BEIRUT (IDN) – The Government of Japan has announced that it will fund a project to create jobs in the carpentry and construction sectors in northern Lebanon. This is one of eight new projects implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia and Syrian, with Japanese funding totalling US$5.2 million.

The project will build upon previous projects to create economic opportunities, particularly among host and refugee communities, in the northern areas of the country. The technical assistance will focus on the design of new training modules for construction skills training and the delivery of marketable vocational skills training to vulnerable individuals.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Middle East; 19 April 2018

Photo: View of San José from the Museum of Jade. Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0

Costa Rica Advised To Make Growth More Inclusive

By Robert Johnson

PARIS (IDN) – Costa Rica, renowned for its ecological footprint, forest protection and abundant biodiversity, has made impressive economic and social progress in recent years, with robust economic growth facilitating near-universal access to education, health care and pensions.

But the Central American country is faced with a fundamental challenge: its fiscal imbalance, which continues to remain the major threat to the country’s economic stability, growth and living standards, says a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

: Robert Johnson; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 19 April 2018

Photo: China and Russia are reportedly challenging US military dominance. China's AVIC AG600, code named Kunlong, also known as TA-600, is the largest amphibious aircraft currently flying. CC BY-SA 4.0

Back to the Past with Trump’s National Security Strategy – Part 4

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the fourth of a four-part article looking at the approach to Russia and China in the national security strategy of the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump. The article is a follow-up to the five-part article by the same author on ‘US Foreign Policy and Trump's Contradictions’ published earlier by IDN

ROME (IDN) – Under Putin, Russia has acquired the ability to strengthen ties with some former Soviet republics (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and in order to prevent entry into NATO and the European Union it has embarked on a war with Georgia (facilitated by the adventurism of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili) and promoted and supported the secessionism of the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, also annexing the Crimea.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 19 April 2018

Photo: Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness addressing the ACP Committee of Ambassadors in Brussels on 16 April 2018. Credit: ACP.

Forward To a New Vision for the ACP Group

By Andrew Holness

Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica delivered a strong message on ACP solidarity in preparation for new relations with the EU when he addressed the Committee of Ambassadors of the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States in Brussels on 16 April 2018. Following are extensive excerpts from his remarks, which are of particular importance as the Cotonou Agreement between the two blocs expires in February 2020 and talks for a follow-up accord are set to begin in August this year. – The Editor.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 19 April 2018

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, June 2017. CC BY 4.0

Back to the Past with Trump’s National Security Strategy – Part 3

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the third of a four-part article looking at the approach to Russia and China in the national security strategy of the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump. The article is a follow-up to the five-part article by the same author on ‘US Foreign Policy and Trump's Contradictions’ published earlier by IDN

ROME (IDN) – Various versions of the NSS show the oscillations in relations between the United States and Russia, but until the beginning of Putin's third presidential term (marked by a strong domestic dispute) and the civil war in Ukraine, on the whole the prevailing trend after every crisis (Kosovo in 1999, the "coloured revolutions" in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan between 2003 and 2005, the war between Russia and Georgia in 2008) was in the direction of improving relations between the two states.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 18 April 2018

Photo: The panel during the South Centre debate (from left to right): Andrew Cornford, Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva; YV Reddy, South Centre Board Member; Martin Khor, South Centre; Yilmaz Akyuz, South Centre; Hervé Hannoun and Peter Dittus, co-authors of Revolution Required. Credit: South Centre.

G7 Fiscal, Monetary Policies Are Ticking Time Bombs

By D. Ravi Kanth

This article was published in No. 211, 18 April 2018 in SOUTHNEWS, a service of the South Centre to provide information and news on topical issues from a South perspective. It was originally carried by the South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) #8663 on 17 April 2018. – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – Major developed countries led by the United States are "sleep walking towards war" by implementing unsustainable fiscal and monetary policies since the 2008 financial crisis, with the destructive consequences to be borne by the developing countries, two former senior officials of the Bank for International Settlements have warned.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 18 April 2018

Photo: Rocket artillery of the Lions of the East Army, a Free Syrian Army unit in southern Syria. CC BY 3.0

An End to Outside Intervention Will Help End War in Syria

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – 500,000 dead and counting. President Bashar al-Assad is going full blast at reducing the parts of his country still standing, but not under his control, to rubble.

Russia hangs on his tail, providing both planes and soldiers but seemingly unable to wag the dog. The US launches, along with Britain and France, a brief rocket attack. (Should we now after two such attacks call President Donald Trump “Rocket Man 2”?)

The attack is supposedly to draw the line on Assad’s use of chemical weapons. Perhaps he did do it, or possibly one of his local commanders took the initiative, but it is small beer compared with the horrors inflicted by conventional weapons day in day out.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 17 April 2018

Photo: The Press Union of Liberia President Charles Coffey, Sr. Credit: Front Page of Africa

Press Freedom Becoming Increasingly Vulnerable in Liberia

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | MONROVIA (IDN) – Liberia’s new government under President George Weah is not having a honeymoon with the media though he has endeavoured to reassure journalists that they would have a "200 percent freedom of expression and press freedom under my government".

The one-time soccer star, who succeeded Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the country's first peaceful change of power in seven decades in January 2018, is accused of allowing the press to be muzzled.