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By Jaya Ramachandran
VIENNA | QUITO (IDN) – Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), comprising old computers, televisions, fridges, mobile phones, and other appliances, also known as e-waste, is expected to reach 52.2 million metric tons by 2021.
It is equivalent to the weight of more than 29 million passenger cars, and would suffice to build 1,000 Eiffel towers, according to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
By Daryl G. Kimball
Daryl G. Kimball is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. Following is the text of his statement on the choice of John Bolton, former U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, as President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – The United States already faces an array of complex and dangerous foreign policy challenges that require pragmatic decision and sober diplomatic engagement with American allies and foes alike.
By Rick Wayman
Rick Wayman is Programs Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). In April 2016, he received the 'Activist of the Year' award from the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) for "dynamic leadership in bringing the Marshall Islanders' Nuclear Zero litigation to world attention, activating the next generation of peace leaders, and guiding ANA as board member and tech guru." – The Editor
SANTA BARBARA, CA (IDN) - A possible summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un is just weeks away. Questions abound: Is it a good idea? When and where will it take place? What will they talk about? Who, if anyone, is preparing the U.S. president for this high-stakes meeting? Will it be a success?
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – World Water Day turned 25 on March 22. On that day, as UN-Water noted, 1.8 billion people were using a source of drinking water contaminated with faeces, putting them at risk of contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio.
And, as Global Citizen pointed out, girls and women around the world were being forced to spend 200 million hours collecting water instead of attending school and pursuing economic independence.
Besides, a recent survey of 100,000 facilities found that more than half lack simple necessities, such as running water and soap – and they are supposed to be healthcare facilities. The result is more infections, prolonged hospital stays and sometimes death.
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) – Labour law experts have praised the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for launching an initiative to facilitate access to justice for foreign workers, and expressed the hope that this initiative would be replicated by the other five Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
In doing so, they would be helping achieve Goal 16.3 of the Agenda for Sustainable Development endorsed by the international community in September 2015.
By Kannan Salazar
Mindful Communication for Sustainable Development: Perspectives from Asia
Edited by: Kalinga Seneviratne - Lecturer, Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. February 2018 | 372 pages | SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd. Electronic version: £38.00
https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/mindful-communication-for-sustainable-development/book261649
BANGKOK (IDN) – The book tries to wean away the reader from the old paradigm of development communication, which was designed to "educate" the peasants to abandon their traditional ideas – such as subsistence farming – and embrace a consumerist lifestyle. With its subtle promotion of sufficiency economics and the use of modern communication tools with a traditional leaning to spread the message, this book in fact tends to go back to tradition, but make it relevant to the 21st century.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Like it not we find that we’re having to get used to the paradoxes, contradictions and confusions of the Trump era.
None is more apparent than his attack on the landmark Iran de-nuclearisation agreement, fashioned by the Obama Administration and the Iranian government. President Donald Trump wants to unwind it, even though it has the 100 percent support of the UN Security Council which in an unanimous vote enshrined the agreement in international law.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Australia’s national security minister has proposed fast-tracking immigrant visas for white South Africans facing "horrific circumstances" under Cyril Ramaphosa, the country's President since February 15, 2018. He was elected head of the African National Congress in December 2017.
Barely a month into his presidency, Ramaphosa vowed to speed up the seizure of land from white owners and turn the properties over to blacks. "This original sin that was committed when our country was colonized must be resolved in a way that will take South Africa forward," he declared.
By Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – After an episode described as both cruel and horrific, an asylum-seeking mother and her daughter have been reunited in Chicago. The daughter, who just turned 7, had been held thousands of miles apart from her mother since November 2017.
According to an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the family, the mother and child fell into each other's arms crying in a moment of tremendous emotion upon meeting after so much time apart.
By J Nastranis
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres' proposal that high-ranking officials fly business class rather than first class – to help rein in one of the most expensive aspects of the Organization's budget – is finding support in the Administrative and Budgetary Committee, also known as the Fifth Committee.
Next to staff costs, travel accounts for one of the largest budget components of the United Nations system, making it one of the largest consumers of travel services among international organizations. From 2012 to 2015, air travel and related expenses totalled $4.01 billion, according to the Joint Inspection Unit report.
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.
IDN-InDepthNews serves as flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate and its partner, the Global Cooperation Council, established in February 1983.
