SYNDICATION

Photo: President Duterte and US President Donald Trump discuss matters during a bilateral meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on November 13, 2017. ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The Philippines Moving to Active Middle Power Diplomacy

Viewpoint by Aileen S P Baviera*

Professor Aileen Baveira died of COVID-19 in Manila on 21 March 2020.

MANILA (IDN) — The Philippines was first a colony and then a formal treaty ally of the United States for so long that many Filipinos tend to take the existence of reciprocal defence obligations for granted. For the most part, the Philippines has always supported US security objectives when asked — whether during the Pacific War, the Korean War, the Cold War, the conflicts in Indochina or the 'Global War on Terror'.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 04 April 2020

The Bigger Picture Is Hiding Behind a Virus

Viewpoint by Jonathan Cook*, Countercurrents.Org

NAZARETH, Israel (IDN) – Things often look the way they do because someone claiming authority tells us they look that way. If that sounds too cynical, pause for a moment and reflect on what seemed most important to you just a year ago, or even a few weeks ago.

Then, you may have been thinking that Russian interference in western politics was a vitally important issue, and something that we needed to invest much of our emotional and political energy in countering. Or maybe a few weeks ago you felt that everything would be fine if we could just get Donald Trump out of the White House. Or maybe you imagined that Brexit was the panacea to Britain's problems – or, conversely, that it would bring about the UK's downfall.

: Suresh Jaura; OPINION; 04 April 2020

Photo: President Trump participates in a signing ceremony for a two trillion dollar coronavirus relief bill in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC on March 27, 2020. Credit: Pool/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images

Our Economic System is on Life Support – But Who are We Really Saving?

Viewpoint by Laurie Macfarlane*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

LONDON (IDN) – In recent weeks governments around the world have injected extraordinary sums of money into the economy to support businesses and households in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the UK, the government has committed to paying up to 80 percent of the wages of workers impacted by the outbreak (subject to a cap of 2,500 pounds per month) and has provided 330 billion pounds of financial support for businesses. Similar measures have been announced across Europe.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 02 April 2020

Photo: A woman has her samples taken for COVID-19 testing upon arriving at Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi, March 18, 2020. Credit: VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Vietnam Readies 90,000 Doctors for Combating Coronavirus

By Le Nga and Le Phuong, VNExoress International

HANOI (IDN) – Vietnam has readied as many as 90,000 doctors and 125,000 nurses as also turned many facilities into zones for quarantining and treating COVID-19 patients.

On March 18, 90,000 doctors and 125,000 nurses nationwide had been positioned to be deployed in case Vietnam sees a spike in COVID-19 patients.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 30 March 2020

COVID-19: The Indian State of Kerala is a Beacon to the World

By Vijay Prashad and Subin Dennis *

This article is taken from Countercurrents which published it on March 27. The article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

KOLKATA (IDN) – K.K. Shailaja is the health minister in the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, the state in the southwest of India that has a population of 35 million people. On January 25, 2020, she convened a high-level meeting to discuss the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. What had particularly worried her is that there were many students from Kerala studying in that province of China.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 29 March 2020

Photo: Health workers are at the frontlines in the fight against the new Corona Virus. Credit: Africa Renewal.

Protect Health Workers Serving Like Soldiers At the Frontlines Against COVID-19

Viewpoint by Siddharth Chatterjee and Mutahi Kagwe

Mr. Mutahi Kagwe is the Cabinet Secretary for Health in Kenya and Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya. This article was first published in Africa Renewal on 24 March 2020.

NAIROBI (IDN) – Many soldiers have seen first-hand the horrors of war and, terrifying though it often was, they knew who they were fighting, and could recognise their enemy.

The COVID-19 or the new Corona Virus is different. In this virus we have an enemy which is invisible and sometimes deadly, and the task is harder.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 29 March 2020

Photo: Global food supply chains are complex and include these kale farmers in Uganda. Credit: Africa Renewal.

COVID-19: A Battle Plan for Ensuring Global Food Supplies

Africa Renewal Talks to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero Cullen

NEW YORK (IDN) – The COVID-19 pandemic has put the world on a crisis footing, with unprecedented actions to restrict movements and plans for radical deployment of public funds to combat the threat posed by a novel coronavirus that knows no boundaries. Success will entail coherent and robust plans for our food systems. FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero Cullen outlines a framework for how countries can think about and craft these plans.

: Africa Renewal; OPINION; 28 March 2020

Iran Should Demonstrate That Its Nuclear Program Is Peaceful

By Kelsey Davenport and Julia Masterson

This article first appeared on Arms Control Association Website. Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy, and Julia Masterson research assistant

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi raised concerns earlier in March about Tehran’s failure to cooperate with an agency investigation into possible storage and use of undeclared nuclear materials at three locations in Iran.

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 19 March 2020

The Largest US-Led Military Exercise in Europe Continues Despite COVID-19

Viewpoint by Jan Oberg*, The Transnational Foundation, TFF.

LUND, Sweden (IDN) -– Defender Europe 20 is a huge, basically US military exercise, on European soil between February and May this year. It has already started. In the midst of a closed-down coronavirus Europe. And it is war-preparing, not peace- or confidence-building.

The diagram above from the British Army offers you details of this perverse, surreal idea – take note of Italy being one of the planned participants!

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 18 March 2020

Photo: An arsenic-free water plant has been established in Sirajganj, Bangladesh, enabling students to access arsenic-free water. Previously, they had to rely on pond water, making them susceptible to disease. 5 May 2016. ©GMB Akashss

SDG 11 and the Crucible of Sustainable Development Success

Viewpoint by Jaffer Machano

The writer is Global Programme Manager, Municipal Investment Finance, United Nations Capital Development Fund. This article first appeared 18 February in UN Chronicle, a digital magazine of the United Nations, produced by the Department of Global Communications.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The lexicon of sustainable development includes an oft-used term: market failure. The term has been attributed to, and popularized by, a Hungarian-born economist who would eventually serve under United States President Lyndon Johnson before teaching at Harvard University—Francis Michel Bator.