EU & Europe

Photo: A cargo crane and grain dryer in Odessa port, Ukraine. Credit: Shutterstock/Unkas

War in Ukraine Raises Global Shipping Costs, Stifles Trade

Jaya Ramachandran with UNCTAD Report

GENEVA (IDN) — UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says the war in Ukraine is stifling trade and logistics of the country and the Black Sea region, increasing global vessel demand and the cost of shipping around the world.

In a report entitled “Maritime trade disrupted: The war in Ukraine and its effects on maritime trade logistics” published on June 28, UNCTAD says Ukraine’s trading partners now have to turn to other countries for the commodities they import.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 28 June 2022

Photo: Dr Martin Luther King speaking against war in Vietnam, St. Paul Campus, University of Minnesota by Minnesota Historical Society. CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

Weaponizing Non-Violence: A Change of Tactics Required in Ukraine

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Non-violence can get you a long way, often further than violence. Look at Mahatma Gandhi whose movement compelled the British to withdraw from India years before they planned to. His famous long march to the sea to gather salt—the British insisted they run the salt industry and charged a lot for this necessary product—was the turning point. The British-led troops beat the protestors, which was reported all over the world and led to an outpouring of support for Gandhi in Britain.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 28 June 2022

Photo: YouTube Screenshot of Zelensky with Troops. Source. France 24

There’s No Need for War with Russia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Conflicts have a history of spinning out of control. Trotsky, the one-time close comrade of Lenin, reportedly said, “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you”. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians were not interested in war until President Volodymyr Zelensky took his counterproductive stance on NATO membership and President Vladimir Putin subsequently launched his invasion and united most of Ukraine’s people against him.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Russia; 21 June 2022

Photo: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hold a news conference following the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, June 15, 2022. Credit: Chad J. McNeeley, DOD

More Than 50 Nations Pledge to Help Build Ukraine's Defense

By Jim Garamone

This article was issued by the U.S. Department of Defence and is being republished courtesy of them.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — Representatives from more than 50 nations pledged to get more military capabilities into the hands of Ukrainian forces battling Russian invaders, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said on June 15 in Brussels.

Austin chaired the third meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The group is looking to get Ukraine what it needs to fight the battle developing in the Donbas region of the country.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 15 June 2022

Photo: Protest as legal case is heard over halting deportation of asylum seekers, at the Royal Courts of Justice, London. (File photo). Source: Vatican News.

Prince Charles Critical of Planned Deportation of Rwandans

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | LONDON (IDN) — As the United Kingdom moves ahead with the planned deportation of asylum seekers to the faraway nation of Rwanda, Prince Charles has privately described the plans as “appalling”, according to two media reports. The first flight taking refugees to the East African country is due to leave on June 14.

The UK’s controversial deal to relocate certain asylum seekers thousands of miles away is not for offshore processing but as a permanent destination. It symbolizes the broader policy push that some high-income countries are taking to dump migration management far away from their shores.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 13 June 2022

Image: Oba Akenzua II of Benin (traditional leader of the Edo people in Nigeria) greets Queen Elizabeth II of England during the latter's official visit to Nigeria, 1956. Source: HistoryVille@twitter.com

Some Nigerians Still Harbour Affection for The Queen

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ABUJA (IDN) — For one Nigerian novelist, the pomp and circuses filling the streets of London on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth’s 70th year on the throne, brought back memories of her parents’ generation, born and raised under colonialism.

Thrilled to see the British leave Nigeria on October 1, 1960, they finally had control of their government—no longer subject to a foreign empire and its monarchy.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 June 2022

Photo: Health workers moved their patients, their beds, their equipment and themselves down to the bomb shelters built in the basements decades before during the cold war era. © Anne Pellichero

War Has Put Ukraine’s Health System Under Severe Pressure

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an updated appeal for US$ 147.5 million, to support Ukraine’s worsening humanitarian need, provide immediate healthcare delivery and help the health system stay resilient for the longer term.

Of this total, US$ 80 million is needed for in-country support, such as distributing medicines and delivering vital healthcare services and a further US$ 67.5 million is required to assist refugee-receiving and hosting countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Moldova and Romania.

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 07 June 2022

Photo: Official Portrait of Attorney General Merrick Garland (2021). Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Swiss Firm Fined Billion Dollar for Massive Bribery in Africa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Illicit payments, multiple counts of bribery and market manipulation were among the many misdeeds of Glencore International and Glencore Ltd, a Swiss-based commodity trading and mining company according to numerous reports in the press.

Over a 10-year period, bribes worth millions were lavished on government officials of West Africa and Latin America in return for preferential access to oil, according to US court filings.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 June 2022

Photo: National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Premier Zhou Enlai ahead of President Richard Nixon's 1972 journey to China. Source: USC US-China Institute

War Monger Henry Kissinger Has Become A Peacenik

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Henry Kissinger used to be a totally different kettle of fish than he is these days. It was Kissinger who helped engineer a coup d'état in democratic Chile that led to a great deal of torture and suffering. Second, turn to the war in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, America's biggest war since World War 2, that ended in an ignominious US retreat and defeat. Its people were ravaged beyond description. It was President Richard Nixon and his national security advisor, Kissinger, who had decided “to bomb the hell out of the North Vietnamese”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 01 June 2022

Ukraine War: Germany Stops Appeasing Russia

Viewpoint by Franz Baumann

This article was issued by Meer and is being republished with the author's permission.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The “special military operation,” launched on 24th February by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, did not go as planned. It also had unexpected consequences.

For instance, Ukraine defended itself fiercely, indeed heroically, against the unprovoked, brutal attack. It inflicted gigantic losses in life and equipment on the Russian invaders.