By Thalif Deen UN, Mar 26 (IPS) – As sexual harassment charges in the UN system keep piling up, the UN Secretariat has a new administrative problem on its hands: Accusations of sexual abuse in the New York office of…
Category: Op-Ed
Watch your child’s tiffin box!
Tazlina Zamila Khan What usually becomes a serious concern for parents after they get their child enrolled in a school? In most cases their grades and marks. The ‘Report card day’- is the most important day for both parents and…
Social media platform should tell the truth
The high quality democracies of northern Europe are an unnatural construct, history teaching us that the universal default setting of human society is authoritarianism. There are many key elements in crafting and sustaining such high quality democracies, including engendering a…
Is the US hypocritical to criticise Russian medling in election
Thomas Carothers has recently written an article in Foreign Affairs, the prestigious elite journal published by the US-based Council on Foreign Relations. The article asks: is the US hypocritical for criticizing Russian election meddling?
The geopolitics of targetting Russia
By Chandra Muzaffar The escalation of tensions between the United States, Britain and France, on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, should not surprise anyone. In the last few years, the US leadership and mainstream British media have…
The neglected menace of pollution
Philip J. Landrigan and Richard Fuller New York – Pollution is one of the great existential challenges of the twenty-first century. It threatens the stability of ecosystems, undermines economic development, and compromises the health of billions of people. Yet it…
IRENA to help make low-carbon 2022 Winter Olympics in China
International Renewable Energy Agency to support Zhangjiakou, in Hebei Province, become China’s first energy transition pilot city Zhangjiakou (China) 24 March — The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has today signed a co-operation agreement with the People’s Government of Hebei…
Asian-African migrants continue to face exploitation in ME
With more and more people living outside their country of origin, it is becoming increasingly clear that stronger legal parameters — within and between nations — are required to protect the most vulnerable of migrants from denial of access to…
By 2050 there will be 143 million internal climate migrants
A new World Bank report has found that by 2050 the worsening impacts of climate change in three densely populated regions of the world could see more than 140 million people move within their countries’ borders.
Zuckerberg’s shine dims after the data abuse apology
San Francisco, March 23 (BSS/AFP) – Mark Zuckerberg rose to wealth and fame with a mission of connecting everyone through Facebook, but now faces the wrath of users outraged he isn’t doing more to defend their data.
Media crazy over Sridevi: Unmoved by school children murder
By Vidyadhar Date One can understand the BJP suppressing the involvement of its drunken leader in the killing of nine school children and injuring 20 other children in broad daylight in Bihar last week. But why did a large section…
Working with nature to improve global water management
Danielle Nierenberg March 22nd is World Water Day (WWD), a day to celebrate one of the the world’s most precious resources and to raise awareness around global water issues. Every year, WWD coincides with the release of the World Water…
Palestinian child activist Ahed Tamimi given 8 months in prison
The continued imprisonment of Palestinian child activist Ahed Tamimi is a flagrant attempt to intimidate those who dare challenge the circumstances of the ongoing occupation, Amnesty International said today after she was sentenced to eight months and a 5,000 shekels…
Will the next war be about water?
By Ramu Damodaran UN, Mar 19 (IPS) – One of the first resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, on the location of the headquarters of the Organization, gives the United Nations “exclusive rights over the subsoil of land…
World Water Day – Nature for Water
By IPS World Desk Rome, Mar 19 (IPS) – The UN General Assembly will launch the International Decade for Action: Water for sustainable development (2018-2028) on World Water Day, 22 March 2018. According to UNGA President Miroslav Lajcak, outlining his…
Pollution of ocean water: A growing concern
Mahmud Hafiz It was a shocking experience for an investigative environmental journalist to see the exhibits of foreign materials collected from stomach of a dead gray whale at the pacific science center, Seattle, USA. Because he is already aware of…
Two BD nationals declared innocent after 29 years in jail
Dhaka, March 21 – In a rare development, the High Court on Wednesday declared two people innocent after they were serving in jail for three years, twenty nine years ago in connection with a cattle smuggling case.
A road to right wing authoritarian government
by Simon Wren-Lewis This post is inspired by another, by Jan-Werner Müller. I have talked about Müller’s ideas on populism before. This particular post is a plea to focus less on the voters who elect populist politicians, and more on…
DNA test awaited 3 dead BD plane crash victims in Nepal
Dhaka, March 20 – The relatives of three passengers who died in Nepal plane crash will have to wait for some more time to get their bodies as it would require the matching of DNA samples.
Bahrain’s new standard contract for domestic workers
On September 2017, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) announced that all recruitment agencies in Bahrain must adopt a new mandatory contract for domestic workers from 1 October 2017 onwards. Under the new contract, employers seeking to hire a domestic…
Dowry death or murder?
By Geetika Dang , Vani S. Kulkarni and Raghav Gaiha New Delhi, Mar 19 (IPS) – Dowry deaths rose from about 19 per day in 2001 to 21 per day in 2016. It is indeed alarming that the rise in…
Is UN’s ambitious global compact last word on migrant crisis
By Thalif Deen UN, Mar 16 (IPS) – As the death toll keeps mounting and the humanitarian crises continue unabated, the life of the average migrant or refugee has largely turned out to be an unmitigated nightmare.
Helping trafficked Chinese women escape US massage parlours
Advocates across the United States are working to help immigrant Chinese women in massage parlours who are victims of sex trafficking.
Francophonie Festival begins in Dhaka Tuesday
Dhaka, March 19 – Every year, the Francophone community celebrates and promotes worldwide the use of the French language as well as cultural and linguistic diversity.
Control on social media: Chinese chapter
Mohammad Zainal Abedin, NY A report on Chinese government control on social media urged the Chinese and international community to play their role to ensure freedom of opinion. The report “Forbidden Feeds: Government Controls on Social Media in China ‘was…
Improving the sustainability of development finance
by Ethiopis Tafara Washington, DC – To achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, trillions of dollars in state spending, investment, and aid will be needed annually. Although estimates vary widely, one UN report from 2014 suggests that…
Food security’s social network
by Leah Samberg Minneapolis – In 2015, when the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were officially adopted, the clock began ticking on an ambitious goal: ending global hunger by 2030. At the time, that target seemed achievable; during the previous…
Meet me in Pyongyang
An interview with Siegfried Hecker Elisabeth Eaves It was an extraordinary week in North Korean nuclear affairs. First, high-level South Korean envoys met with the North’s leader Kim Jong-un, returning to Seoul with promises of an inter-Korean summit and other…
Dhaka more expensive than many South Asian cities: EIU
Dhaka,Mar 16-Dhaka has become cheaper than 12 months ago as it has fallen 10 places in rankings on the Worldwide Cost of Living Index 2018.But the Bangladesh capital is still the 72nd most expensive city relative to others, and more…
Robert Reich On The Common Good
Dhaka,Mar 16-Robert Reich discusses his book, “The Common Good”, at a Politics and Prose event at Sixth and I historic synagogue in Washington, DC on 2/22/18. Robert B. Reich has been one of America’s leading political thinkers since he served…