| Belgium Banks Ban the Bomb By ICAN BRUSSELS (IDN) — Belgian financial institutions led the way against investments in cluster munitions, now they are poised to do the same on nuclear weapons. Three major Belgian financial institutions—KBC Bank, VDK Bank and De Groof Petercam Asset Management—have cited the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as the reason for ending investments in companies associated with the production of nuclear weapons. [2021-06-29] The US Builds A ‘Systemic’ Pact to Counter China’s Growing Influence By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) — Nearly five months after the termination of Donald Trump’s erratic presidency, US President Joe Biden has triggered a sort of ‘systemic’ pact against China—with partners in the Group of Seven (G-7), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the European Union (EU) at the June 11-15 summits. [2021-06-27 | 05] CHINESE | ITALIAN | JAPANESE Hersey Helped Hiroshima Survivors Tell and Preserve Their Stories Viewpoint by John Loretz This book review was originally published in IPPNW’s designated journal, Medicine, Conflict and Survival. MALDEN, Massachusetts, USA (IDN) — In 1946, John Hersey wrote a magazine article that changed the world. On the 75th anniversary of the events he described so vividly in Hiroshima, journalist Lesley M. M. Blume has given us Fallout, a timely reminder that Hersey’s courageous and influential reporting is as important today as it was when the facts about nuclear weapons were still shrouded in secrecy. [2021-06-23] Nuclear Risks: Reduction or Elimination? Viewpoint by Sergio DuarteAmbassador, former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) — “We escaped the Cold War without anuclear holocaust by some combinationof skill, luck and divine intervention—probably the latter in greatest proportion.”[1]— Gen. Lee Butler, former commander of U.S. nuclear forces. [2021-06-23] A Seismic Event in US-Russia Relations Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK (IDN) — The President of the United States Joseph Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met on June 16 in Geneva at a time when the two countries are engrossed in an antagonistic confrontation over many issues—historically, the worst ever relations between the two countries.Even during the rancorous Cold War years, the two countries engaged in many noteworthy projects on global issues, nuclear disarmament, scientific advancements, and to promote foreign investment and trade that were mutually beneficial to both nations. [2021-06-17] Canadian and French Nuclear Weapons Policies Challenged for Violating the Right to Life By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA (IDN) — Spurred by civil society organisations, the UN Human Rights Committee has challenged the nuclear weapons policies of Canada and France as being in violation of the Right to Life, a right enshrined in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). These rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person. [2021-06-07 | 04] ARABIC | JAPANESE | KOREAN |
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