Thalif Deen

Pope? Yes, Dalai Lama? No

“It’s an odd fact of history,” ruminates Time magazine, “that the world’s youngest empire, the U.S., established diplomatic relations with the oldest, the Holy See, only a little over 30 years ago under (President) Ronald Reagan” who was long described as an advocate of church-state separation.

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By Thalif Deen
Pope Francis attends a special audience with the members of the UCIIM Catholic union of Italian secondary school teachers

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 21 2015 (IPS) - When the United States established diplomatic relations with the Holy See back in January 1984, a televangelist asked rather sarcastically: when will Mecca send its own ambassador to Washington DC? “It’s an odd fact of history,” ruminates Time magazine, “that the world’s youngest empire, the U.S.,

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UN Remains Barred From Visiting US Prisons Amid Abuse Charges

A recent visit to a federal penitentiary by President Obama has prompted the United Nations to give another shot at seeking permission to visit the U.S. prison system.

Thalif Deen
By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS - When U.S. President Barack Obama visited the El Reno Correctional Facility in Oklahoma last week to check on living conditions of prisoners incarcerated there, no one in authority could prevent him from visiting the prison. Obama, the first sitting president to visit a federal penitentiary, said “in too many places, black boys

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Study: Minorities Threatened More By Governments Than Terrorist Groups

From Myanmar to the Russian Federation minorities have suffered systematic attacks from the governments that are supposed to protect them.

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By Thalif Deen

A Rohingya refugee holds her daughter who suffers from a skin disease in their makeshift tent at Dar Paing camp, north of Sittwe, Rakhine state, Myanmar. The authorities in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where mobs disrupted aid operations for displaced Rohingya Muslims, say international aid organizations that withdrew from the area in April are welcome

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U.N. Helpless As Crises Rage In 10 Critical Hot Spots

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says even the U.N.’s 193 member states cannot, by themselves, help resolve these widespread conflicts.

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By Thalif Deen
A street is littered with debris after a Saudi-led airstrike against Iran-allied Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, that targeted a site of a weapons cache in Yemen's capital, Monday, April 20, 2015. Airstrikes on weapons caches in Yemen's rebel-held capital on Monday caused massive explosions that shattered windows, sent residents scrambling for shelter and killed a local TV presenter. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

A street is littered with debris after a Saudi-led airstrike against the Houthis in Yemen's capital, Monday, April 20, 2015. Yemen is one of the world's hotspot that the U.N. says it is unable to address. UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations is fighting a losing battle against a rash of political and humanitarian crises in 10 of the world’s

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A New Cold War? The Nuclear Threat is Escalating Beyond Political Rhetoric

Twenty-five years after the Soviet collapse, the world is entering a new nuclear age.

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By Thalif Deen
Nuclear explosion

As a new cold war between the United States and Russia picks up steam, the nuclear threat is in danger of escalating – perhaps far beyond political rhetoric. Randy Riddel, a former senior political affairs officer with the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) told IPS he pities the general public. “They’re being fed two competing

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World’s Richest One Percent Undermine Fight Against Economic Inequality

“Inequality is about more than economics and growth – it is now at such high levels that we risk a return to the oligarchy of the gilded age. ” — Ben Phillips of ActionAid.

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By Thalif Deen
Homeless Indian men prepare themselves for the day ahead as they rise early morning by the banks of the River Yamuna in New Delhi, India.

Homeless Indian men prepare themselves for the day ahead as they rise early morning by the banks of the River Yamuna in New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 12, 2015. Some 800 million people in the country live in poverty, many of them migrating to big cities in search of a livelihood and often ending up on the streets. UNITED NATIONS - The

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U.N. Member States Accused of Cherry-Picking Human Rights

“One Government will thoroughly support women’s human rights and those of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, but will balk at any suggestion that those rights be extended to migrants of irregular status. Another State may observe scrupulously the right to education, but will brutally stamp out opposing political views.” — United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein

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By Thalif Deen
Spain UN Human Rights

A demonstrator marches with his mouth covered and carries a placard that reads: "Censorship" during a protest against Spanish Citizens Security Law in Madrid, Spain. United Nations human rights experts on Monday, Feb. 23, 2015 urged Spainís Senate to reject two proposed bills, saying they threaten fundamental rights and freedoms. UNITED

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