In Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan, One Woman Refuses a Life of Dependence
KABUL, August 7 (IPS) – The Taliban’s rise to power robbed Mehrmaa of her husband, her job and her chance to live freely.
Worldwide
Hiroshima’s Question: Will We Continue to Live Under the Nuclear Shadow?
HIROSHIMA, Japan, August 7 (IPS) – This year’s Hiroshima Peace Declaration did not begin with words of remembrance alone. It opened instead with what the declaration called “military invasions using nuclear weapons as tools of intimidation,” “imperious actions by major powers in violation of international law,” and the failure of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, Review Conference — for the third consecutive time — to adopt a final document.
Burkina Faso’s Cancelled Democracy
LONDON, August 7 (IPS) – Burkina Faso’s charismatic young military leader, army captain Ibrahim Traoré, has stopped pretending. In April, he declared that people should ‘forget about the question of democracy’ because ‘democracy isn’t for us’. When Traoré seized power in September 2022, ousting a leader who’d staged a coup earlier that year, he promised elections by June 2024. The junta broke that pledge, pushing any transition back to 2029. Now Traoré has confirmed he has no intention of restoring democracy. Instead, Burkina Faso’s military junta is tightening its repression, while working with neighbouring states to internationalise its dangerously undemocratic model.
Read the full story, “Burkina Faso’s Cancelled Democracy”, on globalissues.org →
The Year of Pastoralists Must Be More Than Symbolic
WASHINGTON DC, August 6 (IPS) – This is supposed to be the year the world finally sees and recognizes pastoralists. The United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, bringing long-overdue attention to communities who have sustained some of the world’s most fragile and important landscapes for generations.
Read the full story, “The Year of Pastoralists Must Be More Than Symbolic”, on globalissues.org →
Rohingya Refugees Seeking Safe Haven in Bangladesh Hit by Fresh Disasters
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh, August 6 (IPS) – Abdu Rozork awoke suddenly to the sound of children screaming. Heavy monsoon rains had sent a landslide barrelling into the section of their bamboo shelter where the women and children were sleeping.
CHINA: ‘The Ethnic Unity Law Means There Is One Acceptable Way to Be Chinese’
CIVICUS speaks about China’s recently implemented Ethnic Unity Law with Gulchehra Hoja, a correspondent for Reporters Without Borders and a Uyghur activist and journalist known for her reporting on human rights abuses against Uyghur people in China.
New Chickpea Variety to Drive Climate Resilience in Africa
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe , August 5 (IPS) – New chickpea seed research and production have become the new frontier of climate resilience in southern Africa as farmers battle failing cereal production.
Green transition: Pay the Least, Benefit the Most
BANGKOK, Thailand, August 5 (IPS) – Inaction and maintaining the status quo of fossil fuel dependence carry significant costs. The recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, for instance, caused enormous losses to the global economy, with many Asia-Pacific countries bearing disproportionately larger adverse impacts. Had these economies had a more diversified energy mix, they would have benefited from such resilience under current circumstances.
Read the full story, “Green transition: Pay the Least, Benefit the Most”, on globalissues.org →
Climate Change Makes Sacred Ice Vanish in Kashmir, Locals Fear Loss of Livelihoods
SRINAGAR, India, August 4 (IPS) – Every summer, before dawn breaks over the Himalayas, Bashir Ahmad leads his horses onto the narrow mountain trail that winds toward the Amarnath cave shrine. For decades, the annual Hindu pilgrimage has been the most important season of the year for his family. The money earned over two months pays for food, school fees, winter supplies, and the upkeep of his animals through the long snowbound months.
After Restoring Stability, Argentina Needs to Turn Hard-Won Gains into Lasting Prosperity
WASHINGTON DC, August 4 (IPS) – My first meeting in Buenos Aires began with an unexpected gift. Economy Minister Luis Caputo presented me with an Argentine national team jersey bearing my name and the number 10—Lionel Messi’s iconic number.