Worldwide

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, July 24 (IPS) – José Rubén Zamora, founder of elPeriódico, Guatemala’s now-defunct leading investigative newspaper, spent 1,295 days in detention before a court granted him house arrest on 12 February. He endured long stretches of solitary confinement in a military jail, held in near-constant darkness and subjected to treatment that six UN experts warned could amount to torture. His offence was simply doing his job. For decades, he exposed the corrupt dealings of Guatemala’s economic and political elites. Prosecutors are still trying to send him back to prison.

Read the full story, “Guatemala: A Narrow Opening in a Captured Justice System”, on globalissues.org →

ROME, July 24 (IPS) – After two days of debate at an international conference devoted to the challenges of artificial intelligence (AI), nuclear war and global security, Nobel laureates, former heads of state and government, scientists, human rights defenders, religious leaders and representatives of civil society adopted a joint declaration, calling for it to be based on human dignity.

Read the full story, “From Castel Gandolfo to Campidoglio: Call for Human Dignity to Be at the Heart of the AI Revolution”, on globalissues.org →

UNITED NATIONS, July 24 (IPS) – With regional friction between Iran and the Gulf monarchies escalating, Houthi leadership in Yemen has proclaimed a total maritime blockade against all vessels linked to Saudi shipping. While this declaration does not constitute a verified military obstruction of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, it significantly heightens the risk of volatility at the Red Sea’s southern gateway, potentially severing the primary arterial link to the Suez Canal.

Read the full story, “The Houthis Don’t Need to Close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Strangle the Suez Canal”, on globalissues.org →

ROME, July 23 (IPS) – Hunger is falling across most of Latin America and the Caribbean. The region’s next challenge is harder: ensuring that everyone can afford a healthy diet, not merely enough calories to survive.

Read the full story, “Hunger in Latin America Keeps Falling – Now Healthy Diets Must Become Affordable”, on globalissues.org →

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, July 23 (IPS) – Every morning, as the Indian Ocean retreats from the reef off Zanzibar’s Jambiani village, Chiku Chande steps into the knee-deep lagoon carrying bundles of seaweed seedlings. Years of farming these waters have taught her about every channel and coral outcrop. But lately, the corals that once glowed in brown and gold have become chalky white.

Read the full story, “Human-Caused Climate Change, Not El Niño, Drives Most Coral Bleaching Events – Research”, on globalissues.org →

NEW YORK, July 23 (IPS) – Under a new rule proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, the duration of “I visas” for foreign media will be slashed from renewable multi year periods—often up to five years—to a maximum of 240 days, and just 90 days for Chinese journalists. Renewals would no longer be a routine administrative step tied to continued employment and compliance with the law, but a discretionary privilege the government can grant or withhold at will.

Read the full story, “Trump’s Authoritarian Gambit to Muzzle the Foreign Press”, on globalissues.org →

UNITED NATIONS, July 22 (IPS) – Despite growing up and working in vastly different geographic regions and environments — one shaped by decades of armed conflict and political instability, and the other by remote, hard-to-reach areas — both Sagal and Johao encounter children daily who have never been vaccinated. Sagal and Johao are members of UNICEF’s Global Youth Health Advisory Group, where they advance children’s health by shaping UNICEF’s strategies, policies, and campaigns, while working directly in their own countries to connect community realities to global conversations about children’s health.

Read the full story, “Children in Conflict Zones and Remote Areas Bear the Brunt of Global”, on globalissues.org →

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, July 22 (IPS) – In September 2024, an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in South Ethiopia was confirmed, contained, and declared over within three months.

Read the full story, “Africa’s Health Defenses Have Improved But Its Funding Has Not”, on globalissues.org →

CIVICUS discusses land grabs and environmental damage linked to a luxury coastal resort project with Eva Kushova, Director of Destination Management Organisation Albania, a civil society organisation that supports sustainable tourism in Albanian destinations, seeking to preserve culture and nature while maximising benefits for communities.

Read the full story, “ALBANIA: ‘The Public Only Learns about These Development Megaprojects Once Construction Machinery Arrives’”, on globalissues.org →

BORGO LAUDATO SI’, Italy, July 21 (IPS) – “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” By bringing the supercomputer HAL 9000 to life in his 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, American director Stanley Kubrick created one of the most powerful symbols of the fear of artificial intelligence (AI) escaping human control.

Read the full story, “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity: Nobel Laureates Call for Global Safeguards”, on globalissues.org →