Juan López was gunned down on 14 September. An environmental activist, community leader and member of the Municipal Committee in Defence of the Commons and Public Goods of Tocoa, he was the latest victim of extractive greed in Honduras. Communities protecting the rivers that flow through the Bajo Aguán region have seen several of their […]

Last month, world leaders gathered at the time of the UN General Assembly in New York and agreed on a pioneering Pact for the Future. This global accord has implications across a broad range of issues that affect every country. It offers much hope for the poorest and most vulnerable countries on the planet, known […]

Christian Tiambo has always wished to uplift local farmers’ communities through cutting-edge science. As climate change wreaked havoc on local agriculture, Tiambo, a livestock scientist at the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) and at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), focused on conserving and developing livestock that could withstand environmental stress. Genomics, […]

Anyone interested in unsolved murders and disappearances will find much to study in Sri Lanka. Fifteen to twenty years ago, the country made global headlines, not only for the government’s military offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas but also for the numerous murders of journalists. The newly elected president, Anura Kumara […]

On October 28, the Israeli parliament voted to ban activity from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Israel. Two bills were passed by the Knesset, Israel’s house of representatives, one that barred all UNRWA efforts, and another that prevents interactions between Israeli authorities and UNRWA […]

A small incident in the mounting mayhem of the 2024 elections crystalized the state of the dark art of politics in these United States. In Springfield, Ohio, a small midwestern industrial city, a woman named Anna Kilgore noticed that her cat, Miss Sassy, had been missing for a few days. Kilgore notified the police that she […]

Over the coming month, the United States has a window of opportunity to lift a multi-billion-dollar burden from Ukraine, and other countries in financial distress, without costing the US taxpayer a dime. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is currently considering ending its controversial “surcharges” — punitive fees that it imposes on countries whose debt exceeds […]

Social protection systems are essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, social protection is insufficient across Asia and the Pacific, and the region is at risk from megatrends: climate change, demographic shifts and digitalization. Tens of millions of people have been pushed into extreme poverty since COVID-19, reversing past gains, and many […]

Everything is at stake. Everything is at stake with nuclear weapons. While working as a nuclear war planner for the Kennedy administration, Daniel Ellsberg was shown a document calculating that a U.S. nuclear attack on communist countries would result in 600 million dead. As he put it later: “A hundred Holocausts.” That was in 1961. […]

In recent years, the rhetoric, strategy and practice of nuclear deterrence has grown riskier, more urgent, more dangerous, less stable, and increasingly in the hands of deficient leaders and policymakers. Playing Nuclear Games The ten States that have manufactured and test detonated nuclear weapons since 1945, each have received and/or provided assistance to other States […]

How will Israel respond to Iran’s recent ballistic missiles barrage? “Strategic patience” is the best course. Israel has its hands full with Hamas and Hezbollah. Now is not the time to escalate a new major war with Iran, which could have nuclear implications. Israeli intelligence is still chafing from its failure to preempt Hamas’ attack […]

The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres congratulated grassroots Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo on being awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. “The atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as the hibakusha, are selfless, soul-bearing witnesses of the horrific human cost of nuclear weapons,” he said in a statement. “While their numbers grow smaller each […]

Information manipulation and misinformation are not new phenomena, but they have taken on exaggerated importance, especially with the massive use of social media. Hostile and stigmatizing narratives against civil society and civic activism, whether intentional or not, especially when propagated by authorities, create undue restrictions and hinder the exercise of the rights to freedom of […]

The right to abortion is a human rights issue that no government agency, courts, local and state legislators, or anyone else has the right to violate or impede in any shape or form. It is a fundamental right that every woman must be free to exercise with impunity, in consultation with her doctor only, who […]

In a vibrant display of culture and tradition, Kazakhstan recently hosted the 5th World Nomad Games in Astana, celebrating the enduring spirit of nomadic heritage against a backdrop of modernity and globalization. This biennial event, which drew competitors and spectators from around the globe, served not only as a showcase of traditional sports but also […]

At a recent media briefing, Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, criticized the United States for its support of educational programs, media and NGOs in Africa. Zakharova argued that these efforts are part of a broader attempt by the U.S. to impose Western values and governance models on sovereign African states, framing it […]

New institutional economics (NIE) has received another so-called Nobel prize, ostensibly for again claiming that good institutions and democratic governance ensure growth, development, equity and democracy. Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson (AJR) are well known for their influential cliometric work. AJR have elaborated earlier laureate Douglass North’s claim that property rights have been […]

This month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had an opportunity to end one of its most reviled policies and lift billions of dollars of debt off the backs of crisis-stricken developing countries. It chose not to. The IMF’s ostensible mission is to promote financial stability by providing loans to countries facing economic challenges or crises. […]

Migration, trade, the defence of democracy, the confrontation with China and the collapse of multilateralism are issues that shed more doubts than certainties on Latin America’s expectations of the imminent presidential elections in the United States. Interest and tension have grown after dozens of polls and bookmakers have shown similar chances of victory for Democrat […]

In the coming decades, the Asia-Pacific region faces a series of challenges that threaten to exacerbate poverty. Among these, climate change, demographic shifts, particularly population ageing and the rise of digital technologies stand out as three interconnected global megatrends. A recent technical paper supporting the Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific 2024 explores various […]

The conclusion that Donald Trump is a fascist has gone mainstream, gaining wide publicity and affirmation in recent weeks. Such understanding is a problem for Trump and his boosters. At the same time, potentially pivotal in this close election, a small proportion of people who consider themselves to be progressive still assert that any differences […]

The United Nations, established in 1945 at the end of World War II, has sadly virtually outlived its usefulness as it commemorated its 79th anniversary due to its failure to reform itself and adjust to the new world order following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which is significantly different from when the UN was […]

Africa has had a terrible record dealing with extreme poverty. The late Adebayo Adedeji, the legendary head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), campaigned vigorously but unsuccessfully in the 1980s against the IMF and World Bank-imposed structural adjustment programmes, contending that these contributed to poverty’s increase. The continent’s economic growth plummeted rapidly […]

On the day following the US election, UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres issued a brief statement commending the people of the United States for their active participation in the democratic process. He wisely omitted mention that the election of Donald J. Trump – who attempted to overturn the people’s mandate by inciting an insurrection in […]

For religious, humanitarian, and scientific reasons, Israel’s increasingly apparent plan for the de facto colonization of the Northern Gaza Strip is a bad idea. When that program was rejected recently by Israel’s own Defense Minister Yoav Galant, he was summarily fired by Prime Minister Netanyahu. However, the founding document of the worldwide Jewish community, the […]

The majority of U.S. airlines don't pay their flight attendants until the airplane door closes, even though plane boarding is one of the most stressful parts of their job.

With an average of only one in five voters participating in local elections, voting results are easily swayed by just one vote. Voting in local elections has never been more critical.

A once under-the-radar government position, races for secretaries of state gained national attention in the 2022 elections. Who is in control of your state elections?

The world was in turmoil in 2023, rife with stomach-churning news, with the international and U.S. press primarily focused on the same news stories. It seems that the world has never been more interconnected.

It's never too early for reelection vision time. The time to start organizing is now.

It's never too early for reelection vision time. The time to start organizing is now.

The person you elect as mayor affects your day-to-day life more than the politicians you send to Washington, D.C., yet turnout is meager in mayoral races.

This is a list of individuals currently serving in the United States House of Representatives as of the 117th Congress

Donald Trump promises 'deportation force' to remove 11 million undocumented immigrants

Donald Trump has claimed he doesn't believe in climate change, but that didn't stop him from citing it as a reason to build a sea wall to protect one of his golf courses.

Race is central in this year's race for the White House and the struggle for racial justice and voting rights are inextricably linked.

The immigration ban, which combined with health care reform will likely wreak even more havoc on an already depressed rural America.

Some say it was the taking down of the Robert E. Lee monument that caused the torch-wielding Nazi/white supremacists to rage. Others are confident that it had nothing to do with the statue, and everything to do with racist and anti-Semitic rage of monumental proportions that inspired the Nazis/white supremacists/white nationals to storm Charlottesville, Virginia.    

MANILA, Philippines — After an exodus at Chery Tiggo, Ara Galang led the team’s collective effort to eke out a come-from-behind win over the gritty Capital1 and jumpstart their 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference. The Crossovers were pushed to their limits right at the start of their post-Eya Laure era as they also missed key members Mylene Paat, Jen Nierva, and Jas Nabor leaving an undermanned team, which also lost EJ Laure and Buding Duremdes. But Galang and the Crossovers stuck to their collective effort to fight back from a 1-2 deficit before surviving the Solar Spikers, 20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, […]...

Keep on reading: PVL: Collective effort gets it done for undermanned Chery Tiggo

Jalen Johnson had 18 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and three steals to lead the visiting Atlanta Hawks to a 117-116 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday in the first NBA Cup game for each team. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored season highs of 37 points and 31 points, respectively, for the Celtics. Brown was 7 of 12 from 3-point territory and 10 of 15 overall. White added six rebounds and five assists. Atlanta took a 117-116 lead when Onyeka Okongwu tipped in a missed shot with 6.1 seconds to play. After each team turned the ball over […]...

Keep on reading: NBA Cup: Hawks catch Celtics in closing seconds for win

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla touted local government units’ (LGUs) preemptive evacuation in response to Typhoon Nika (International name: Toraji), saying they took “lessons” from Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (International name: Trami). In a phone interview aired on People’s Television Network on Wednesday morning, Remulla said LGUs evacuated around 8,000 families from geohazard zones identified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as Nika crossed Northern Luzon. “If they didn’t evacuate, perhaps, 100 would have died because many of the houses there were really destroyed,” he said in Filipino. Nika left the Philippine Area of Responsibility at […]...

Keep on reading: Remulla: Preemptive evacuation a ‘lesson’ from Storm Kristine

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) on Wednesday said the government is ready to respond to the effects of typhoons in the coming days and weeks of the year. OCD head Ariel Nepomuceno, however, admitted that the consecutive storms/typhoons in the past few weeks are unprecedented, even in the current system the government has for disaster response. “Nakalatag naman ‘yung sistema natin, although admittedly itong sistema natin hindi na-assume ‘yung ganitong scenario, bago rin sa’tin ito,” said Nepomuceno during a Kapihan sa Manila Hotel briefing. (Our system is in place, although admittedly our system did not […]...

Keep on reading: Gov't ready for calamity response; staff fatigue a big concern - OCD

TOKYO, Japan — Japan’s Seven & i Holdings 3382.T is considering launching a management buyout that would see the retailer go private in a deal that could be worth up to $58 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The Nikkei newspaper also reported that the owner of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain was looking at […]...

Keep on reading: Japan's 7-Eleven reportedly considering management buyout of up to $58B

LUCENA CITY — Classes were suspended on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 13, in Calaca City, Batangas province, due to the harmful presence of volcanic smog or “vog” from Taal Volcano. The Calaca public information office announced the suspension around 11:30 a.m. in a post on its Facebook page. “In accordance with the directive of the DepEd Calaca City Sub-Office and Calaca City DRRMO, the suspension of classes this afternoon is recommended for all public and private schools at all levels in Calaca City due to volcanic smog or “vog” from Taal Volcano,” the post said in Filipino. Local authorities advised the […]...

Keep on reading: Calaca City suspends classes due to 'vog' from Taal Volcano

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — A 37-year-old man was apprehended in an entrapment operation, after a 14-year-old girl lodged a complaint against him for sextortion on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at around 9:50 a.m. in a lodge in Purok Jaguar, Brgy. Panadtaran, San Fernando town in southern Cebu. The suspect is a construction worker from Brgy. South Poblacion in San Fernando town. Meanwhile, the victim was a 14-year-old grade 9 student from Naga City. READ MORE: Sextortion: The sinister side of online romance Taiwanese jailed for attacking a transwoman; claims he was blackmailed Married man from Talisay City accuses single mom […]...

Keep on reading: 'Sextortion' in Naga: Man nabbed for trying to blackmail girl, 14

TACLOBAN CITY — A soldier was killed while three others were wounded during an encounter on Tuesday, Nov. 12, between government troops and suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Gamay, Northern Samar. The soldiers, from the 52nd Infantry Battalion based in Jipapad, Eastern Samar, were conducting military operations in the area when they encountered nine NPA rebels in Barangay Malidong. A firefight lasted about 10 minutes, resulting in the death of Corporal Benjie Tamor, 28. Three of Tamor’s colleagues were also wounded in the skirmish, though their identities were withheld by the 8th Infantry Division based in […]...

Keep on reading: Soldier slain, 3 others hurt in NPA-AFP clash in Northern Samar