Sigrid Kaag, Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, briefs the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Credit: UN Photo By Dawn ClancyUNITED NATIONS, Jan 31 2025 – Before the three-phased ceasefire deal—proposed by President Joe Biden and dragged over the finish line by the then-incoming Donald Trump administration—silenced...

By External SourceJan 31 2025 (IPS-Partners)   George the Pinta Island tortoise and Martha the passenger pigeon achieved fame as ‘endlings’ – the last individuals of their species. Their passing is tragic, but can their fate perhaps help us to protect other threatened species? In this final episode of Season 4, Brit interviews Dr. Alexander Lees, from Manchester University in...

By Jan LundiusSTOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan 31 2025 – On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO) – a move experts say makes the U.S. and other countries less safe from infectious diseases and other public-health threats. It might thus be opportune to return to the global COVID 19 pandemic. Has the threat...

By CIVICUSJan 31 2025 –   CIVICUS discusses activism against oil auctions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with François Kamate, founder and coordinator of the young environmental volunteer movement Extinction Rebellion Rutshuru. François Kamate In October 2024, climate activists in the DRC won the suspension of a controversial oil and gas licence auction that threatened...

Credit: Hivos. EU SEE By Sarah StrackJOHANNESBURG, Jan 31 2025 – Across the world, civil society faces increasing pressure—from restrictive laws on civil society operations to digital surveillance, funding restrictions, and direct attacks on human rights defenders. In response, a global civil society coalition is stepping up. The newly launched European Union System for an Enabling Environment...