Read Full Article at RT.com
Read Full Article at RT.com
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18 (IPS) - After 14 months of conflict between Israel and Palestine, talks of a ceasefire agreement have headed in a promising direction. The proposed agreement entails the release of hostages in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian land, and a strategy for displaced Gazans to safely return to their homes in the northern region of the enclave. Despite both Israeli and Palestinian officials expressing optimism over this agreement, hostilities from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continue to endanger the lives and infrastructures of thousands of Gazans.
ACCRA, Ghana, Dec 18 (IPS) - The climate crisis, a defining challenge of the 21st century, is not just an environmental issue; it is increasingly a critical arena for international diplomacy. From intense negotiations at COP summits to the politics of energy transitions and resource control, climate change is shaping the geopolitical landscape.
Read the full story, “The Climate Crisis as a Diplomatic Battlefield”, on globalissues.org →
Dec 17 (IPS) - CIVICUS speaks with Ramón Zamora, son of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, about restrictions on press freedom and the challenges of defending human rights in Guatemala.

MADRID, Dec 17 (IPS) - Planet Earth is drying up, relentlessly. Over three-quarters of all lands have become permanently drier in the last three decades. This is not jut a statistic but a stark scientific fact. But while such an ‘existential crisis’ affects nearly every region, guess where -and who- are the most hit?
Read the full story, “A Most Heinous - Yet Unprosecuted - Crime: Inequality”, on globalissues.org →

WINDHOEK & BULAWAYO, Dec 17 (IPS) - Biological diversity is on the decline worldwide, and current approaches to address its loss have been piecemeal and ineffective in tackling the crisis facing nature—this is despite estimates that over half of global GDP (USD 58 trillion of economic activity in 2023) is generated in sectors that are moderately to highly dependent on nature, a new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) finds.

TORONTO / BEIRUT, Dec 17 (IPS) - Sixty-four days of unrelenting war machine by Israel against Lebanon put my entire beliefs and ethos to a painful test: my sincerity in promoting social justice, human rights, integrity, patriotism, spirituality and, philosophically speaking, universal human values of love, peace and non-violence.

ABERDEEN, Scotland, Dec 17 (IPS) - The rhythmic swing of American climate policy has taken another dramatic turn. With Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency in mid-January next year, the international climate community will find itself bracing for what many fear will be another American exodus from the Paris Agreement.
Read the full story, “America’s Climate Carousel”, on globalissues.org →

RIYADH & HYDERABAD, Dec 17 (IPS) - The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 16) concluded early hours of Saturday with a renewed focus on building drought resilience globally. However, the COP also failed to agree on bringing a legally binding drought protocol. Like the biodiversity and climate change COPs held earlier in the year, COP16 also failed to finish in time and ended by postponing several key decisions to COP17 scheduled to be held in 2026.