
HONIARA, Solomon Islands, October 3 (IPS) - In the packed conference hall of the Heritage Hotel, the sound of Pacific voices filled the air—not just through speeches, but in song, rhythm, and poetry. The Dreamcast Theatre Performing Arts group opened the Second Pacific Island Ocean Conference with an evocative performance, reminding leaders and practitioners why they had gathered: to listen. To listen to science. To listen to communities. To listen to the ocean itself.

BOKI, Nigeria, October 2 (IPS) - For the past 23 years, Gabriel Oshie has started his mornings at Drill Ranch in the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Boki, Cross River state, southern Nigeria.

When the gates of Syria’s notorious Sednaya prison opened soon after the fall of the Assad regime last December, graffiti scrawled on the walls offered a frightening glimpse into what was widely known as the “human slaughterhouse”. “First day, severe beating,” one prisoner wrote.