News headlines for “Mainstream Media”, page 6
As Attacks on Women Defenders Intensify, so Must Our Support
- Inter Press Service
MANILA, Philippines, December 15 (IPS) - A global crackdown on civic freedoms is intensifying – and women are on the frontlines of the attack. CIVICUS’s 2025 People Power Under Attack report analyses the extent to which freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly are being respected or violated. The report reveals that people in 83 countries now live in conditions where their freedoms are routinely denied, compared to 67 in 2020. In 2020, 13 per cent of the world’s population lived in countries where civic freedoms were broadly respected; now it’s more like 7 per cent. Among the most documented violations in 2025 were detention of human rights defenders, journalists and protesters, and women human rights defenders (WHRDs) were among the most affected.
‘Once Conversations about Democracy and Equality Begin, They Are Very Hard to Silence’
- Inter Press Service
CIVICUS discusses restrictions on civic space in Thailand and the detention of activist and human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa with Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, Advocacy Lead at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
CIVICUS 2025 Report Reveals Widespread Attacks on Civic Freedoms Worldwide
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, December 11 (IPS) - Over the course of 2025, global civic space conditions have deteriorated sharply, with most countries experiencing some degree of obstructed civil liberties. As authoritarian governments strengthen their hold and have even escalated the use of military force to suppress public dissent, civilians report facing increasing limitations of freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, petition and religion, as well as notable crackdowns on press freedoms.
Burkina Faso: Three Years of Broken Promises
- Inter Press Service
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, November 27 (IPS) - Three years ago, Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in Burkina Faso with two promises that have proved hollow: to address the country’s deepening security crisis and restore civilian rule. Now he has postponed elections until 2029, dissolved the independent electoral commission and pulled the country out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Burkina Faso has become a military dictatorship.
The Silent War Before COP30: How Corporations Are Weaponising the Law to Muzzle Climate Defenders
- Inter Press Service
BELÉM, Brazil, November 10 (IPS) - As the world prepares for the next COP30 summit, a quieter battle is raging in courtrooms. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are the fossil-fuel industry’s new favourite weapon, turning justice systems into instruments of intimidation.
Tanzania’s Post-Election Turmoil Deepens Economic and Social Woes
- Inter Press Service
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, November 5 (IPS) - At dawn in Manzese, a dusty township on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, silence hangs where the sounds of commerce once roared. The township, usually crowded with street cooks, vegetable vendors, mechanics, and motorcycle taxis snaking through the morning rush, stood eerily empty. Shutters are pulled down, wooden stalls abandoned, and the air is heavy with the smell of burnt rubber. For five days, the township’s bustling economic life has been paralyzed—leaving residents unable to buy food or access basic services.
Humor, Courage, and Coffee: Inside Asia’s Independent Media Resistance
- Inter Press Service
BANGKOK, November 3 (IPS) - In Pakistan, journalism is a risky profession—and the danger only intensifies if you’re a woman, young, and a freelancer, says 30-year-old Saba Chaudhry, a journalist from a village near Narowal, in Punjab province.
Defending Democracy in a “Topsy-Turvy” World
- Inter Press Service
BANGKOK, November 1 (IPS) - It is a bleak global moment—with civil society actors battling assassinations, imprisonment, fabricated charges, and funding cuts to pro-democracy movements in a world gripped by inequality, climate chaos, and rising authoritarianism. Yet, the mood at Bangkok’s Thammasat University was anything but defeated.
As Civil Society Is Silenced, Corruption and Inequality Rise
- Inter Press Service
BULAWAYO & BANGKOK, October 31 (IPS) - From the streets of Bangkok to power corridors in Washington, the civil society space for dissent is fast shrinking. Authoritarian regimes are silencing opposition but indirectly fueling corruption and widening inequality, according to a leading global civil society alliance.
‘Turkmen Authorities Are Carrying out a Systematic Campaign to Eliminate Independent Voices’
- Inter Press Service
CIVICUS speaks about the disappearance of Turkmen activists Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov with human rights defender Diana Dadasheva from the civil movement DAYANÇ/Turkmenistan and with Gülala Hasanova, wife of Alisher Sahatov.
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