News headlines for “Mainstream Media”, page 8
Togo’s Young Generation Challenges Six Decades of Dynastic Rule
- Inter Press Service

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, September 2 (IPS) - In late June, thousands flooded the streets of Lomé, Togo’s capital, presenting the ruling dynasty with its biggest challenge in decades. The catalyst was constitutional manoeuvring by President Faure Gnassingbé to maintain his grip on power. In March 2024, his government pushed through constitutional amendments that transformed Togo from a presidential to a parliamentary system. This created a new position, the President of the Council of Ministers – effectively Togo’s chief executive – elected by parliament rather than by popular vote, and with no term limits. Gnassingbé assumed this new role in May, making it abundantly clear the changes were only about keeping him in power indefinitely.
‘Israeli Offensive in Gaza City an Existential Threat to the Two-State Solution’
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, August 28 (IPS) - Ahead of the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres spoke to the press on the “unfolding tragedy that is Gaza,” calling Israel’s new plans to take over Gaza City with the military a “deadly escalation” and an “existential threat to the two-state solution.”
Afghan Journalism Under Siege: Arrests, Censorship, and Collapse
- Inter Press Service

PRAGUE, August 28 (IPS) - Ahmad Siyar works in road construction in Balkh province. He wears a safety helmet to protect himself from debris constantly falling from the mountain where the road is being built. Once, he wore the same type of helmet for a very different reason. He was reporting from various parts of northern Afghanistan. Back then, his helmet bore the word “Journalist” in both Dari and English.
UN Report Warns that Sri Lankan Government Fails to Address Entrenched Impunity and Human Rights Violations
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, August 26 (IPS) - Before his election, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake vowed to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and amend the Online Safety Act in an effort to strengthen accountability, ethical justice, and freedom of expression. However, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the government has not followed through on these commitments and continues to exploit systemic gaps that enable impunity and facilitate new abuses.
Human Rights Watch Warns of Surge in Executions in Saudi Arabia
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, August 21 (IPS) - Human rights groups have expressed alarm over the surge in unprecedented executions in Saudi Arabia in 2025. Humanitarian experts have underscored the Saudi Arabian monarchy’s use of the death penalty to silence peaceful dissent among civilians and impose justice for minor offenses, with little to no due process.
Climate Change Breaking the Journalists Who Tell its Story
- Inter Press Service

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, August 20 (IPS) - My family lost six herds of cattle during the devastating El Niño-driven drought that swept Zimbabwe in 2024. The loss was as emotional as it was financial. Guilt gnawed at me.
The Constitution Isn’t Optional: Why USA Belongs on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist
- Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, August 2 (IPS) - Successive United States governments have prided themselves on being governed by the Constitution of 1788. The First Amendment introduced in 1791 lays the foundations for secularism, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the right to seek redress of grievances.
‘The Lesson from Gaza Is Clear: When Ai-powered Machines Control Who Lives, Human Rights Die’
- Inter Press Service

CIVICUS discusses the military use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Gaza with Dima Samaro, a Palestinian lawyer and researcher, and director of Skyline International for Human Rights, a civil society organisation (CSO) that defends digital freedoms and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Dima serves on multiple boards focused on civic space and surveillance issues, including Innovation for Change’s MENA Hub, the Surveillance in the Majority World Network and the VUKA! Solidarity Coalition, and volunteers with Resilience Pathways to help Palestinian CSOs counter Israeli efforts to restrict civic space and manipulate public narratives.
From Gaza to Georgia, Human Rights Defenders Pay a High Price for Change. Here’s How You Can Help
- Inter Press Service

HARARE, Zimbabwe / TOURS, France, July 18 (IPS) - Across the globe—from Gaza’s rubble to the streets of Tbilisi—people are standing up for justice, dignity, and basic rights. But far too often, they are paying with their freedom, their safety, even their lives.
Human Rights in an Increasingly Digitizing World
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, July 17 (IPS) - Over the past several decades, digital technologies have transformed nearly every aspect of human life, revolutionizing developments across multiple sectors, including healthcare, education, and commerce, to name a few. However, these changes have also brought forth new concerns surrounding the preservation of human rights in an increasingly digitizing world.

