News headlines for “Consumption and Consumerism”, page 16
The UN’s Withering Vine: A US Retreat from Global Governance
- Inter Press Service
The Trump administration’s recent announcement of its withdrawal from 66 international organisations has been met with a mixture of alarm and applause. While the headline number suggests a dramatic retreat from the world stage, a closer look reveals a more nuanced, and perhaps more insidious, strategy. The move is less a wholesale abandonment of the United Nations system and more a targeted pruning of the multilateral vine, aimed at withering specific branches of global cooperation that the administration deems contrary to its interests. While the immediate financial impact may be less than feared, the long-term consequences for the UN and the rules-based international order are profound.
One Carries a Broom, the Other a Schoolbag
- Inter Press Service
SYLHET, Bangladesh, January 19 (IPS) - While other children her age prepared for school, eight-year-old Tania once began her workday. Each morning, she picked up a jharu—the household broom—and cleaned floors inside a private home. At the same time, another child of her age in that household lifted a schoolbag and left for class. One carried a broom. The other carried books.
How Extreme Weather is Testing Tanzania’s $2 Billion Electric Railway Dream
- Inter Press Service
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, January 19 (IPS) - On a rainy Wednesday morning, in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) terminal bustled with a steady flow of passengers. Women ushered toddlers along. Snack bags dangling on their hands. Tourists dragged wheeled suitcases across the floor. Students scrolled through smartphones as they returned to campus. Each had been attracted by the speed, reliability and comfort of the electric train.
Economic Dogma Blocks Pragmatic Policies
- Inter Press Service
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, January 19 (IPS) - After condemning pragmatic responses to the 1997-98 Asian financial crises, the West pursued similar policies in response to the 2008 global financial crisis without acknowledging its own mistakes.
Rising hunger and displacement pose growing economic risk, UN tells Davos
- UN News
As global leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, UN agencies are warning that rising hunger and displacement are not only humanitarian emergencies but growing threats to global economic stability.
Will AI kickstart a new age of nuclear power?
- UN News
The rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence worldwide is putting electrical grids under huge pressure and many believe that, to meet that need without contributing to the climate crisis, a full-scale expansion of nuclear energy is essential.
Ageing and Shrinking Populations
- Inter Press Service
PORTLAND, USA, January 16 (IPS) - Ageing and shrinking populations are becoming more prevalent in many countries around the world.
Davos: Meaningful Dialogue Requires a Collective Stand Against Military, Economic and Diplomatic Bullying
- Inter Press Service
LONDON, January 16 (IPS) - “The ‘spirit of dialogue’, the theme for this year’s meeting in Davos, which begins January 19, has been painfully and increasingly absent from international affairs of late. President Trump’s first year back in office has seen the United States withdraw from multilateral bodies, bully other states and relentlessly attack the principles and institutions that underpin the international justice system.
What Next? United States Exits Key Entities, Vital Climate Treaties in Major Retreat from Global Cooperation
- Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, January 15 (IPS) - President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to further distance the United States from international organizations and entities focused on climate, the environment, and energy. This strategy is in step with his administration’s established approach to undermine and redirect funds and international cooperation away from climate and clean energy programs.
UN chief warns of a world in chaos as impunity and unpredictability spreads
- UN News
In his final annual address outlining his priorities, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is “brimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability” – even as international cooperation is fraying at the moment it is most needed.
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