News headlines for “Democracy”, page 2
Zambia: An Uneven Contest, an Easy Win
- Inter Press Service

LONDON, August 31 (IPS) - On 24 August, police sealed off access to Zambia’s courts, closed the day before the deadline for petitions to challenge the results of the 13 August presidential election. The judiciary’s top official cited security reasons, but the timing left little doubt that authorities meant to block the defeated candidate’s legal challenge.
Beyond Resilience: Climate Change and the Rights of Char Dwellers in Bangladesh
- Inter Press Service

DHAKA, Bangladesh, August 31 (IPS) - Bangladesh’s riverine and coastal chars have always been landscapes of movement, but climate change is making that movement more violent, frequent, and unequal. The shifting islands of the Jamuna, Brahmaputra, Padma, and other rivers now reveal how climate stress multiplies deprivation, weakens citizenship, and forces char dwellers to absorb the costs of a crisis they did little to create.
35 Years After Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Choice Still Challenges the World
- Inter Press Service

TOKYO / ASTANA, August 31 (IPS) - Across the vast steppe of northeastern Kazakhstan, the scars of the Cold War remain visible. At the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site, the Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests between 1949 and 1989, exposing nearby communities to radiation and leaving health and environmental consequences that have endured across generations.
Uganda Announces End of Ebola Outbreak, Yet Regional Risks Remain
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, August 28 (IPS) - Following 42 consecutive days without a new confirmed case, The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have announced the end of the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
SWEDEN: ‘The New Migration Laws Are so Vague That People Don’t Know What Might Be Used Against Them’
- Inter Press Service

CIVICUS discusses Sweden’s new migration laws with John Stauffer, legal director and deputy executive director of Civil Rights Defenders, a Swedish civil society organisation that acts as a civil rights watchdog at home and supports human rights defenders in repressive contexts worldwide.
Family Planning and Population Dynamics Are Key to Water Security
- Inter Press Service

OTTAWA, Canada, August 28 (IPS) - This week is World Water Week, the annual conference of governments, business, and civil society on building a water-secure future as global population, climate disruptions, and water demand increase. In Washington, it’s also Water Resources Development Act season, when every two years the US Congress reauthorizes the legilslation that funds US drinking water, wastewater systems, and flood risk management projects.
Grand Planetary Challenges Need a Grand Coalition to Solve Them
- Inter Press Service

NAIROBI, Kenya, August 26 (IPS) - Several coalitions exist today to defend the territories in which people live and work. Global leaders have long understood the importance of shared responsibility for collective security and have invested significant time in establishing networks, partnerships and alliances. In 2025, global spending on defense reached a record $2.9 trillion.
A Divided Vote for the UN’s Human Rights Chief
- Inter Press Service

BRUSSELS, Belgium, August 26 (IPS) - On 24 July, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly reappointed Volker Türk as High Commissioner for Human Rights for a further four years. Only 10 states – among them Israel, Russia and the USA – opposed the decision.
South Africa’s Anti-Immigrant Violence Slows SDG Goals, Rips Apart Africans’ Free Movement Call
- Inter Press Service

BLANTYRE, Malawi, August 25 (IPS) - When the Malawian government announced the conclusion of the repatriation of its citizens trapped in anti-immigrant violence against foreign Africans in South Africa on August 12, 2026, it had brought home 56,723 nationals, according to data from the Department of Disaster Management Affairs.
The Plastics Treaty Process Needs Greatly Improved Observer Participation at this Critical Point in the Negotiations and Beyond
- Inter Press Service

GENEVA, August 24 (IPS) - In 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly mandated an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop a global, legally binding instrument addressing the full life cycle of plastics, from production and product design to disposal. After the resumed fifth session adjourned without consensus in Geneva in August 2025, the divided process moved into informal consultations before INC-5.4 in March 2027.

