UN Trade and Environment Agencies Target Plastic Pollution through Global Negotiations and Trade Measures

The closing plenary of INC-5.1 in Busan, Republic of Korea. Credit: UNEP/Duncan Moore By Maximilian MalawistaNEW YORK, Aug 5 2025 (IPS) They are lightweight, cheap, and able to be used in every sector of every supply chain. Few materials have revolutionized manufacturing and the global economy as much as plastics have. They are essential in…

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Japan’s Right-wing Populist Rise

Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters via Gallo Images By Andrew FirminLONDON, Aug 4 2025 (IPS) Rice queues – something once unthinkable – began appearing around May. As the country’s staple food hit record prices, frustrated shoppers found themselves breaking a cultural taboo by switching to rice from South Korea. It was a symbol of how far Japan’s…

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Do Nuclear Tests Still Remain a Future Threat — as World Commemorates the 80th Anniversary of Hiroshima & Nagasaki?

Erico Platt looks at the disarmament exhibition that she staged, “Three Quarters of a Century After Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Hibakusha—Brave Survivors Working for a Nuclear-Free World”. On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during World War II. Credit: UNODA/Diane Barnes…

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The Constitution Isn’t Optional: Why USA Belongs on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist

By Mandeep S.TiwanaNEW YORK, Aug 2 2025 (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. Notably, presidential administrations since the Second World War and…

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The Exodus of JAPADIANS: Is Parenting Teens Better in Africa than Western Nations?

A recent social media video featuring Arinze, a Nigerian-American returnee, has sparked interest in the growing trend of families relocating from Western nations to Africa. Arinze, who previously lived in Brooklyn, New York, now resides in a gated community in Lekki, Lagos, and attends an exclusive private school. He confidently asserts that life is better…

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