By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, May 30 2019 (IPS) – Rather than waiting for adults to act, more young girls and boys are standing up and speaking out on the world’s pressing issues. In recent years, the international community has seen…
Category: Society
Satkhira Press Club attacked; 10 journalists injured
Satkhira, May 30 (UNB) – At least 10 journalists were injured in an attack by criminals on the press club on Thursday noon. Press club President and freedom fighter Abu Ahmed, former president and district correspondent of channel I Abul…
Educating girls about menstruation and menstrual hygiene
By Ida Horner Surrey, England, May 28 2019 (IPS) – The organisers of Menstrual Hygiene Day say that although there has been a lot of good work on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) either currently underway or already completed, we are…
Refugees in Europe’s crosshairs
by Valerio Alfonso Bruno and Waqar Rizvi A Europe of permanent electoral campaigning is one conducive to a permanent moral panic about refugees. Recently numerous reports have emerged of the mistreatment and abuse suffered by asylum-seekers and refugees, mostly from…
What drives anti-migrant attitudes?
by Vera Messing and Bence Ságvári One might think anti-migrant sentiment would be strongest in those countries in Europe with most migrants and among those Europeans with the most contact with them. And one would be wrong. We are experiencing…
1st state to allow human bodies composting
Seattle, May 22 (AP/UNB) — Ashes to ashes, guts to dirt. Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation Tuesday making Washington the first state to approve composting as an alternative to burying or cremating human remains. It allows licensed facilities to offer…
Cities for the people
By Abhas K. Jha Singapore – Dante’s Divine Comedy describes one level of hell (the City of Dis) as “Satan’s wretched city … full of distress and torment terrible.” He could well have been describing many modern-day metropolises. The world,…
Authoritarianism, social inequalities a prelude to conflict
STOCKHOLM, May 17 2019 (IPS) – I want to talk about peacebuilding and inclusive peace. My main point is that peace begins in the minds of people, and people, communities, societies must be allowed to participate in peace for it to…
Women HR defenders face greater risks for their gender
JOHANNESBURG, May 16 2019 (IPS) – Does the name Ihsan Al Fagiri ring a bell? How about Heba Omer or Adeela Al Zaebaq? It’s likely that these names, among countless others, are not known to the average news consumer. But their…
Facebook busts Israel-based campaign to disrupt elections
Jerusalem, May 17 (AP/UNB) — Facebook said Thursday it banned an Israeli company that ran an influence campaign aimed at disrupting elections in various countries and has canceled dozens of accounts engaged in spreading disinformation. Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of…
Privatization solution worse than problem
Jomo Kwame Sundaram Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 14 2019 (IPS) – Privatization has not provided the miracle cure for the problems (especially inefficiencies) associated with the public sector. The public interest has rarely been well served by private interests taking over…
Enforce law to build tobacco-free Bangladesh, seminar told
Dhaka, May 12 (UNB) – Speakers at a seminar here on Sunday underscored the importance of creating awareness and ensuring strict enforcement of laws to build a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040. National Anti-Tobacco Platform and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) jointly…
The urban anxieties of the middle class
ACROSS THE GLOBE, THE most common symptom of middle-class life is not the celebration of consumption, opportunity and professional white-collar jobs, but the anxiety that all of those achievements could disappear. It’s seen in our concerns about college admissions, retirement, taxes…
Decisive victory for the persecuted Christians in India
In 2016, Pastor Balu, his wife, his son, and members of his congregation were violently attacked, later detained by the police and falsely accused of forcing conversions to Christianity. It brings me great joy to announce that, after a long…
Is the crisis of social democracy a crisis of equality?
by Carol Johnson Social democracy in Europe is struggling to come to terms with the more complex equality agenda of today—to which its Antipodean counterparts are however offering some answers. As many contributors to Social Europe have acknowledged, European social…
Singer Subir Nandi passes away
Dhaka, May 7 – Renowned singer Subir Nandi died at a hospital in Singapore early Tuesday. He was 66. He breathed his last around 4:30am, said Dr Samanta Lal Sen, chief coordinator of National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery,…
Want social change? Give communities more agency
By Ashif Shaikh DEWAS, India, May 3 2019 (IPS) – No external force can bring about real change in society. Only the community itself can. There are 650 districts in India. However, most nonprofits work only in a few districts.…
Sri Lanka lifts social media ban imposed after Easter blasts
Colombo, Apr 30 (AP/UNB) — Sri Lanka’s president has lifted a nationwide social media ban that was imposed after Easter suicide bomb attacks that killed 253 people. A government statement Tuesday said that President Maithripala Sirisena has lifted the ban…
PM gives monetary support to AL victim of BNP-Jamaat torture
Dhaka, Apr 29 – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday gave Tk 20 lakh as financial assistance to Anwara Begum, a victim of torture unleashed by BNP-Jamaat terrorists during their 2001-2006 tenure, of Chakoria municipality in Cox’s Bazar district. Briefing…
BD can prosper more with better jobs for women: WB
Dhaka, Apr 28 – Bangladesh can prosper further by ensuring more and better jobs for women, said a World Bank report released on Sunday. Bangladesh is among the few countries in South Asia that has increased female employment in the…
Brunei Sharia: Stoning for homosexuality, extramarital sex
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Apr 15 2019 (IPS) – Over a week ago – on April 3 – Brunei, the tiny South East Asian kingdom on the island of Borneo, announced its citizens would face the full force of the Shariah law.…
Civil Society seeks ‘togetherness’ against challenges
By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, Apr 16 2019 (IPS) – Increasingly facing restrictions and assault, civil society from around the world have come together to celebrate and promote people power. Organised by CIVICUS, International Civil Society Week (ICSW) brought together civil…
US: Assange’s possible extradition threatens journalism: HRW
‘Hacking’ Charges Could Expand to Standard Investigative Reporting Practices The extradition of Julian Assange from the United Kingdom to the United States for alleged computer-related crimes could have dangerous implications for journalists in the digital age. London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed…
Civil society under attack in name of counter terrorism
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 15 2019 (IPS) – Counterterrorism measures are not only affecting extremist groups, but are also impacting a crucial sector for peace and security in the world: civil society. Civil society has long played a crucial role in society,…
Once ‘world’s new superpower,’ civil society faces many odds
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 10 2019 (IPS) – A former UN Secretary-General, the late Kofi Annan, once described civil society organizations (CSOs), as “the world’s new superpower” – perhaps ranking behind the US and the former Soviet Union. But that political glory…
The new spirit of postcapitalism
Raval, Barcelona, March 2019. The streets are full of young people (and not just students)—sitting, sipping drinks, gazing more at laptops than into each other’s eyes, talking quietly about politics, making art, looking cool. A time traveller from their grandparents’…
Japan’s gender gap
CHICAGO, Illinois, Mar 27 2019 (IPS) – Japan is not making progress in gender equality, at least relative to the rest of the world. Despite the Japanese government’s attempts in recent years to pass legislation promoting the economic activity of women,…
Has privatization benefitted the public?
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Apr 2 2019 (IPS) – In most cases of privatization, some outcomes benefit some, which serves to legitimize the change. Nevertheless, overall net welfare improvements are the exception, not the rule. Never is everyone better off. Rather, some…
Subarnachar election-time gang-rape accused surrenders
Dhaka, April 03 – The prime accused of the latest ‘gang rape’ in Noakhali’s Subarnachar Upazila area on Wednesday surrendered before a Noakhali district court while the court rejected his bail plea. Abul Kalam alias Bechu Majhi, 40, the accused…
Grandma gives birth as surrogate for her son and his husband
Dhaka, April 3 – A 61-year-old woman has given birth to her own granddaughter in the United States after serving as a surrogate for her son and his husband. The woman, Cecile Eledge, from Nebraska, had been through menopause but…