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Photo: Protesters on June 29, 2022 (twitter #AriseGhana ). Source: The African Report

Ghanaians Take to The Streets Over Intolerable Living Costs

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — “Mr President, where is our money? The high cost of living will kill us.”

Those were the cries that filled the streets of Accra as the usually peaceful people of Ghana could no longer stop their anger and frustration over intolerable living costs, record inflation, and misleading information about the economy shared by the government.

Over the past week, hundreds of Ghanaians clashed with police and denounced their government’s inaction on the crisis.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Cities & Communities; 04 July 2022

Photo source: Global Information Network

Ghana Cracks Down on LGBTQIA+ Community Despite Opposition

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Legislators in Ghana with unapologetic support from President Nana Akufo-Addo have come up with a new law making life even harder for LGBTQIA+ persons in the West African country, a bill which essentially strips the community of all human rights.

Dubbed the “most homophobic document the world has ever seen”, the 36-page Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, which is yet to be considered by parliament, would criminalize LGBTQIA+ activities in the religious West African country.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 04 July 2022

Image: Two bronzes are being returned today: Commemorative head of a king; King with four attendants © Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin; Claudia Obrocki, Martin Franken

Germany Will Return Two Historic Bronzes to Nigeria

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) — Germany has taken a historic step toward addressing colonial injustice. It has agreed to return valuable bronzes to Nigeria. More than 1100 fascinating bronzes pillaged from the former Kingdom of Benin (today's Nigeria) are stored for some 125 years in the stockrooms and collections of 20 German museums. These are not only magnificent artefacts. They are some of Africa’s greatest treasures.

: Jutta Wolf; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 04 July 2022

A New Coalition Issues a Statement on the Crisis in Sri Lanka

Southern Voices to be Heeded: A Call for Debt Justice, Debt Jubilee and Debt Cancellation

COLOMBO (IDN) — The Coalition for Economic Democracy in Sri Lanka (CEDSL) is a group of concerned academics, activists, agricultural, fisheries and industrial workers, students, businesspersons, trade unionists, and professionals based 'in country' and overseas, including the diaspora, who uphold the values of economic rights and justice in public policy making.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 03 July 2022

Photo: Presentation of the UN World Drug Report 2022, with UNODC Research Officer Dr Thomas Pietschmann on the extreme right. Credit: UN Correspondents Association Vienna.

Conflict Zones as Magnets for Synthetic Drug Production

Growing Capacity to Manufacture Amphetamine in Ukraine

By Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — Nearly 284 million people aged 15-64 used drugs worldwide in 2020, a 26 per cent increase over the previous decade. Young people are using more drugs, with use levels today in many countries higher than those of the previous generation, notes the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)'s World Drug Report 2022.

Globally, the report estimates that 11.2 million people worldwide were injecting drugs. About half of them were living with hepatitis C, 1.4 million with HIV and 1.2 million with both.

: Europe Editor; UN INSIDER; 02 July 2022

Photo: Abortion rights demonstrators protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court after the court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision, in Washington, D.C. on June 24, 2022. Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune

Two Infamous Rulings by the US Supreme Court Put America to Shame

Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir

Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the 'Center for Global Affairs' at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Recently the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which granted women the constitutional right to abortion, and the other ruling nullified a century-old New York law that forbid New Yorkers from carrying firearms in public. Both rulings are despicable as they will only severely undermine the health and security of millions of Americans.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 July 2022

Image: The Red Sea's reef is one of the longest continuous living reefs in the world. © Unsplash/Francesco Ungaro

A Tide of Pledges at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | LISBON (IDN) — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has pledged to enable 100 coastal countries including all Small Island Developing States to realize the maximum potential of their blue economies through sustainable, low-emission and climate-resilient ocean action by 2030.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 02 July 2022

Photo: Protests in Sri Lanka. Source: FAZ

Open Letter to The President of Sri Lanka

By A patriotic group of Los Angeles-based Sri Lankans

It’s not too late!

LOS ANGELES, USA (IDN) — The current state of our beloved nation could be broadly described as a story, a story that is excruciatingly painful to hear, watch and read. The current tragic drama seems to have only villains.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 July 2022

Photo: Beach adjacent to the University of the South Pacific. Credit: Kim Rabuka.

Fijian Activist Educates Youth on Upcycling Marine Debris

By Kim Rabuka

SUVA (IDN | Wansolwara) — Suzanne Turaganiwai, a marine activist and ocean advocate is educating youths and communities on how to manage waste to keep the environment clean.

The 29-year-old manages the marine debris activism account on Instagram called 'benu ni waitui'.

"It's looking at highlighting the impacts of marine pollution on the environment and also to showcase the different items that wash up here on the beaches in Suva. Also upcycling these items into art and a sort of advocate for the cleaner ocean for Fiji," she told Wansolwara.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 01 July 2022

There’s No Game Like Football

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — Until she asked, I didn't know it was a problem. Her problem, I mean. When people say whatever gets your time and attention gets you, it’s often true.

For as long as I can remember, 36 weeks every year, this thing gets my time and attention.