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Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Active Citizens
RUSSIA: How Bad was Radioactive Leak?
Russian officials have confirmed that a cloud containing radioactive steam-gas vapour poured into the atmosphere last week from a damaged reactor - but emphatically deny any radiation danger.RUSSIA-ENVIRONMENT: Russian Oil Spills Cause Worry
When more than 400 tonnes of crude oil spilled from a ruptured oil pipeline near the Russian village of Dukshanov the other day, authorities quickly cordoned off the area and started an inquiry.RUSSIA-HOUSING: Homes, Jobs for the ‘Bomzh’
Authorities in this capital, overwhelmed by the rising numbers of "bomzh" - homeless - on the streets, are knocking their heads against a wall of sceptisim by actually proposing to do something about it.RUSSIA: Miners Dig in, Yeltsin Flip-Flops
Angry Russian coal miners Thursday began a potentially devastating nationwide strike over unpaid wages that could unravel a fragile economic reform programme already undermined by recent political changes.RUSSIA-ASIA: Bear Hug for Asian Tigers?
Suddenly, Russia is discovering what the rest of the world has known for some time: Asia is where future global economic action will be centred. It wants to get in on the action.CHINA-MEDIA: Economic Data Clampdown is Part of a Wider Campaign
China's clampdown on the release of economic information by international news services, is the latest of what analysts say is a wider campaign to muzzle a critical media and at the same time keep the lid on any dissent.RUSSIA-FINANCE: Waiting to Inhale
In a way, Russia today is like someone deeply submerged for an extended period in dirty water whipped by heavy currents, heart pumping hard and aching to inhale.HUMAN RIGHTS-RUSSIA: Council Of Europe Admits Russia
The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, champion of human rights and democracy on the continent, accepted Russia as its 39th member Thursday evening despite concern about Moscow's existing record in both areas.DISARMAMENT: Russia Sets Up Fund To Turn Swords Into Streetcleaners
Russia's attempts to turn over its tank and missile making factories to the manufacture of TVs, toasters and street cleaning trucks is handicapped by "outrageously badly" run financing, admits the state official in charge.HUMAN RIGHTS-RUSSIA: Moscow’s Charm Offensive At Council Of Europe
With the dust barely settled on the smoking rubble of Pervomayskoye and human rights groups railing against violence in Chechnya, Russia comes to the Council of Europe this week seeking admission and acceptance by its continental peers.TURKEY-RUSSIA: Ferry Hijacking Rubs Moscow-Ankara Relations Raw
Turkish government attempts to steer a cautious course around the worsening hostage crisis on board the hijacked ferry Avrazia, loaded with explosives and anchored off the Bosphorous straits, is taking it into dangerous waters with Russia.RUSSIA: End Of Pervomayskoye Assault Will Not End Chechen Fury
The end of the Pervomayskoye siege in Dagestan could see the beginning of what some observers call the new 'Chechen intifada' -- drawing a loose parallel between with the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.RUSSIA: IMF Loan In Doubt After Last Market Reformer Goes
Hopes that the International Monetary Fund will pass a massive new development loan to Russia were put in doubt within hours of the arrival of an IMF team in Moscow with news that the country's key market reformer had been sacked.RUSSIA-CHECHNYA: Heavy Brigades Go In To Break Chechen Siege Crisis
Russian helicopter gunships and heavy artillery blasted the tiny Dagestan border village of Pervomayskoye early Monday after claiming that secessionist Chechen guerrillas had began killing hostages they hold in the town.DISARMAMENT: Plutonium Mountain Grows Under START Treaty Process
The ten year programme to scrap some 45,000 nuclear warheads under the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) disarmament treaty is leaving both sides with more plutonium than they know what to do with.RUSSIA: Yeltsin Pays Price For Trying To Sideline Chechen Rebels
Russian president Boris Yeltsin denied himself the chance of a peaceful settlement to the Chechnya crisis by trying to sideline rebel leader Dzhohar Dudyaev, say his critics -- which is why Russia must now try resolving it with tanks.ENVIRONMENT/ASIA: Tackling Nuclear Waste Crisis In Russian Far East
Faced with the thinly-disguised threat that failure to fund a new liquid radiocactive waste processing plant in Russia's Far East would result in more dumping in the Sea of Japan, Tokyo is now preparing to pay 25 million dollars for the scheme.RUSSIA/SOUTH AFRICA: Moscow Challenges Diamond Market Domination
Russia has still not reached agreement with the South African corporation De Beers for renewal of the 1990 contract that De Beers' Central Selling Organisation (CSO) exclusive rights to market abroad 95 percent of Russia's diamonds.RUSSIA/CHECHNYA: Grachev May Be Target After New Chechen Fiasco
Russian president Boris Yeltsin, infuriated by the start of another Chechen hostage crisis that promises him nothing but more military humiliation and political embarrassment, is blaming his armed forces for the latest fiasco.ENVIRONMENT/UKRAINE: Closure of Chernobyl By 2000 ‘Unlikely’
Although Ukraine has finally agreed to the closure of Chernobyl, no new money is on the table to help to finance this, Ukrainian officials say -- making Western wishes to see it closed by the end of the century almost impossible.RUSSIA: “The Polish Factor”
The victory of ex-communist Aleksander Kwasniewski in Poland's presidential elections over Lech Valesa, who pioneered democratic changes in Eastern Europe in the 198O's, could influence the results of the Dec. 17 parliamentary elections in Russia.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Global Citizen Festival in New York. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Active citizens are committed to social change because they know that it is achievable. However, major political challenges face active citizens across the world. For example, in authoritarian regimes in Latin America where the hegemonic party has been in power for decades on end, protestors and human rights activists face enormous repression and struggle to materialize their advocacy into concrete results. The same can be said for Africans, where a shift towards elected government in recent decades has yet to translate into an effective voice in decision-making. Now, the Strengthening Citizen Demand for Good Governance, which uses evidence-based approaches – funded by DFID's Governance and Transparency Fund – seeks to raise their voices.
In 2025, the CIVICUS Monitor’s People Power Under Attack report revealed that civic freedoms are severely limited in 122 of 198 countries and territories, and only 7.2% of the global population now lives in countries where civic space is open. Through partnership with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and CIVICUS, IPS reporters across the continent will seek to define the extent and limits of state capability, government accountability and the responsiveness of leaders to the needs of citizens.
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
