News headlines in December 2017, page 4

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 14 (IPS) - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has included eight staffers of the controversial Ugandan tabloid Red Pepper in its 2017 global census of imprisoned journalists. Some may disagree with that decision.

SYDNEY/KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 (IPS) - Although the Cold War came to an end over a quarter century ago, international arms sales only declined temporarily at the end of the last century. Instead, the United States under President Trump is extending its arms superiority over the rest of the world.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 13 (IPS) - The environmental challenges facing Bangladesh, described by the United Nations as one of the world's "least developed countries" (LDCs), are monumental, including recurrent cyclones, perennial floods, widespread riverbank erosion and a potential sea level rise predicted to put about 27 million people at risk over the next two decades.

SUVA, Fiji, Dec 13 (IPS) - More than 700 activists gathered in Suva, Fiji's capital, to explore the latest trends – from climate change to human rights, from innovation to social justice. Anything that can help empower and mobilise citizens. The lively debates in panel discussions, workshops and lectures made the event look like a carnival of creative new ideas and tested knowledge.

ROME, Dec 13 (IPS) - "European governments are knowingly complicit in the torture and abuse of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants detained by Libyan immigration authorities in appalling conditions in Libya," Amnesty International charged in the wake of global outrage over the sale of migrants in Libya.

ROME, Dec 13 (IPS) - Over 800 000 of the 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims from the Rakhine state in Myanmar have been on the run for years, fleeing by foot, walking for days at end to seek a safe place for their women and children.

SEOUL, Dec 13 (IPS) - Renewable energy became the cheapest form of electricity in 58 emerging economies last year. This year, the 11^th Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis (LCOE 11.0) showed that solar and wind energy generation costs (at $46 to $53 per megawatt-hour of generation) easily beat coal and gas (at $60-68).  

RIGNANO GARGANICO, Italy, Dec 12 (IPS) - Despite deplorable living conditions, loneliness and unemployment, many African migrants in Italy choose to stay - even when they have the means to return.

SAN SALVADOR, Dec 12 (IPS) - Countries in Central America are working to strengthen their regional electricity infrastructure to boost their exchange of electricity generated from renewable sources, which are cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

OSLO, Dec 12 (IPS) - On December 10 in Oslo, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. ICAN started as a grassroots campaign in 2007. Its aim was to shift the paradigm of discussion about nuclear weapons from security and deterrence to the environmental and humanitarian effects of nuclear explosions. As the prize demonstrates, ICAN has succeeded brilliantly. But, as ICAN acknowledges, this is still only the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons.