Africa

La Direction générale de la Sûreté nationale (DGSN) a annoncé, samedi, le démantèlement de six organisations criminelles spécialisées dans le trafic de drogue en Algérie. […]

L’article Trafic de drogue en Algérie : une importante saisie de 113 kg dans 4 wilayas est apparu en premier sur .

L’Algérie a tiré 37,5 milliards de dollars de ses exportations d’hydrocarbures entre janvier et septembre 2026. Le ministre d’État Mohamed Arkab attribue cette performance à […]

L’article Hydrocarbures : 37,5 milliards de dollars de recettes d’exportation en neuf mois, selon Arkab est apparu en premier sur .

Some of the 200 patients were found with "sores all over their bodies" and in overcrowded rooms.

Hyron Andrews dies at his Johannesburg Lions' team hotel before their Champions Cup match at La Rochelle on Saturday.

His family has appealed to fans to remember his wife, children and family in prayer during this period of mourning.

The home secretary said she would not hesitate to impose measures on other countries "refusing to co-operate".

Zwei Wochen nach Einführung des Tankrabatts zieht Wettbewerbsexperte Tomaso Duso, Leiter der Abteilung Unternehmen und Märkte im Deutschen Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin), Zwischenbilanz. Täglich verfolgt der Tankrabatt-Monitor des DIW Berlin die Preisentwicklung für Benzin und Diesel ...

Zwei Wochen nach Einführung des Tankrabatts zieht Wettbewerbsexperte Tomaso Duso, Leiter der Abteilung Unternehmen und Märkte im Deutschen Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin), Zwischenbilanz. Täglich verfolgt der Tankrabatt-Monitor des DIW Berlin die Preisentwicklung für Benzin und Diesel an den Tankstellen.

Nach zwei Wochen Tankrabatt zeigt sich in unserem Tankrabatt-Monitor, dass nur rund zwei Drittel der Preissenkung von 16,7 Cent bei den Verbraucher*innen ankommen. Seit dem 1. Oktober sind die Preise in Deutschland im Durchschnitt um 10 bis 11 Cent je Liter stärker gesunken als in Frankreich, wo es keinen Rabatt gibt.

Noch deutlicher ist die Entwicklung über die Zeit. In den ersten Tagen sind die Preise um rund 12 Cent stärker gefallen als in Frankreich, beim Diesel um bis zu 13,6 Cent. Die Weitergabe ist über die Zeit kleiner geworden und liegt seit dem 8. Oktober bei durchschnittlich nur noch 9 Cent. Auch beim Tankrabatt im Frühjahr hat die sie mit der Zeit nachgelassen, damals allerdings erst gegen Ende.

Wie viel genau ankommt, hängt auch davon ab, welchen Tag vor dem Rabatt man als Referenzpunkt nimmt. Vergleicht man die Entwicklung mit dem 27. September statt mit dem 30. September, liegt die Weitergabe bei über 80 Prozent, da die Preise in Deutschland schon im September stärker gefallen sind als in Frankreich. An der Entwicklung seit dem 1. Oktober ändert der Vergleichstag aber nichts: Die Weitergabe nimmt ab.

Die Steuersenkung kommt zuerst bei Raffinerien und Großhändlern an. Ob sie weitergegeben wird, hängt vom Wettbewerb auf dieser Stufe ab. Und dort gibt es deutliche Hinweise, dass der Wettbewerb schwach ist. Das Bundeskartellamt sollte seine Untersuchungen auf der Raffinerie- und Großhandelsstufe konsequent fortführen, denn der dortige mangelnde Wettbewerb ist nicht nur in Zeiten des Tankrabatts ein Problem.

Hosting the World Athletics Championships in Nairobi in 2029 will leave a "legacy of experience and expertise", according to the sport's top official Sebastian Coe.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres opens the general debate of the General Assembly’s 81st session on 22 September 2026. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Oct 14 2026 (IPS)

At this year’s highest-profile UN event, Donald Trump publicly mused over his ‘big decision’ about whether to ‘annihilate’ Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as dozens of delegates walked out, branded those who condemn genocide in Gaza ‘moral cowards’.

The UN was established in the devastating aftermath of the Second World War with the explicit aim to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’. Its charter commits all UN members to settling disputes peacefully. Yet at the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level session, held in September, several national leaders used a podium meant for peace and international cooperation to justify and threaten violence.

The bellicose tone of many speeches signalled a broader crisis of multilateralism. Autocrats are throwing their weight around, determined to prove that might makes right, or, as Trump put it when boasting of US control of Venezuelan oil, ‘to the victor belong the spoils’. Such leaders care little for international laws, norms, institutions and processes.

Powerful states are withdrawing from institutions, defunding them, refusing to cooperate and forming rival, more selective and less formal groupings. Nakedly transactional deal-making is replacing collective action, fragmenting the multilateral system. As a rules-based order gives way to something more chaotic, civil society’s opportunities to engage are withering. All this is happening as huge transnational problems mount up, including the climate crisis, economic inequality, impunity for conflict atrocities and the repression of civic space.

The race to succeed Guterres

Against this backdrop, someone new will take the helm. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s second term expires at the end of the year, and states are now choosing his successor.

Civil society is calling for a feminist woman leader who puts human rights first. Yet human rights feature little in the debate. A former UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has pulled out because straw polls among the 15 Security Council members, a key stage of the process, showed she lacked support.

In each poll, states can ‘encourage’ or ‘discourage’ a candidacy, or express ‘no opinion’. So far, five rounds have proved inconclusive. Former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan has emerged as frontrunner, but the latest poll saw her receive six ‘discourage’ votes compared to three in the round before. No candidate commands overwhelming backing and it’s possible other candidates will come forward.

Civil society is trying to engage, but ultimately states don’t have to publicly justify their decisions. Because the Security Council is central to the process, the final say rests with its five permanent members, China, France, Russia, the UK and the USA, any of which can veto a candidate they dislike. Opaque negotiations are therefore likely to produce a compromise candidate that China, Russia and the USA find sufficiently inoffensive.

As the race heats up, there are signs candidates are avoiding speaking about issues that may be seen as contentious for fear of losing support. States that back particular candidates may decide not to ask difficult questions that could cost them votes. As a result, important matters such as Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the rights of excluded groups are being sidelined. Anyone who sees themselves as a world leader should be taking these issues on, but candidates’ refusal to do so shows how firmly powerful states are calling the shots.

One candidate, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, has been the target of a Wall Street Journal hit piece over comments condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, made in her role as Guyana’s ambassador to the UN. The intent is clearly to encourage the USA to block her.

Civil society expects a global voice of conscience, someone prepared to go further than serving states and willing to speak up on the issues candidates are now avoiding. History shows that, even in difficult times, the personality and leadership style of the secretary-general can make a difference. Whoever prevails will have to steer the UN through crisis and rebuild respect for the institution and the broader promise of multilateralism, and that means putting human rights first.

Access needed

When they next meet, national leaders will have the opportunity to shape the future of development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the set of 17 interconnected goals agreed by every UN member state in 2015, expire in 2030. Next year’s SDG Summit will consider what should come next.

In these difficult times, civil society faces the challenge of asserting a progressive vision and pushing for goals that make a real difference. But civil society remains excluded. It was once again forced to the sidelines for this high-level session. The passes of organisations that have cleared accreditation hurdles and normally have access to UN headquarters are suspended at these annual meetings. This speaks of a broader exclusion. The UN has failed to advance even modest proposals to recognise civil society’s role, such as instituting a UN civil society day or appointing an envoy to coordinate civil society engagement.

Meanwhile, the UN’s funding crisis is further impacting on civil society’s participation. The USA is the chief culprit, owing around US$4.2 billion in contributions. The USA and other powerful states are defunding and sidelining the UN’s human rights functions, which civil society most engages with. The result is job cuts, curtailed mandates and fewer opportunities for civil society participation.

The arrival of a new secretary-general and the debate on new development goals bring not just challenges but also opportunities. To seize them, civil society will need to build stronger coalitions and collaborate more closely than ever. It must engage constructively with the next secretary-general while raising expectations, putting stronger access and partnerships on the table.

A state-centric UN will fail. A UN that hopes to make a difference on big problems, rebuild respect for human rights and win an increasingly contested argument for the value of multilateralism can’t keep excluding civil society. The next secretary-general must champion an open and accountable UN that recognises civil society as an essential partner.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

 

 

 

It follows the death last week of a man who had arrived in Kenya after travelling from DR Congo.

Formula 1 will return to Africa in the early 2030s, but Rwanda's deal to stage a race has prompted accusations of sportswashing against the country.

Formula 1 will return to Africa in the early 2030s, but Rwanda's deal to stage a race has prompted accusations of sportswashing against the country.

A Liverpool fan denies racially aggravated behaviour during a match against Bournemouth in 2025.

A Liverpool fan denies racially aggravated behaviour during a match against Bournemouth in 2025.

Im Restaurant Trinkgeld zu geben ist nicht obligatorisch, aber üblich. Doch wie ist das im Hotel? Und wem soll man wie viel überreichen?

Ein Angestellter der KI-Firma OpenAI soll im Sitzungszimmer der Chefetage eine Wanze versteckt haben. Die Firma kam dem mutmasslichen Spitzel nach eigenen Angaben dank ihrer KI auf die Spur.

Die Schweizer Frauen-Nati setzt sich gegen Israel mit 9:3 im Gesamtskore durch und trifft nun in der zweiten Runde auf Österreich. Leila Wandeler will noch nicht zu fest feiern.

Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam imposed a curfew after days of unrest that first began over water shortages.

South African sprinter Sinesipho Dambile says comparisons with Usain Bolt are a “privilege” as he targets World Championship and Olympic glory after a breakout season.