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Post Galwan, the Sino-Indian military balance has become more skewed. India’s procurement and defense industrial ecosystem has also led to lags in enhancing its military power.

A BBTE BTK Magyar Néprajz és Antropológia Tanszéke, az EME Bölcsészet-, Nyelv- és Történettudományi Szakosztálya, a Kriza János Néprajzi Társaság és az MTA KAB Néprajzi és Antropológiai Intézet által október közepén szervezett tudományos seregszemle házigazdája és főszervezője Keszeg Vilmos néprajztudós, egyetemi oktató volt, aki a Kolozsvári Rádió kérdéseire is válaszolt. Őt hallhatják az összeállítás első […]

Articolul Interjúk az erdélyi magyar néprajzkutatás csúcsrendezvényéről apare prima dată în Kolozsvári Rádió Románia.

Les démocrates ont pris le contrôle du Congrès pour le reste de la présidence de Donald Trump, ce qui est source de réjouissances.

Une délégation d'Amnesty International Bénin, conduite par son Directeur exécutif, Dieudonné DAGBETO, a été reçue à l'Union des Professionnels des Médias du Bénin (UPMB), ce mardi 3 novembre 2026. La liberté de la presse et le Code du numérique étaient les principaux sujets de discussions.

Pour réaliser ses ambitions, la 8e mandature de l'UPMB peut compter sur le soutien d'Amnesty International Bénin. Le Directeur exécutif a échangé avec le président, Hervé Prudence HESSOU ce mardi 3 novembre 2026. Plusieurs sujets dont notamment, la liberté de la presse et le Code du numérique en étaient au menu des discussions.

Selon un communiqué de l'UPMB, l'appui d'organisations de défense des droits humains comme Amnesty International est indispensable pour transformer les ambitions du mandat, en réalités concrètes. Les initiatives visant à assouplir les dispositions du Code numérique, avec les articles 550 et suivants ont été également abordées.

Au terme des échanges, les deux parties ont réaffirmé la nécessité de mener un « plaidoyer vigoureux » pour la relecture de ces textes.
Pour Amnesty International Bénin, la protection des journalistes ne relève pas seulement du corporatisme, mais un pilier fondamental de la démocratie et de l'État de droit.

Les échanges entre Hervé Prudence HESSOU et Dieudonné DAGBETO laissent entrevoir des perspectives de collaboration entre Amnesty International Bénin et l'UPMB. Cette collaboration pourrait se traduire par des ateliers de formation pour les journalistes, des campagnes de sensibilisation communes et des actions de lobbying direct auprès des législateurs et des autorités compétentes.

F. A. A.

Dr Lindon Havimana from Solomon Islands National University (SINU) and Dr Christopher Cornwall from Victoria University of Wellington collect intertidal samples from the rocky shore for incubation experiments during PIOAC training in Wellington.

By Sera Sefeti
SUVA, Fiji, Nov 4 2026 (IPS)

The Pacific Ocean connects thousands of islands, and understanding how ocean acidification is unfolding across the region requires more than individual research projects or monitoring stations.

Scientists need observations from different island environments, collected over time, to understand how seawater chemistry is changing and what those changes could mean for marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

The work is being strengthened through regional collaboration, with Pacific scientists sharing data, technical knowledge and research experience to build a more complete picture of a changing ocean.

Dr Katy Soapi, Pacific Community (SPC) Coordinator for the Pacific Community Centre for Ocean Science and a Pacific scientist, says the broader scientific community is aware that ocean chemistry is changing. The priority is now building local evidence to understand how those changes may affect different island environments.

“What Pacific scientists are now doing is building the local evidence needed to understand how those changes may impact our different island environments,” Soapi said.

“At many of our monitoring sites, we are seeing considerable natural variability in pH over days, months and seasons, which is normal,” she said. “It is important to capture this data over time because coastal waters are influenced by temperature, rainfall, freshwater inputs, biological activity, land-based pollution and local oceanographic conditions.”

PIOAC members with Salesa Nihmei from SPREP and a representative from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at the 6th International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO₂ World, Tākina Wellington. Credit: SPC

Monitoring programmes are at different stages across the region. Fiji has an established programme, with monitoring in the Suva area since 2023 and data that contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 14.3.1 reporting.

Samoa has received support through access to monitoring equipment, training and technical advice, while the Solomon Islands programme is newer, with scientists from Solomon Islands National University receiving regional and in-country training as they establish the technical capacity for long-term monitoring. Kiribati and Papua New Guinea also have their own monitoring histories and research priorities.

These differences matter when comparing observations across the Pacific.

“This variation is important; a harbour in Fiji, a lagoon in Kiribati, coastal waters in Samoa or reef environments in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea can experience very different combinations of temperature, rainfall, freshwater input, current, biological activity and human pressure,” Soapi said.

“The Pacific is connected, but it is not environmentally uniform.

“This is why local monitoring is important and why we cannot rely solely on regional or global averages.”

Manibua Rota from the Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources (MFOR), Kiribati, presents on ocean acidification monitoring in Kiribati at the 6th International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO₂ World, Tākina, Wellington. Credit: SPC

Connecting the Science Across the Pacific

The Pacific Islands Ocean Acidification Centre (PIOAC), established in 2021, supports efforts to connect national monitoring programmes and strengthen scientific capacity across the region.

The Centre brings together the SPC, the University of the South Pacific, the University of Otago and Earth Sciences New Zealand, formerly NIWA.

PIOAC’s work spans the Pacific, through joint work and ongoing discussions with nine Pacific Island countries and territories: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Samoa, Tokelau and New Caledonia.

Its work includes providing monitoring equipment, technical advice, training, sensor troubleshooting, data management and quality assurance. It also connects Pacific researchers with international monitoring networks and supports countries in contributing data to regional and global reporting processes.

For scientists working in small teams across geographically dispersed islands, this support helps build the technical capacity needed to maintain monitoring programmes and generate reliable data over time.

Azaria Pickering, an ocean monitoring and technical officer at SPC in Fiji, says regional cooperation has changed how scientists approach monitoring.

“We’ve moved from monitoring our waters as individual countries to building a collective understanding of what’s happening across our Pacific Ocean,” she said.

“Through the Pacific Islands Ocean Acidification Centre and regional partnerships, we’ve created a community where knowledge is shared and challenges are solved together.”

She said the use of common equipment, methods and training was helping countries strengthen their monitoring programmes at home.

“We’re beginning to close critical data gaps across the region and use that evidence to engage our governments, shape national priorities and bring the Pacific’s experience of ocean acidification into global conversations, including at COP.”

For Dr Aleluia Taise of the National University of Samoa, the research is closely connected to the future of Pacific communities.

“As Pacific Islander marine scientists, we believe it is our responsibility as citizens and custodians of the Pacific Ocean to address priority issues affecting our livelihoods and wellbeing,” she said.

Taise says there remains a critical lack of scientific evidence needed to understand the effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs and coastal ecosystems.

“Research must be supported by stronger institutional backing, policy alignment and collaboration with regional and international partners to ensure it can continue.”

Azaria Pickering from SPC selects macroalgae from the holding tank for the biological incubation tests during PIOAC training at the Victoria University of Wellington Coastal Ecology Lab (VUCEL). Credit: SPC

From Measuring Seawater to Understanding Marine Life

While monitoring seawater chemistry provides information about changing ocean conditions, scientists also need to understand how these changes affect marine organisms.

This is the next area of research being developed by Pacific scientists.

In Wellington, scientists from Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Kiribati took part in biological experiments training from 5 to 9 October, gaining practical experience in studying how marine organisms respond to ocean acidification and higher temperatures.

The training is intended to strengthen research connecting changes in seawater chemistry with their potential effects on corals, shellfish and other marine organisms.

Soapi said biological research would help scientists develop studies around locally important species and better understand the implications for reefs, fisheries and livelihoods.

“Monitoring seawater chemistry tells us how conditions are changing, while biological research helps us understand what those changes could mean for the organisms that support our reefs, fisheries and livelihoods,” she said.

For Dr Lindon Havimana of Solomon Islands National University, the research is also about ensuring scientific knowledge reaches communities before the impacts become more pronounced.

His interest in ocean acidification research stems from a responsibility to understand, anticipate and communicate changes taking place in the ocean and to consider how communities can prepare for a threat whose impacts may not yet be fully visible.

“I believe that the greatest value of science lies not only in understanding environmental change but also in ensuring that knowledge reaches people early enough to make a difference,” Havimana said.

“As scientists, we have a responsibility to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and community preparedness, transforming evidence into awareness, awareness into action, and action into resilience.”

He said the implications extended beyond ocean chemistry to the health of marine ecosystems, coastal fisheries, food security and the continuation of traditional practices.

Participants from Samoa, Kiribati and Solomon Islands remove their monitored species after a 30-minute incubation at different pH and temperature conditions on Day 1 of the experiment during PIOAC training. Credit: SPC

Taking Pacific Research to the International Stage

These regional efforts were represented at the sixth International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO₂ World, held in Wellington, New Zealand, from 13 to 16 October.

The symposium brought together the international scientific community under the theme Moving from Understanding to Action using Multiple Knowledge Systems.

Discussions examined ocean acidification alongside ocean warming, deoxygenation and other pressures affecting marine ecosystems, with a focus on strengthening scientific understanding and connecting research with action.

For Pacific scientists, participation provided an opportunity to present regional research, exchange knowledge and strengthen relationships with the international scientific community.

It also highlighted the challenges facing island countries, including limited monitoring coverage, equipment maintenance, technical expertise and sustained funding.

Dr Kim Currie, an ocean acidification consultant working with SPC, said access to scientific resources differed across Pacific countries.

“Some countries like Fiji, Samoa and the Solomon Islands have the resources to do the careful measurements that are needed, but other countries do not yet have the scientist and equipment necessary to do this work,” she said.

“Working with regional and overseas partners to share knowledge and skills is one important step towards understanding how the Pacific Ocean will cope in the future.”

For Soapi, the importance of that support is also shaped by her own experience as a researcher.

Reflecting on her early work in ocean acidification, she recalled the challenges of deploying monitoring equipment and working in a field where regional scientific support was limited.

“I had received training, but I was nervous about deploying equipment – this was all part and partial of being isolated and being new in a field,” she said.

That experience has stayed with her and influenced her commitment to supporting other Pacific scientists, particularly those working in small teams across large distances.

“For me, coming together means building a Pacific community of scientists who can support each other, share knowledge and collectively understand the changes taking place across our ocean.”

The work underway across the region is still developing. More monitoring, biological research, technical training and sustained support are needed to strengthen the evidence available to Pacific countries.

But by connecting national research programmes and bringing scientists together, the region is building a stronger foundation for understanding ocean acidification.

The aim is not to produce one picture of the entire Pacific but to bring together the different observations and experiences that explain how a changing ocean is affecting individual islands, ecosystems and communities.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

Related Articles

• Beyond the Horizon: Raising a Generation to Protect the Blue Pacific
• Pacific Ocean Under Pressure — Now a Region Finally Armed With Evidence
• Bridging Knowledge Systems: How Pacific Communities Are Reclaiming Climate Solutions Through Nature

Excerpt:

From Fiji and Samoa to the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea, Pacific scientists are connecting research, monitoring and expertise to better understand how changing ocean chemistry is affecting the region's marine environments.

Nur wenige Beschäftigte nutzten 2025 am Arbeitsplatz regelmäßig KI – Vor allem junge und hochgebildete Männer in digitalen Berufen kommen häufig mit KI in Kontakt – Digitale Kluft könnte wachsen – Gezielte Förderung nötig, um möglichst viele Beschäftigte am technologischen Wandel teilhaben zu lassen ...

À la tête de la direction des cérémonies des JOJ de Dakar, Khady Niang est sortie de l’ombre grâce au succès éclatant de la cérémonie d’ouverture des Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse. Une cérémonie qu’elle revendique « profondément humaine », conçue comme un geste de fierté et de réappropriation africaines, portée par l’histoire, le quotidien et l’énergie de la jeunesse plutôt que par la surenchère technologique. Diplômée en finance, avec un parcours atypique qui l’a menée de la banque à l’entrepreneuriat dans le maquillage, puis au poste de maquilleuse en chef sur les films d’Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu, Black Tea), elle revient en exclusivité pour RFI sur sa mission à la tête des cérémonies, avec une énergie intacte.

De Berlin à Tunis, de Dakar à Antananarivo, la création africaine et diasporique s’empare des musées, festivals et galeries pour interroger violences coloniales, identités noires, héritages sénégalais et imaginaires cosmologiques. Voici des rendez‑vous des cultures afro et africaine à ne pas manquer en ce mois de novembre. Et n’hésitez pas à nous envoyer vos prochains événements culturels « incontournables » à l’adresse rfipageculture@yahoo.fr.

La finance islamique progresse d’environ 20 % par an en Algérie et représente déjà 6 à 7 % du marché bancaire. Le projet de loi […]

L’article Finance islamique en Algérie : pourquoi les financements « halal » coûteront moins cher en 2027 est apparu en premier sur .

La rencontre intervenue mardi 3 novembre entre le chef de la MONUSCO, James Swan, et Joseph Kabila, désormais à la tête du Front pour la refondation de la nation (FRN), est relayée par les médias ce mercredi matin.

Chaque hiver, des appareils de chauffage et des chauffe-eau mal aérés ou mal entretenus provoquent des intoxications au monoxyde de carbone. Quelques gestes simples suffisent […]

L’article Chauffage et chauffe-eau : comment éviter le monoxyde de carbone cet hiver en Algérie est apparu en premier sur .

Russian recruitment tactics on social media are similar to those used by scam center criminals.

By Anis Chowdhury
SYDNEY, Nov 4 2026 (IPS)

As in previous elections, the latest Israeli national election offered people no real choice. They had to choose between bad Zionists and good Zionists. Thus, unsurprisingly, there is no clear winner – both major blocs are neck and neck as usual. The only difference this time is the Arab voting power. By uniting and turning out in record numbers, the Arab coalition secured 19 seats (nearly double the 10 it won in 2022), against the Netanyahu-led bloc’s 53 and the Gadi Eisenkot-led bloc’s 48. Neither bloc has a governable majority, so many are looking to the Arab bloc as a kingmaker, either joining formally or supporting one of the blocs on the no-confidence and supply bills. But they are on the horns of a dilemma, caught between a rock and a hard place.

Anis Chowdhury

Bad Zionist and Good Zionist

The Gaza genocide and state-sponsored unprecedented settler violence have made Benjamin Netanyahu and his extreme rightist coalition partners bad Zionists. They have become indefensible to the so-called liberal Zionist friends of apartheid Israel. So, they have pinned their hope on a good Zionist retired General Gadi Eisenkot. To them, General Gadi Eisenkot is a good Zionist, not because he will stop Gaza genocide or ethnic cleansing of the occupied West Bank, but because he will apparently manage it better or make Zionism’s ugly face less visible to the world. So, in the lead-up to Israel’s 27 October election, the liberal Zionists declared this would be “the most consequential” in Israel’s history.

However, there is no good Zionist for the Palestinians or Arabs. The so-called good Zionist Eisenkot served in Netanyahu’s government for eight months during the Gaza genocide. He resigned not because he opposed the Gaza genocide; he differed with Netanyahu only on strategies. So, he is responsible for a long list of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Eisenkot was the Israeli military’s chief of staff when Israeli soldiers massacred nearly 200 unarmed Palestinians in Gaza in 2018. He is credited with being the mastermind of the Israeli’s army’s “Dahiya Doctrine”, which calls for disproportionate force against civilians. Eisenkot opposes Palestinian statehood, wants to perpetuate Israel’s apartheid system, and supports Israel’s illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Eisenkot’s coalition partner, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, entered politics as Netanyahu’s chief of staff. He served in the Sayeret Matkal and Maglan special forces units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and was accused of involvement in the massacre of more than one hundred Lebanese civilians in Qana in 1996. Bennett has openly called for the extrajudicial killing of Palestinians, while he reportedly told a national security advisor, “If you catch terrorists (i.e., a Palestinian), you simply have to kill them”.

Eisenkot’s other coalition partner, Avigdor Liberman, a former Netanyahu minister, has advocated that Israel’s citizens should sign a loyalty oath or lose their right to vote.

Lieberman justified the killing of at least 189 unarmed Palestinian protesters during the great March of Return in April 2018 by declaring that there are “no innocents in Gaza”.

Another Eisenkot coalition partner, General Yair Golan, considered the most “left-wing”, was previously the army’s deputy chief of staff. He has been one of the most strident advocates of genocidal crimes against Palestinians in Gaza. On 13 October 2023, Golan said in an interview with Ynet: “First of all, close all the electricity switches to Gaza. I think that in this battle, it is forbidden to allow a humanitarian effort. We need to say to them: listen, until the [captives] are released, from our side, you can die from starvation. It’s totally legitimate”. Thus, Golan echoed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s infamous statement that Gaza would receive “no power, no food, no gas” because Israel is “fighting human animals, and will act accordingly.”

Therefore, the Eisenkot-led coalition cannot offer any hope to the Palestinians. If bad Zionist Netanyahu is a rock, Eisenkot-led anti-Netanyahu is a hard place for them.

No good Zionist

There is simply no good Zionist. As the UK Green Party’s recently adopted motion says, Zionism is a form of racism. Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser, a Jewish child of Holocaust survivors, exposed the ugly truth about Zionism in his rigorously researched book, Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History.

Another child of Holocaust survivors, political scientist Norman Finkelstein has been more critical of the Zionist project, as contained in his several books, the most recent being Gaza’s Gravediggers: An Inquiry Into Corruption in High Places. His research has exposed the darkest side of the Zionist project, the apartheid state of Israel.

The Devil you know and the Devil you don’t know

The newly found Arab power will be most effective by accelerating the downfall of the apartheid state. This can only happen if the known Devil Netanyahu remains in power and the delusion of good Zionism is buried. Netanyahu is not the problem as the so-called liberal Zionists are trying to present; the problem is the Zionist project itself.

The New York Times insists “Israel has always been two things: a Jewish state and a liberal democracy”. One should not be misled by such nice slogans. An apartheid state cannot be a liberal democracy. It is an oxymoron.

Anis Chowdhury, Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University (Australia). He held senior UN positions in Bangkok and New York and served as Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor for Finance (with the status and rank of State Minister) in the Professor Yunus-led Interim Government. E-mail: anis.z.chowdhury@gmail.com; a.chowdhury@westernsydney.edu.au

IPS UN Bureau

 

 

 

 

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• Frankenstein in Charge: Netanyahu Rejects Trump’s Gaza Plan
• Gaza Massacre and Western Hypocrisy
• ‘Unbounded’ Impunity Emboldens Israel
• The West’s Frankenstein Moment

La justice a choisi une méthode radicale pour lutter contre, selon elle, la recrudescence de l’absentéisme scolaire : l’interpellation des enfants. Depuis la semaine dernière, au moins une dizaine d’élèves ont été arrêtés à Conakry et à Kankan, et certains soumis à des travaux d’intérêt général. Des parents d’élèves sont aussi poursuivis pour n’avoir pas veillé à l’assiduité scolaire de leurs enfants.

Avant d’importer une voiture, mieux vaut savoir combien coûtera le dédouanement. Les Douanes algériennes proposent un simulateur gratuit pour estimer les droits et taxes d’un […]

L’article Simulateur des Douanes algériennes : calculer les droits et taxes de sa voiture importée en 4 étapes est apparu en premier sur .

Les citoyens sud-africains sont appelés aux urnes, ce mercredi 4 novembre, pour des élections locales. Plus de 500 partis sont enregistrés auprès de la Commission électorale, pour tenter de remporter les quelque 10 000 sièges de conseillers municipaux. Il s’agit d’un nouveau test pour le Congrès National Africain (ANC), marqué par le désamour et l’érosion de son électorat.

La route nationale 23 (RN23), qui relie Gemena à Zongo dans la province du Sud-Ubangi, se trouve dans un état de dégradation avancé en cette saison des pluies. Cette situation perturbe fortement l’approvisionnement de Zongo, ville frontalière située à environ 260 kilomètres de Gemena, et entraîne une hausse des prix des produits de première nécessité sur les marchés locaux, a fait savoir mardi 3 novembre, la société civile de Zongo.

Chômage, criminalité, déliquescence des infrastructures, corruption… Le pays, dirigé depuis 1994 par le Congrès national africain, est rongé par de multiples crises. Le parti est annoncé au coude-à-coude avec l’Alliance démocratique lors du scrutin municipal de mercredi 4 novembre.