Air pollution causes premature death of 1,200 young Europeans annually
According to the EEA’s latest assessment, dirty air kills well over a thousand under 18s across the continent every year and significantly increases the risk of disease later in life. Despite improvements in recent years, ‘the level of key air pollutants in many European countries remains stubbornly above World Health...
Current in People
Is free public transport a fundamental right?
In 2020, Luxembourg became the first country to scrap public transport fees. Its residents now believe that free public transport is a fundamental right. Could the scheme work in other countries? Free public transport is a rarity around the world. So rather than pay a daily fee to get from point...
Ugandan parliament to criminalise LGBTQ identification
Uganda has been known for its conservative views on LGBTQ rights, with the country's government and society being largely intolerant of homosexuality. With the new anti-homosexuality bill passed this week, parliament has imposed the death penalty for some offences. In a shocking move, Uganda has passed a bill criminalising homosexuality...
Florida lawmakers look to ban ‘period talk’ in local schools
Mere months before discussions about sexual orientation become prohibited in state-wide Florida schools, Republicans are now looking to do the same for lessons and discussions about menstruation. Republicans in Florida have been on a mad one for quite some time. Last year, they passed the Don’t Say Gay bill, which will...
Honduras lifts ban on emergency contraception pill
In a major win for reproductive rights, Honduras’ first female president has just lifted the country’s near-total ban on the morning-after pill. Last November, President Xiomara Castro relaxed Honduras’ complete prohibition- the only country in the world with a blanket ban- however only in cases of rape. The executive order was...
Exclusive – Isaias Hernandez sees climate justice as multifaceted
The Gen Z environmental educator, who goes by ‘queerbrownvegan’ on social media, is committed to guaranteeing that the links between the disparate issues feeding into our ecological emergency are well understood. We spoke to him about why centring identity, race, and indigeneity in the conversation is decidedly necessary for...
Colombia was the deadliest country in the world for activists last year
Almost half of all human rights defenders murdered in 2022 were from the Latin American nation, accounting for 186 killings – or 46% – of the global total registered during that period. Last year was the deadliest on record for human rights activists in Colombia. According to a new report by non-profit Front Line Defenders, of the 401 people promoting environmental, racial, and gender justice killed in 2022,...
Growing concern in Seychelles over heroin abuse
Heroin abuse is causing widespread concern in Seychelles. Due to high unemployment and limited opportunities for young people, drug use is on the rise. Seychelles is the least populated sovereign African country with only 99,000 citizens, half of which are below 25 years old. Despite its low population, it has the highest per capita rate of heroin abuse in the world according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and...
How gang violence is upending Haitian lives
The rise of gang activity has brought the country to a halt, as locals seek homegrown ways to regain agency. A deepening political crisis is currently gripping Haiti and the international community is paying little attention. Rising gang activity has kept Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in rigid captivity. Few locals have access to food, water, or healthcare. As gang activity spreads to more rural areas, farming and food production are also...
Taliban closes women’s beauty parlours in Afghanistan
In the latest reduction of access to public spaces for Afghan women, one of the last remaining refuges they have left has been declared un-Islamic by the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. In 2021, the world watched in horror as the Taliban, taking advantage of America’s withdrawal from the region, seized power in Afghanistan. Triggering concerns that this would signify the country’s return to its repressive past,...
