This week's show features stories from Radio Deutsche-Welle, NHK Japan, France 24, and Radio Havana Cuba.

http://youthspeaksout.net/swr220902.mp3 (29:00)

From GERMANY- Extreme monsoon rains have left a third of Pakistan under water. 300,000 homes have been destroyed, and it may take 5 years to rebuild. The Foreign minister and the UN Secretary General both attribute the disaster to climate change. Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, the co-president of the Club of Rome, says the floods are proof that immediate action to curb climate change is essential, but points to numerous other droughts, heat waves and fires as further evidence. And that the most vulnerable people end up suffering the most, because of global inequality and poverty. She says that we are aware of the tools to reverse the causes, but we need to apply them. A US solar panel manufacturer plans to invest $1 billion to boost production and build a new factory in the US. The Amazon rainforest is burning at the highest rate in the past 10 years. The US Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan strait, and the Governor of Arizona visited the island further irritating China.

From JAPAN-The Japanese government is investigating spiritual sales by the religious group formerly known as the Unification Church, referred to as the Moonies sometimes, which was a factor in the assassination of ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe. Many people in Japan are mourning the death of Gorbachev. The Japanese Defense Ministry is requesting a record high budget to drastically enhance its weapons, including attack drones and missiles to add counter strike capabilities. The G20 met in Bali to discuss the climate crisis but failed to even produce a joint communique. In Ukraine the IAEA inspection of the nuclear power plant seized by Russian troops is beginning at my press time.

From FRANCE- Press reviews on the death of Mikhail Gorbachev from both the West and Russian sources. Then an analysis of his unpopularity in Russia in the last decade.

From CUBA- Colombian President Gustavo Petro attended the Andean Community Summit with Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, and called for the reintegration of Chile and Venezuela into the regional bloc. At the UN Security Council, Syria rejected the US justifications for its repeated attacks on Damascus, and called for an end to its illegal presence on Syrian territory. The Chinese government called the US looting of Syrian natural gas and oil terrible and accused them of depriving the Syrian people of the basic necessities of life.