UNITED NATIONS, Oct 07 (IPS) - The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and the UN Watch have called on UN member states to oppose the bids of some of the major human rights abusing governments from joining the Human Rights Council (HRC).

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 06 (IPS) - Countries of the Global South, also known as developing countries, share many principles in common when it comes to implementing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 06 (IPS) - It took Eritrean journalist Estifo seven years to save up enough money to pay a fixer to get him and his family from the capital, Asmara, to the shared border with Ethiopia. After they crossed the border by foot, they turned themselves in to the Ethiopian authorities and claimed asylum as refugees.

Oct 05 (IPS) - The 15 members of the UN Security Council jointly announced Wednesday their decision to select Antonio Guterres of Portugal as the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations.

LLANO BONITO, Costa Rica, Oct 05 (IPS) - "Our coffee production per hectare has dropped due to early ripening of the fruit and diseases," Maritza Cal coffee farmer in the mountains in southern Costa Rica, told IPS.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 05 (IPS) - The new US census data released in late September show that 3.5 million people in the US climbed out of poverty, as the tepid economic recovery continues. Employers are finally creating more jobs and paying higher wages than seven years after the Great Recession started following the 2008 financial crisis.

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 05 (IPS) - Civil society has been described as the oxygen of democracy by no less than UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. As the world's largest democracy, India has a proud history of inspiring people's movements and non-profit organisations looked up to by social change advocates across the globe.

BANGKOK, Oct 05 (IPS) - Advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have been instrumental in shaping and leading socioeconomic transformations across Asia and the Pacific. One key to this transformation is the technology bundled around the "Internet of Things" (IoT), which enables billions of devices and appliances to connect over the Internet for more accurate, real time data collection and analysis in an unparalleled scale. For instance, through Internet-connected sensors attached to equipment, facilities and infrastructure, early-on maintenance alarms can be raised for potential problems, such as defects or wear and tear, thereby potentially saving the lives of those using them. Another example is devices on farms that remotely monitor soil conditions, weather and pesticide use for more rapid and better-informed decision making.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 05 (IPS) - The UN has only limited access to Jebel Marra, the location in Sudan where Amnesty International alleges Sudanese government forces have used chemical weapons, UN Peacekeeping Chief Herve Ladsous said here Tuesday.

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 04 (IPS) - The dam supplying Johannesburg's water sits less than 30 percent full. Water restrictions have been in place since November and taxes on high water use since August. Food prices across South Africa have risen about 10 percent from last year, in large part due to water shortages.