KARACHI, Jun 04 (IPS) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has been making sure that all foreign dignitaries visiting the country get their hands dirty. With a shovel and a watering can, they are invited to plant a tree for one of the largest reforestation initiatives in the world — the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme or TBTTP.

NEW DELHI, India, Jun 03 (IPS) - A Muslim call centre operator at a COVID-19 ‘war room’, who once saw himself a COVID-warrior, is now unemployed after being falsely branded by a top politician as a key member of a bed-for-bribe scam. He is a victim of the rise in Islamophobia in India as the country grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic – with scant evidence of condemnation from the authorities, say activists.

There has been no further investigation into the state of the FSO Safer, a stricken tanker anchored just 4.8 nautical miles off the Yemen coast, meaning the risk of a massive oil leak continues to grow with each passing day, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Thursday.  

Until those responsible for any and all chemical weapons use in Syria are held responsible, the global community will continue sending a message of impunity, the senior UN disarmament official warned the Security Council on Thursday.

The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has called for “clear and unequivocal guarantees” over the safety and security of staff working to restore critical services in Gaza, following last month’s conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas, which controls the occupied enclave.

NAIROBI, Jun 03 (IPS) - The number of girls who marry before their 15th birthday has remained unchanged for 20 years in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The region has the highest rate of child marriage, with nearly four in 10 girls married before age 18. In Niger, for example, over 77% of girls are married before the age of 18.

With factors contributing to transnational corruption becoming increasingly complex, the UN launched an initiative on Thursday to “empower all countries” to find practical solutions and better tools to track, investigate and prosecute the scourge.   

TORONTO, Canada, Jun 03 (IPS) - This week*, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is expected to endorse recommendations on agroecological and other innovative approaches for sustainable food systems, after an intense period of negotiation involving governments, UN agencies and institutions, Indigenous People’s organizations, civil society, and the private sector.

An independent UN expert has deplored a recent spate of attacks against human rights defenders in Nicaragua and called on Thursday for the Government to immediately halt them. 

Critical health facilities across Africa risk being overwhelmed by surging COVID-19 infections, the UN health agency said on Thursday.