Rome, Italy, Jul 20 (IPS) - The third wave of Covid-19 is sweeping through Myanmar, from the high narrow buildings of the commercial capital Yangon to bamboo houses in rural areas.

WASHINGTON DC, Jul 20 (IPS) - The forthcoming UN Secretary-General’s “Our Common Agenda” report, to be released before this year’s UN General Assembly High-Level Week, is expected to offer ambitious recommendations to accelerate the realization of the UN75 Declaration as the world comes to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the “horrific bomb attack targeting civilians” at a busy market in the north-east of the Iraqi capital, just before the Eid al-Adha holiday.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 20 (IPS) - Despite facing the world’s worst pandemic of the last century, rich countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) have blocked efforts to enable more affordable access to the means to fight the pandemic.

Survivors of a massacre of mainly Muslims in the former Yugoslavia, and people associated with the perpetrators of what has become known as the Srebrenica genocide, have been telling their stories in a new exhibition by the United Nations, released 26 years after the events took place.

Marking World Chess Day on Tuesday, the UN is celebrating the fact that while COVID-19 has forced most sports to scale down, this ancient game of intellect, not brute strength, has demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability throughout months of lockdown worldwide.

The UN human rights chief on Monday said the apparent widespread use of Pegasus spy software to illegally undermine the rights of those under surveillance, including journalists and politicians, was “extremely alarming” and confirmed “some of the worst fears” surrounding the potential misuse of such technology. 

Deteriorating economic conditions since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic have fuelled an increase in domestic violence and forced marriage in Sudan, a UN-backed study has revealed. 

MEXICO CITY, Jul 19 (IPS) - In June, the Department of Homeland Security made a critical announcement. For the first time in U.S. history, more than 15 national and local agencies and civilian organizations conducted a simultaneous major binational operation to find missing children inside and outside the United States.

BRIGHTON, UK, Jul 19 (IPS) - The UK government’s decision to reduce its Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget from 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) to 0.5% -- a cut of around £4 billion this year -- was confirmed last week by a majority of 35 votes in a House of Commons vote.