During Wednesday’s World Health Organization briefing on COVID-19, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for funding to fight the spread of the deadly Delta variant while also asking wealthy countries to suspend plans to provide booster shots. 

KATHMANDU, Aug 18 (IPS) - Do you think it’s possible to transform communities that are stagnating from a lack of currency into places where people’s income-generating activities create a vibrant, self-sustaining circular economy?  It is in parts of Kenya that are using the community currency Sarafu, according to today’s guest.

Amidst an “alarming rise in hateful discourse” against transgender people globally, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned that this community still lacks safeguards against abuse.

Aug 18 (IPS) - Despite a June 30 unilateral ceasefire declaration by Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed, United Nations agencies say a recent escalation in fighting has been ‘disastrous’ for children, amid reports of over 100 children being killed in an attack on displaced families.

The delivery of lifesaving aid and medical supplies to millions of Afghans must not be cut, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, citing a more than threefold rise in the number of trauma cases.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands, Aug 18 (IPS) - Ransomware is deploying its encryption right on your computer. The malicious process runs in the background as you continue your everyday activities suspecting no cyber disaster ahead.

Aug 17 (IPS) - As the Taliban takes control of the country, Afghanistan has again become an extremely dangerous place to be a woman.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday urged countries to step up support to Haiti as the country recovers from a deadly earthquake under the clouds of a tropical storm.  

Afghanistan faces a “cultural disaster”, following the fall of Kabul to Taliban forces, a UN Special Rapporteur said on Tuesday, in a statement urging countries to provide urgent assistance to human rights defenders, including those working on women’s and cultural rights, as well as artists, trying to flee the country. 

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Aug 17 (IPS) - Does sport need to change to better serve society? What can sport and development actors do better in the future? How can sport play a greater role in contributing to development and peace? Can we reimagine the role of sport? Can we resolve the conflict and contradictions inherent within sport?