News headlines in 2022, page 260

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom, Feb 22 (IPS) - Vladimir Putin’s recognition of the independence of the two breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk followed a surreal live broadcast of a security council meeting in the Kremlin. Sitting facing the 13-member council, Putin cajoled and argued as, one by one, his most senior officials – including Dmitry Medvedev, a former president and prime minister, and the country’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov – took to the lectern to provide their boss with “reasons” for the formal recognition of the two republics in the country’s east as independent states.

Parents and pregnant women globally are exposed to aggressive marketing for baby formula milk, according to a report launched jointly by two UN agencies on Tuesday.

The latest developments in Ukraine are testing “the entire international system”, Secretary-General António Guterres said at a media stakeout on Tuesday, adding “we must pass this test.”

MEXICO CITY, Feb 22 (IPS) - The debate in Mexico and at an international level is focused on certain minerals that are fundamental to the energy transition, such as cobalt, lithium and nickel. But there are other indispensable minerals that remain in the background.

The BA.2 virus, a sublineage of the Omicron COVID-19 mutation, should continue to be considered a variant of concern, scientists convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Local elections in the Central African Republic (CAR), which have been pending since 1988 and are slated for September, will deepen efforts to decentralize power and expand political space, the UN envoy for the country told the Security Council on Tuesday, encouraging the new Government to “deploy all possible efforts” to calm the political climate.

People must be at the heart of post-pandemic recovery, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told a global meeting that opened on Tuesday to examine the economic and social impact of the crisis. 

Blantyre, Malawi, Feb 22 (IPS) - On the night of January 24, 2022, as Cyclone Ana-triggered rains incessantly rattled on the rusty roof of her house, amid intervals of gusty winds, a thud woke up Josephine Kumwanje from her sleep.

The island nation of Madagascar is shoring up for its fourth tropical cyclone in a month, UN aid agencies warned on Tuesday, as they outlined plans to help the authorities assist the most vulnerable. 

Following Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of certain areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday added her voice to the UN’s growing chorus of alarm.