News headlines in 2022, page 274

United Nations Security Council sanctions are no longer the “blunt instrument” they once were, having transformed since the 1990s into “a vital tool” that minimizes negative consequences for civilians, and States that are not directly being targeted.

Feb 07 (IPS) - As an agricultural and environmental scientist, I’ve worked for decades exploring the practical challenges that smallholder farmers encounter in East Africa. These include controlling weeds that can choke their crops and looking for new ways to deal with pests or diseases that threaten their harvests.

Tropical Cyclone Batsirai wrought havoc across Madagascar over the weekend, the second deadly storm to batter the African island nation since the beginning of the year.

As the debris clears, the scale of destruction is laid bare. When Super Typhoon Rai - Odette as it’s known locally - barrelled down on the Philippines on 16 December, its 195km/h winds and torrential rain tore through hundreds of thousands of homes, businesses and vital infrastructure, putting millions of lives in peril.

Newly published research from the Netherlands has revealed the existence of a more transmissible and damaging variant of HIV, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said on Monday.

NEW DELHI, Feb 07 (IPS) - The year 2021 began with several new vaccines showing efficacy in randomized trials, but despite 26 authorised Covid-19 vaccines globally, and at least another 200 in development (The Lancet, 2021), the first few weeks of year 2022 brought a sense of uncertainty.

KIGALI/ BERLIN/ KUALA LUMPUR/ KINGSTON, Feb 07 (IPS) - The global challenges we face are too complex for governance as usual. It is high time to strengthen the United Nations’ (UN) democratic and participatory character.

A young Haitian man is rebuilding his life, with the support of the UN, after being held in detention for three years, from the age of 15, when he was wrongfully accused of stealing from a local shopkeeper. Many others, like him, spend a prolonged period of time behind bars, before their case comes to trial.

Forty years ago, Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo, known as Pati, left the Mexican city of Querétaro with her family in search of a simple rural life. Instead, she ended up leading and inspiring a group of some 17,000 local environmental activists, devoted to protecting the remote and beautiful Sierra Gorda.

The UN Secretary-General on Saturday said that Africa was “a source of hope” for the world, highlighting the examples of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Decade of Financial and Economic Inclusion for African Women.