News headlines in 2022, page 277

The COVID-19 vaccination rate in Africa needs to increase six-fold for the continent to meet the 70 per cent target set for the middle of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. 

LONDON, Feb 03 (IPS) - Driven by unprecedented hardship to pass round the begging bowl, Sri Lanka has become the centre of a tussle between Asia’s two superpowers.

Around 1.5 million Ukrainians have been forced from their homes since fighting in the far east of the country began in 2014. The UN and other humanitarian organizations are supporting those who have been displaced, as they try to adjust to their new lives.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 02 (IPS) - Accustomed for decades to recurring economic crises, and hit hard in recent years by a steady loss of purchasing power, Argentines were informed on Friday Jan. 28 of a last-minute agreement with the IMF which, in the words of center-left President Alberto Fernández, takes "the noose off their necks".

COVID infections and deaths in North America continue to rise, as hospitalizations increase throughout the whole continent, the head of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office said on Wednesday.

At least 50 people, including women and children, were killed in an attack on Tuesday night at a site for internally displaced people in Savo, Ituri Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN said on Wednesday.

Humanitarians are scaling up assistance in the Philippines to assist hundreds of thousands still impacted by Typhoon Rai which struck the islands seven weeks ago, the UN said on Wednesday, launching a $169 million revised appeal to meet the urgent and growing needs.  

Following reports on Wednesday of civilian casualties during airstrikes on the Iraqi city of Ninewa, the UN Assistance Mission (UNAMI) reiterated that Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity “must be respected at all times”.

MADRID, Feb 02 (IPS) - This is about Wetlands, which are considered as a natural solution to the global threat of climate change. They absorb carbon dioxide, help slow global heating and reduce pollution, hence they are often referred to as the “Kidneys of the Earth”.

CANBERRA, Australia, Feb 02 (IPS) - Corruption continues to have a crippling effect on the lives of many people in southwest Pacific Island countries, exacerbating hardship and inequality and eroding human and national development.