News headlines in July 2023, page 2

Despite the welcome news that more than seven in 10 people on the planet – 5.6 billion - are now protected by measures to curb the dangers of tobacco smoke, 8.7 million people still die from tobacco-related diseases every year, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Global crises, conflicts, and the climate emergency are escalating trafficking risks, the UN warned on Sunday, the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. People lacking legal status, living in poverty and without decent work often become the primary targets of traffickers.

In a press statement published on Friday, the Security Council members called for the immediate and unconditional release of Niger’s democratically-elected President, Mohammed Bazoum, and underscored the need to protect him, his family and members of his Government.

Sharply rising temperatures across the globe continue to endanger the safety of workers and impact communities with the “least capacity for adaptation,” according to a senior economist at the International Labour Organization (ILO).

LONDON, Jul 28 (IPS) - Nepal is the latest country to join the global wave of marriage equality. On 28 June, its Supreme Court ruled that the government must immediately offer temporary registration of same-sex marriages, pending a change in the law. Around 200 couples reportedly sought to register as soon as the court judgment was made.

SYDNEY, Jul 28 (IPS) - The likelihood of further confrontations remains high following a major Israeli military assault on an impoverished camp of more than 23,500 Palestinian refugees in Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank earlier this month. The landlocked Palestinian territory, located between Israel to the west and Jordan to the east, has been illegally occupied, according to international law, following the invasion by Israel 56 years ago.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 28 (IPS) - “Humanity is in the hot seat today,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists as the world confronted official data confirming that July 2023 is the hottest month ever recorded in human history.

WASHINGTON DC, Jul 28 (IPS) - The Biden administration’s decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, a weapon widely banned for the inherent dangers they pose to non-combatants, is risky.

Russia has not offered any free grain to the UN food relief agency so far, and its policy of buying supplies from Ukraine has been based on its competitive price and quality, a senior WFP official said on Friday.

Heads of UN peacekeeping forces on Thursday highlighted the work of ‘blue helmets’ in some of the most challenging environments, protecting those in need not only from war and terror but also increasingly from natural disasters and disinformation.