News headlines in August 2023

SEATTLE, USA, Aug 31 (IPS) - The Yakima River runs southeast from the Cascade Mountains through central Washington state to merge with the Columbia a little north of Oregon. From the small city of Yakima on down, its course broadens from a winding canyon into a wide valley bounded by austere low ridges of gray-green sagebrush and tawny grasses. In mid-April, the new leaves of the willows and cottonwoods light up the riverbanks with luminous chartreuse.

BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE, Aug 31 (IPS) - Climate justice is not just about survival but also about benefit sharing, reducing inequality and enabling a better society that thrives - Yamide Dagnet, Climate Justice Director at Open Society FoundationsThe failure to tackle the climate change crisis is an injustice to the millions who have lost lives and livelihoods through floods, extreme weather, and wildfires, pointing to the urgency of adaptation and mitigation finance, experts say.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 31 (IPS) - The United Nations says increased investment in the Sahel region will assist in preventing military coups. This after military officers in Gabon announced a seizure of power from long-time President Ali Bongo Ondimba following the results of a disputed election in Gabon on Wednesday.

ARLINGTON, Virginia, Aug 31 (IPS) - When I first travelled to the Middle Belt of Nigeria, I listened to harrowing tales of murdered family members, physical injury, sexual violence, displacement, and hopelessness. In the years that have passed, these stories have only continued to stack up.

Improved measurement of corruption could boost efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a senior UN official said on Thursday in Vienna.

Highlighting the “succession of military coups” unfolding across Africa, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday emphasized the need for durable democratic governance and the rule of law.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) issued a stark warning on Thursday over rising cases of measles and rubella among children in Yemen, as a vaccination campaign there faces cutbacks due to insufficient funding.

Some of the world’s most iconic natural and cultural sites are also a haven for thousands of endangered species, the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Thursday.

UN rights experts called on States in the global North on Thursday to forgo intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments in the name of human rights.

Ugochi Daniels, Deputy Director General for Operations with the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), vividly describes what it was like spending a week in Ukraine and Moldova, meeting some of those most affected by Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion.