KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug 09 (IPS) - The primary commodity price boom early this century has often been attributed to a commodity ‘super-cycle’, i.e., a price upsurge greater than what might be expected in ‘normal’ booms. This was largely due to some minerals as most agricultural commodity price increases were more modest.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently tracking several COVID-19 "variants of interest", including EG.5 which is on the rise in several countries, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva on Wednesday.

Ongoing mediation efforts aimed at resolving the conflict in Sudan are critical, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Wednesday, warning against the risk of prolonged ethnic conflict.

The UN rights chief concluded his first ever visit to Iraq, where he highlighted pressing human rights concerns, climate change impacts, and the need for reforms. He also called for the country’s leaders to be guided by the interests of the Iraqi people in addressing the challenges they face.

A deal has been reached with the Government of Syria to reopen the main border crossing from Türkiye to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Patron of the Oceans, Lewis Pugh, is on a quest to swim the length of the iconic Hudson River in New York state to draw attention to the critical importance of healthy river ecosystems to oceans and the overall environment.

A UN health centre providing medical care to Palestine refugees at a camp in Lebanon reopened on Wednesday, as a ceasefire between opposing armed groups holds.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for countries to recommit to eliminating nuclear weapons in his message to mark the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki, observed on Wednesday.

As the world celebrates the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Wednesday, the theme of "Indigenous youth as agents of change for self-determination” is taking centre stage at the United Nations.

STEPANAKERT, Nagorno-Karabakh, Aug 08 (IPS) - Tatev Azizyan, a 28-year-old journalist from Nagorno-Karabakh, says she has explained to her child that they both have to switch to “energy save mode” to survive.