News headlines in 2023, page 135

After 100 days of fighting in Sudan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Monday that at least 435 children have been killed and more than 2,000 injured.

Senior UN officials have strongly condemned the deadly Russian missile strikes in the Ukrainian city of Odesa on Sunday which damaged several historic buildings.

Population growth, urbanization, changing consumption patterns, and climate change are making it more challenging to feed the world according to a senior official at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Transforming the way food is produced on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mauritius could help to fight climate change as well as accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the UN’s most senior representative in the country.

The top UN humanitarian official in Yemen on Saturday called for justice in the wake of the recent attack against World Food Programme (WFP) staff that left one person dead and another injured.

A new narcotics law in Thailand has meant that people who use drugs are more able to access care for treatment of conditions like HIV, but the virus remains a ‘critical health concern’, according to the UN.

BRATISLAVA, Jul 21 (IPS) - In a surprise move, pharma giant Johnson and Johnson (J&J) has agreed not to enforce some of its patents on a lifesaving TB drug, making generic versions available in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

NEW YORK, Jul 21 (IPS) - How do you get a seat at the table when you can’t even access the building? This question loomed as activists, faith-based leaders, and NGO representatives gathered at the NY Ford Foundation. They discussed how to amplify the voice of civil society organizations at the UN Headquarters across the street.

LONDON, Jul 21 (IPS) - Eswatini heads to the polls soon, with elections scheduled for September. But there’s nothing remotely democratic in prospect. The country remains ruled by King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch, who presides over Eswatini with an iron fist. Mswati dissolved parliament on 11 July, confident there’s little chance of people who disagree with him winning representation.

TBILISI, Georgia, Jul 21 (IPS) - Iran is not interested in a highly powerful Russia that could block Iranian ambitions in the South Caucasus and Middle East. At the same time, a too weak Russia would constitute a dangerous development paving the way for greater Western influence along Iran’s northern border and potentially even leading to the reversal of Moscow’s dependence on Tehran.