News headlines in 2023, page 139

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday expressed concern over the continuing spread of false claims and conspiracy theories concerning the new global pandemic accord, currently being negotiated by Member States.

UN Women and FIFA have come together just ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand to advance gender equality in football, and help end abuse and discrimination on and off the pitch.

Life-saving relief programmes should not be held hostage by political interests, the President of the General Assembly said on Wednesday, as Member States gathered to debate the use of the veto by a permanent member of the Security Council, that halted vital cross-border aid last week into northern Syria.

UN health innovation initiative Unitaid warned on Wednesday that the failure to implement tuberculosis contact tracing and prevention could lead to close to one million deaths by 2035.

The United Nations family came together on Wednesday to pay tribute to the 77 members of staff who died in the line of duty in 2022.

NAIROBI, Jul 18 (IPS) - As human rights increasingly deteriorate, rights defenders are being violently suppressed. Abducted, detained, tortured, and humiliated, many now live one day at a time. They have been told, in no uncertain times, that anything could happen. They are now asking the global community to stand as a witness.

ROME, Jul 18 (IPS) - The video shows an empty house with even the door frames and windows torn out. Graffiti on the wall recalls that the building was once requisitioned by the Sham Legion, an Islamist faction from northern Syria.

ABUJA & UNITED NATIONS, Jul 18 (IPS) - As Russia paused the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reacted with regret saying the global south would be badly affected.

BANGKOK, Thailand, Jul 18 (IPS) - The world faces a disaster emergency, yet nowhere is the threat more immediate than in Asia and the Pacific. Ours is a region where climate change-induced disasters are becoming more frequent and intense. Since 1970, two million people have lost their lives to disasters.

Targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and threats of use of nuclear weapons, severely undermines trust “within and in our institution”, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Tuesday.