News headlines in 2023, page 156

Millions are facing hunger and children’s lives are on the line in northeastern Nigeria amid a protracted conflict and intensifying climate change. In the face of this, the UN’s humanitarian response in the region is underfunded, humanitarians told journalists in Geneva on Wednesday.

MADRID, Jun 27 (IPS) - How come that in a world where technology is - or is about to be - able to detect an ant in a jungle, the traffickers of death continue to carry out their lucrative criminal activities everywhere and in all fields, from weapons to prostitution, enslavement and drugs, to deadly fake medicines, through oil, gas and poisoned food.

SAN FRANCISCO, USA, Jun 27 (IPS) - A recent Justice Department report concluded that “systemic” racial bias in the Minneapolis Police Department “made what happened to George Floyd possible.”

DHAKA, Jun 27 (IPS) - With the monsoon in Bangladesh, Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar have emerged as a dengue hotspot, with the mosquito-borne disease continuing to spread among the stateless refugees.

While no longer a global emergency, COVID-19’s long-term effects alongside such other threats as mpox and seasonal heat waves may challenge Europe through the summer months, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office warned on Tuesday.

Humanitarian needs have soared among people displaced by fighting in Sudan, with the number of those fleeing expected to surpass projections while aid access remains extremely uncertain, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.

An independent UN-appointed climate expert on Tuesday called for full legal protection to be given to those displaced by the impacts of climate change, to guarantee their human rights.

Unless decisive steps are swiftly taken to rein in Israeli-Palestinian violence, there is a “significant risk” that the situation could deteriorate, the top UN Middle East official told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Violations of international law regarding children and armed conflict continued to have a “devastating impact”, the UN’s top official on the issue said on Tuesday, with a 112 per cent rise in the number of attacks on schools and hospitals.

NEUCHATEL, Switzerland, Jun 26 (IPS) - It’s been seven months since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis celebrated a brilliant re-election victory in the midst of an otherwise mixed Republican midterm performance. He had come in with nearly 20 per cent more votes than Democrat Charlie Crist.