News headlines in 2023, page 164

From institutionalized racism to genocide, the roots are the same, according to people on the frontlines of change who shared their stories with UN News ahead of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, observed on Sunday.

Call a friend with a connection, get a passport in 24 hours, and hand over some cash. That is what it takes to flee the fragile Sahel region of Africa, where smuggling networks exploit the desperation of people, leading in some cases to such deadly disasters as the recent shipwreck off the coast of Greece.

Just before noon in Satara, a remote village in Niger’s southwestern Tillaberi region, the thermometer is already hovering near 40°C.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 16 (IPS) - If you’ve never heard of the Cybercrime Convention, you’re not alone. And if you’re wondering whether an international treaty to tackle cybercrime is a good idea, you’re in good company too.

NAIROBI, Jun 16 (IPS) - Plastic bags were a part and parcel of life in Kenya. More than 100 million plastic bags were used annually in Kenyan supermarkets alone, with at least 24 million plastic bags discarded every month. Kenya was choking under the weight of plastic bags.

LONDON, Jun 16 (IPS) - Regulation of a technology typically emerges sometime after it has been used in a product or service, or, worse, the risks become apparent. This responsive approach is regrettable when real harm is already being done, as now with AI. With existential risk, the approach would risk the end of human existence.

The UN is providing “multifaceted support” to Mali ahead of this weekend’s constitutional referendum, the head of its peacekeeping mission in the country, MINUSMA, said in a briefing to the Security Council on Friday.

The UN refugee and migration agencies are calling for urgent and decisive action to prevent further deaths at sea following Wednesday’s tragedy in the Mediterranean. With 78 bodies retrieved, 104 people rescued, and hundreds more missing and feared dead, the 14 June shipwreck off the coast of Greece is one of the worst and most deadly in years.

UN humanitarians continue bringing life-saving aid to survivors of the flooding from the Kakhovka Dam, but they’ve warned that hundreds of thousands more people in the country’s south face severe water shortages.

Words are not enough to alleviate the multiple crises afflicting Haiti, said the President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Friday, in an appeal for urgent international action.