News headlines in 2023, page 175

Millions of women and girls across the United States have suffered an alarming deterioration in access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, following the US Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Friday.

More than two weeks after deadly Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar, aid access is uncertain, disease is spreading, and a major food crisis remains a very real threat, the UN said on Friday.

The trafficking in illegal narcotics, precursor chemicals, timber and wildlife, people and illicit goods across Southeast Asia is being tackled thanks to the support of the specialized UN agency focusing on drugs and crime.

LONDON, Jun 02 (IPS) - On May 24, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived on a three-day official visit to Japan, his second visit to the country, having attended the State funeral of former prime minister Shinzo Abe last September.

LONDON, Jun 01 (IPS) - Turkey’s election hasn’t produced the change many thought was on the cards. Now women’s groups, LGBTQI+ people and independent journalists are among those fearing the worse.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has led the country for two decades, first as prime minister and then as president, prevailed in the 28 May runoff poll, taking around 52.2 per cent of the vote, with his opponent, Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu, on 47.8 per cent.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 01 (IPS) - The US has some of the strictest laws against smoking in public, including a 1997 executive order which bans smoking in all government federal buildings.

But still, the tobacco industry and its allies do not rest, says Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Washington-based Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The world must combat the “toxic tidal wave” of plastic pollution that threatens human rights, two UN independent experts said on Thursday.

As the world comes together to celebrate the beginning of Pride Month on Thursday, the UN agency dedicated to ending the AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS, issued a declaration of solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) communities around the globe.

The UN in Bangladesh on Thursday condemned a second cut in food rations for Rohingya refugees who are sheltering in the country, after a funding shortfall of $56 million compelled the World Food Programme (WFP) to enforce the cuts.

A veteran diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago was appointed President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday.