News headlines in 2023, page 201

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Apr 28 (IPS) - On May 1, United Nations member states’ special envoys on Afghanistan will meet in Doha, Qatar to discuss how to address the Taliban’s latest restrictions on humanitarian operations.

The acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthew Hollingworth, has condemned a wave of deadly strikes that hit several cities early on Friday, reportedly the most intense aerial bombardment in weeks.

Lasting peace hinges on everyone being on an “equal footing” and an all-of-society approach, a top UN official on Friday told the UN Peacebuilding Commission as it met to discuss national report cards on the pace of transitional justice reforms.

Countries in the Americas should suspend forced returns of Haitians on the move and adopt measures to protect them instead, UN-appointed independent human rights experts said on Friday.

A turbulent transition to civilian rule has been underway in Sudan since the ouster of former President Omar Hassan El-Bashir in April 2019. The civilian-led transitional Government put in place later that year, through a power-sharing agreement between military and civilian leaders, was toppled by a military coup in October 2021.

Japan must assume a greater leadership role to address the deteriorating crisis in Myanmar and “step up pressure on the country’s military junta”, a UN-appointed independent rights expert urged on Friday.

Experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council on Friday called for Singapore to impose an immediate moratorium on capital punishment, denouncing the Government’s continued use of the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

Civilians in Sudan, including scores of internally displaced people and refugees, are scrambling for safety and suffering the disastrous consequences of the violence there, as many aid operations have been forced to pause, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

HAVANA, Apr 27 (IPS) - Long lines of vehicles outside of gas stations reflect the acute shortage of diesel and gasoline in Cuba, which has had negative impacts on an economy that is highly dependent on fuel imports and has only a small proportion of renewable sources in its energy mix.

GENEVA, Apr 27 (IPS) - Crises may be a centuries-old phenomenon, but so too is human resilience.