News headlines in 2023, page 214

Debt-ridden developing countries face years of economic pain brought on by a global growth slowdown, high interest rates and reduced investment, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) warned on Wednesday.

MADRID, Apr 11 (IPS) - Research after research, world's scientists renew their loud alerts against the high dangers of human-driven “superbugs” - bacteria and pathogens that no longer respond to antimicrobials, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.

ROME, Apr 11 (IPS) - If an alien landed on Planet Earth today and started watching television and reading the newspapers, it would probably not realize that humanity and the natural world face an existential threat - one that has taken us into the Sixth Mass Extinction, is already devastating the lives of many, especially in the Global South, and is set to hit the rest of us soon.

CHIMANIMANI, Zimbabwe, Apr 11 (IPS) - Trust Makanidzani’s golf practice session with his friends is disrupted by a howling wind and a heavy pelting of water that thundered against rooftops at Chimanimani Golf Course in the eastern part of Zimbabwe.

NEW YORK, Apr 11 (IPS) - The resumption of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the Saudis’ diplomatic overtures toward Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, are part and parcel of the Saudis’ overall reassessment of their geostrategic interests, which rest on three distinctives goals: regional stability, exerting greater regional and international influence, and uninterrupted oil exports. These three fundamental goals are tightly linked and are within the Saudis’ reach.

To help protect the irreplaceable cultural heritage of the earthquake-affected regions of Türkiye, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has delivered a first shipment of twenty containers to archaeological museums in Hatay and Kahramanmaraş.

The United Nations has denounced deadly airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Armed Forces which reportedly killed at least 100 people in an opposition stronghold in the northwest on Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast in their latest World Economic Outlook published on Tuesday, that global growth will bottom out at 2.8 percent this year before rising modestly to around three percent in 2024, representing a 0.1 per cent fall on its January projections.

The UN has launched an operational review in Afghanistan, and told national staff to remain at home, following the decision by the Taliban de facto authorities to ban Afghan women from working with the Organization.

As part of his “solidarity visit” to Somalia on Tuesday in the midst of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday that he was on the ground “to ring the alarm on the need of massive international support” for the country.