News headlines in 2023, page 217

The Vatican’s rejection of the 500-year-old Catholic decree used to justify the seizure of indigenous lands by colonial powers, known as the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’, has been welcomed by an independent UN human rights expert as “an important step towards reconciliation and healing”. 

The UN on Thursday condemned the multiple rockets fired into Israel from across its northern border with Lebanon, urging “all actors to exercise maximum restraint”, following several days of rising tension and violence, centred around Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque.

Athletes are pushing for a more equitable world, both on and off the playing field – one of the messages coming out of the UN on Thursday, the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. 

Legal reforms in Serbia must be accompanied by the effective implementation of laws to counter dangerous rhetoric against minorities, journalists and activists, UN independent human rights expert Irene Khan said on Thursday, concluding an official visit to the country. 

A Taliban decision banning women from working for the UN inside Afghanistan, will have devastating consequence for aid delivery, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country warned on Thursday.

Two months after devastating earthquakes hit Türkiye and northern Syria, 2.5 million children in Türkiye remain in need of humanitarian support and are at risk of falling into poverty, child labour or under-age marriage, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Thursday.

LONDON, Apr 05 (IPS) - Europe’s current approach to facilitating refugee returns and containing new arrivals from Syria is based on wishful thinking. Europeans have come to terms with the fact that a political settlement for Syria’s 12-year conflict is not on the horizon.

BRATISLAVA, Apr 05 (IPS) - “People want the abortion laws here liberalised. Society has changed; even the politicians can see it,” Kinga Jelinska, a Polish reproductive rights activist, says. “In four or five years, I believe, the abortion laws here will be liberalised, because it’s what the people support.”

The UN chief has called for people of faith worldwide to “join their voices in a common prayer for peace”, as the holy festivals of Ramadan, Easter and Passover coincide this week.

Nearly $7 billion will be required over the next decade to rebuild the cultural sector in war-ravaged Ukraine, the head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said during a visit to the country this week.