News headlines in 2023, page 63

At the concluding segment of the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday in Geneva, several States seized the opportunity to address the conflict engulfing Gaza and Israel, now in its sixth day.

Marking the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on Friday, UN chief António Guterres called on countries everywhere to boost resilience and adaptation, to build a safer and more just future for all.

Reducing the risk of disasters will not only save lives but can provide the platform to tackle inequality in places like the Caribbean, that’s according to senior UN officials in the region.

The UN-mandated Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia on Friday released a harrowing report on the “staggering” level of human rights violations and mass killings that have plagued the east African nation since the Tigray conflict erupted in 2020.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday said it was “deeply concerned” by Russia’s decision to issue arrest warrants against senior judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), following earlier warrants against its Prosecutor and Pre-trial Judges involved in examining potential war crimes in Ukraine.

UN humanitarians expressed deep concern on Friday for all civilians in the Gaza Strip following Israel’s order for the entire population there to leave the north, amid ongoing airstrikes and a deepening humanitarian crisis.

WASHINGTON DC, Oct 13 (IPS) - As the Minamata Convention on Mercury’s fifth Conference of the Parties (COP5) approaches, momentum builds to adopt the Africa Region’s proposed amendment to phase out dental amalgam – a cavity filling material that is approximately 50% mercury.

Oct 12 (IPS) - The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasonsAfghanistan can be likened to an open prison, where nearly 20 million women struggle daily for their freedom. What these women demand is a simple right – the right to lead dignified lives, equal to their male counterparts. Unfortunately, this aspiration seems distant and despairingly unattainable.

MEXICO CITY, Oct 12 (IPS) - Maribel Ochoa takes less time and spends less money commuting from her home to her work in eastern Mexico City thanks to the use of the electric Cablebus, a cable car that has improved her quality of life since the service began operating two years ago.

BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 12 (IPS) - This year we pass the halfway mark both on our journey towards implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change.