News headlines in 2023, page 79

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sep 27 (IPS) - In recent years, public-private partnerships (PPPs) have spread rapidly. While usually profitable for the private partners, PPPs have generally not served the longer-term public interest.

A comprehensive solution to the Syrian conflict remains elusive, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Wednesday, calling for “concrete moves” and confidence-building measures to break the impasse.

Top UN officials pledged support for Pakistan on Wednesday as it continues the painstaking process of rebuilding in the wake of last year’s devastating floods.

The United States must end “the prolonged pre-trial detention” of Alex Nain Saab Morán, a Venezuelan Special Envoy who was arrested in 2020 and extradited to the US on money laundering charges, UN independent human rights experts said on Wednesday.

A UN-appointed independent human rights expert on Wednesday called on Azerbaijan to “guarantee the rights of ethnic Armenians” in the Karabakh region and ensure that civilians who remain “are respected and protected in line with its international obligations.”

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

As the climate crisis threatens the tourist industry and the communities who depend on it, greening the tourism sector is the only way forward.

With record numbers of people transiting through Central America and Mexico in search of a better life further north, UN migration agency IOM on Wednesday appealed for regional action to address their immediate needs while tackling the drivers of migration.

Anxiety, emotional distress and even child suicide are among the damaging consequences of cyberbullying, and better prevention strategies involving big tech must be developed, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Wednesday.

PARAÍSO, México, Sep 26 (IPS) - At the entrance to the municipality of Paraíso, in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco, there is a traffic circle that displays three things that are emblematic of the area: crabs, pelicans and mangroves.