News headlines in December 2025, page 11

VIENNA, Austria, December 16 (IPS) - The debate on reforming the European asylum system has gained significant momentum following the agreement reached by EU interior ministers last week. Alongside questions of solidarity and distribution, the possibility of establishing ‘return hubs’ outside the EU was at the heart of the meeting.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, December 16 (IPS) - The new US National Security Strategy (NSS) repositions the superpower’s role in the world. Hence, foreign policy will be mainly driven by considerations of ‘making America great again’ (MAGA).

The ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile, while humanitarians continue to face obstructions in delivering aid to the people, a senior UN official working to promote greater peace in the region told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Moving goods around the world could soon become cheaper, faster and far more flexible, following the adoption of a new United Nations-backed agreement that modernises the paperwork behind global shipping.

The situation across Sudan’s Kordofan region is rapidly worsening, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) warned on Monday.

World leaders meeting at the UN General Assembly have adopted a historic global declaration to tackle noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions together, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday.

The UN’s top human rights official warned on Tuesday that repression is tightening its grip in Venezuela while civilians in Ukraine face an ever-rising toll, as global attention drifts from two crises marked by deepening abuses and shrinking accountability.

Israel has issued new demolition orders for the Nur Shams camp in the north of the occupied West Bank effective this week, which a senior official with the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) labelled as “more devastating news” for the region.

Amid an early start to the Northern Hemisphere influenza season a new variant of the virus is rapidly gaining ground - but vaccination remains the “most effective defence”, the UN health agency said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON DC, December 15 (IPS) - As each Christmas approaches, one song permeates the airwaves across the United States and elsewhere: White Christmas. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, “White Christmas” is the #1 selling physical single of all times with over 50 million copies sold.