News headlines in 2025, page 24

UNITED NATIONS, December 2 (IPS) - The revenues from arms sales and military services by the 100 largest arms-producing companies rose by 5.9 per cent in 2024, reaching a record $679 billion, according to new data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

CHAMHANYA GONDWE, Malawi, December 2 (IPS) - In the quiet hills of Chamhanya Gondwe village in Malawi’s Mzimba district, a young boy once watched his community struggle with limited access to healthcare.

Global economic growth will slow to 2.6 per cent in 2025, down from 2.9 per cent in 2024, as global trade and investment face growing pressure from financial volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, according to a new report by the UN Trade and Development body (UNCTAD).

The President of the UN General Assembly called on Tuesday for greater action to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and a two-State solution with Israel.

“They live in community shelters, they live in classrooms which are overcrowded,” the UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) representative in Mozambique said on Tuesday, highlighting the plight of thousands searching for safety.

The recent parliamentary elections in Iraq mark a fitting end to the work of the UN Mission in the country, the Security Council heard on Tuesday.

Millions of jobs across Asia could be at risk as the AI industry booms at the expense of poorer nations still struggling to provide basic digital access and literacy, UN economists said on Tuesday.

Across southeast Asia, record-breaking rains and flooding caused by back-to-back tropical storms have claimed hundreds of lives and brought devastation and displacement upon entire communities, UN agencies said on Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, December 1 (IPS) - For the past decade, Yemen has been at the center of a severe and multifaceted humanitarian crisis, marked by widespread violence between various Middle Eastern actors, widespread civilian displacement, economic decline, and the collapse of essential services that serve as lifelines for displaced communities. As the crisis has intensified in recent months, humanitarian agencies face increasing challenges in providing lifesaving care to civilians, who are experiencing record levels of hunger in a country that has become more reliant on remittances as self-sufficiency continues to slip further out of reach.

CIVICUS discusses US civil society action under the second Trump administration with Bridget Moix, General Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest faith-based lobbying organisation in the USA, advocating for peace, justice and environmental stewardship. Bridget has participated in the No Kings movement, a nationwide grassroots response to democratic backsliding and attacks on rights.