News headlines in 2025, page 268

SORIA, Spain, Mar 17 (IPS) - The slashing of US aid funding by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and cuts or planned cuts in international support by several European states, threaten to cut off the oxygen supply to a civil society already in a critical condition. At CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, activists and grassroots groups have shared with us time and again that shifting and volatile donor priorities are one of the top funding challenges they face, alongside limited resources for strategy and restricted funding.

Mar 17 (IPS) - As the United States confronts the unflinching demographic piper with the stark facts of reality, the new administration and Congress are denying, disengaging and dismantling.

LONDON, Mar 17 (IPS) - Local communities are finally witnessing progress in their mission for justice, 36 years after the Panguna copper mine in Papua New Guinea's Autonomous Region of Bougainville became the centre of landowner grievances about environmental damage.

BRUSSELS/ GENEVA, Mar 17 (IPS) - Winds are also changing in trade policy. As they get rougher and more unpredictable, the much-criticised multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has so far proved surprisingly resilient. Paradoxically, Donald Trump’s tariff policy could actually strengthen the WTO.

On Monday, during a meeting of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, UN officials and disarmament experts emphasized the urgent need to tackle the widespread issue of small arms and light weapons. They warned that the stakes are higher than ever in a world increasingly plagued by conflict and crisis.

The UN Security Council is meeting in New York to discuss the Middle East crisis exactly two months since the start of the fragile Gaza ceasefire and hostages deal came into effect. That has been shattered by deadly Israeli airstrikes overnight, following a two-week aid blockade which has strained critical supplies. Well over 400 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more injured, according to local authorities. We'll have reaction from across the UN and agencies on the ground. UN News app users follow live here.

The UN on Monday expressed concern over the continued threat posed to shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi attacks from their bases in Yemen as well as recent airstrikes by the United States which have left over 50 reportedly dead.

Fourteen years of war have left Syria’s people in desperate need – but international support is dwindling, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday, calling for urgent investment in the country’s recovery.

The rapid spread of the highly infectious avian flu virus H5N1 has reached an “unprecedented” scale, wiping out hundreds of millions of birds worldwide and increasingly spilling over into mammals, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday.

The Security Council on Monday extended the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another year, as UN agencies reported sharp declines in resources for lifesaving aid.