News headlines in 2026

Somewhere in Africa today, a woman will spend more than 30 minutes collecting water that may make her and her children sick. At the same time, her government will face severe fiscal constraints that will limit its ability to provide clean water, among other basic services.

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (IPS) - As ongoing military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East continue with no signsof winding down, there is increasing focus on nuclear weaponsamid heightened risks of escalation.

BRATISLAVA, June 9 (IPS) - As South Africa officially launches the rollout of a groundbreaking HIV prevention drug, civic groups in the country have slammed the plan, saying it will not reach anywhere near enough people.

WASHINGTON DC, June 9 (IPS) - When the world learned that Ebola was spreading across parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, one fact stood out above all others: there was no approved vaccine for the virus responsible.

The Security Council meets this morning to discuss the situation in Central Africa, including efforts to combat the so-called Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), one of the region’s longest-running security threats, responsible for over 100,000 deaths, the UN estimates. Ambassadors have been briefed by the regional office (UNOCA) and its strategy for improving civilian protection, humanitarian access and cross-border cooperation.

In Ebola-stricken eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a massive push for early testing and contact tracing is helping to contain the virus, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

SYDNEY, June 9 (IPS) - The World Bank considers corruption a major obstacle to eradicating global poverty. The Bank officially has a zero-tolerance policy against fraud and corruption in its projects. Concerned with widespread corruption in Bangladesh, the Bank and the Government agreed on the Governance-oriented Country Assistance Strategy (GCAS) in 2006 and the Bank’s subsequent Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) ostensibly has been more selective on governance and anti-corruption (GAC) issues. Ironically, however, the Bank’s funding enables corruption. The Bank’s recent decision to advance a US$350 million loan allegedly for enhancing energy security is a glaring example.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 9 (IPS) - Recent geopolitical trends threaten more food crises, especially in developing countries. A new IPES-Food report urges a strategy of ‘resilient self-reliance’, proposing available opportunities to improve equity, sustainability and solidarity.

CIVICUS discusses the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla on its mission to bring humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza with Musa Roshdy, a humanitarian activist who took part in the flotilla.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 8 (IPS) - This is the downfall of a diplomatic superstar. Germany’s defeat in the election to the UN Security Council is the consequence of a foreign policy that has proven disastrous in recent times, failing to uphold either the values or the interests of the Federal Republic.