News headlines in February 2026

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, February 19 (IPS) - It is an indictment on the global food system that, despite having some of the richest and most endowed natural resources in the world and a burgeoning youth population, West Africa spends more than $2 billion a year importing aquatic foods to feed its people, almost half of which is spent by Côte d’Ivoire alone.

WASHINGTON DC, February 18 (IPS) - When Brazil’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.2 percent in November 2025—the lowest in a quarter century—it punctuated an impressive turnaround from the pandemic. Yet, while men’s participation in the labor market has returned to its pre-COVID trend, women have fallen behind significantly.

KARACHI, Pakistan, February 18 (IPS) - Fozia Shashani, 26, a member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, said it was “most painful” to hear reports that two Baloch women – Hawa Baloch, 20, and Asifa Mengal, 24 – had taken part in active combat as suicide bombers. The path, she said, was in complete contrast to her belief in peaceful resistance. Yet, she added, such extreme choices were the result of a state that had “failed its people.”

The world has “entered the age of clean energy” and renewables are now the cheapest, fastest and safest source of new electricity almost everywhere, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message to the International Energy Agency ministerial meeting in Paris on Wednesday.

The UN Security Council meets at 3 PM (New York time) on Wednesday to discuss the situation in the Middle East, with rising tensions in the occupied West Bank expected to dominate the session. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo is scheduled to brief members. The meeting follows recent Israeli cabinet decisions expanding control in Areas A, B and C of the West Bank. Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the current trajectory is “eroding the prospect” of a two-State solution. Follow the live coverage below, UN News App users click here.

Climate inaction, biodiversity loss and rising emissions are pushing Asia and the Pacific further off course on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the region set to miss nearly nine out of ten targets by 2030, the United Nations has warned.

Artificial intelligence solutions that transform the way food assistance reaches people facing hunger were on display during an exhibition at an AI meeting this week in New Delhi, India.

After a year that saw heavy monsoon floods, prolonged drought and dry spells, and a surge in violence, 7.5 million people in Pakistan face high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition according to a report from the global hunger monitor.

Creators worldwide are facing mounting financial pressures as rapid advances in digital technologies and artificial intelligence continue to transform the cultural and creative industries, according to a new global report released by the UN culture agency, UNESCO, on Wednesday.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Wednesday for warring parties in Sudan to take urgent steps to protect civilians after at least 57 people were killed in separate drone strikes over two days this week.