News headlines in February 2026

NEW YORK, February 23 (IPS) - Trump’s immigration policy is destroying America’s greatness Immigrants are the backbone of America’s greatness— powering its economy, enriching its culture, and advancing its global leadership. Yet under the guise of making America great again, Trump’s exclusionary, racist policies are dismantling that very foundation, stifling innovation and tarnishing the nation’s moral standing.

GENEVA, February 23 (IPS) - A report published today by the UN Human Rights Office graphically details the lived experiences of some of the hundreds of thousands of people trafficked from dozens of countries around the world into working in entrenched scam operations mostly in Southeast Asia, as well as far beyond.

ROME & NEW DELHI, February 23 (IPS) - Governments meeting in Rome last week acknowledged that global efforts to protect nature are still not moving fast enough, even as biodiversity loss continues to affect ecosystems, livelihoods, and economies worldwide.

In Geneva, delegates from more than 120 countries gathered on Monday to mark 20 years of the UN Human Rights Council and a shared commitment to international law, amid runaway global instability, wars and resurgent conflict.

A 16-year-old Haitian boy has been talking about how he was lured into working for a criminal gang but then threatened with death when he said he would not fight against the police.

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 (IPS) - A new UN report warns of the “brutal and normalized reality” for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya as they face exploitation and human rights violations.

NEW YORK, February 20 (IPS) - When the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. declared, “Keep hope alive,” it was not a slogan. It was a discipline. It was a moral posture. It was a promise to those America had locked out of its prosperity and pushed to the margins of its democracy. And for more than five decades, Jackson kept that promise – organizing, marching, preaching, negotiating, and standing in solidarity with oppressed peoples at home and abroad.

DELHI, February 20 (IPS) - Pyari Hessa, 26, balances long shifts as a loco traffic controller at a steel company in Jamshedpur with evening football practice on the same turf where professionals train.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator arrived in South Sudan on Friday to visit one of the most under-reported humanitarian crises in the world, as clashes between government and opposition forces continue in Jonglei state.

A sprawling online scam industry worth an estimated tens of billions of dollars a year is being powered by trafficked workers subjected to torture, sexual abuse and forced labour inside heavily guarded compounds in Southeast Asia, a new UN human rights report has found.