News headlines in February 2026, page 16

Relentless violence, famine and disease are fuelling a rising death toll among children in Sudan, while attacks on healthcare and a lack of aid access hamper efforts to help them, UN aid agencies warned on Tuesday.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk appealed on Tuesday to all parties involved in renewed heavy fighting in Ethiopia’s ‘precarious’ Tigray region to step back, warning of the potential for a deepening crisis in the country’s war-weary north and beyond.

The Pacific Island countries are at the frontline of climate change. Their territories mostly consist of small, low-lying islands, with long coastlines and vast ocean spaces between them. Many livelihoods are based on agriculture or fishing, and importing water or food is often infeasible or expensive. This makes those large ocean nations highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as storms, droughts, and rising sea levels. Analysts have expressed concerns that this can result in various forms of socio-political conflict.

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe & MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, February 9 (IPS) - Business can still remain profitable while protecting the environment but invest in nature-positive operations, says a landmark report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which finds that global companies have contributed to the escalating loss of biodiversity.

CIVICUS discusses the genocide case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with Mohammed Nowkhim of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace & Human Rights (ARSPHR), a civil society organisation led by Rohingya people born out of refugee camps in Bangladesh to document atrocities, preserve survivor testimony and advocate for accountability and justice.

UNITED NATIONS, February 9 (IPS) - Eradicating extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030 is a pivotal aim of the Sustainable Development Goals. Extreme poverty, defined as surviving on less than US$3.00 per person per day at 2021 purchasing power parity, has witnessed remarkable declines over recent decades.

SRINAGAR & NEW DELHI, February 9 (IPS) - When the rain begins in Kashmir’s capital Srinagar, Ghulam Nabi Bhat does not watch the clouds with relief anymore. He watches them with calculation. How much can the gutters take? How fast will the river rise? Which corner of the house will leak first? Where should the children sleep if the floor turns damp?

A draft amnesty law in Venezuela aimed at granting immediate clemency to people jailed for participating in political protests or criticizing public figures, has been welcomed by a UN commission of experts – although they have emphasised the Venezuelan people need to be at the centre of the process.

Severe flooding triggered by heavy rainfall has hit northwest Syria, killing two children and affecting more than 5,000 displaced people, the UN said on Monday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres voiced grave concern on Monday over the reported decision by the Israeli security cabinet to authorize a series of administrative and enforcement measures in Areas A and B in the occupied West Bank.