News headlines in March 2026

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, March 20 (IPS) - Sudhi Kumar animatedly moves his hands, resembling a graceful dance performance, as he demonstrates how a fishing harpoon is used. He has been on a brief hiatus from harpooning, owing to the recent rough nature of the sea, and doesn’t have the tool with him as we speak. But more than three decades of experience using harpoons is apparent in how vividly he uses his body to mimic the process.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 20 (IPS) - My Name is Dhaka is a one-minute experimental film portraying Dhaka as a living, breathing entity with a 400-year history. Through a reflective voice, the city recounts its transformations, crises, and resilience. It captures contrasts between pollution and celebration, hardship and hope, revealing a megacity shaped by climate change, migration, and human survival.

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 20 (IPS) - When German Chancellor Friedrich Merz opened the 62nd Munich Security Conference by declaring that the post-war rules-based order ‘no longer exists’, there was plenty of evidence to back his claim. Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in defiance of international law, Russia is four years into its illegal invasion of Ukraine, the last nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the USA has just expired and the USA has withdrawn from 66 international bodies and commitments. Since the conference, Israel and the USA have launched another war on Iran, threatening to spark a broader regional conflict. Meanwhile the UN is undergoing a funding crisis, cutting staff and programmes, and civil society organisations that relied on US Agency for International Development funding are facing closure.

BANGKOK, Thailand, March 20 (IPS) - Across Asia, new initiatives are showing how satellite Earth observation data and AI-powered technologies can turn fragmented water-related data into actionable insights for managers and policymakers in line ministries and local governments.

BRIGHTON, UK, March 19 (IPS) - The 2026 campaign on World Water Day’s focuses on Water and Gender – ‘where water flows, equality grows’ . While substantial progress has been achieved across a range of gender indicators spanning education, health and public participation, the situation around WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) is still marked by deep inequalities with women and girls disproportionately affected – and this reflects the persistence of global patriarchy.

NEW YORK & SRINAGAR, India, March 19 (IPS) - A new United Nations report has warned that global water inequality remains one of the most pressing development challenges of the decade, with billions still lacking safe drinking water and sanitation – while women and girls continue to bear the heaviest burden of water insecurity.

KYIV, Ukraine, March 19 (IPS) - It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the tension, violence and uncertainty in the world in recent years. The number of wars is growing, more and more money is being spent on weapons, and the rhetoric of major powers is becoming increasingly decisive.

The Rafah crossing into Gaza reopened on Thursday for limited movement in both directions after a 20-day suspension, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The fallout from the war in the Middle East is rippling far beyond the Gulf, disrupting fuel supplies, shipping routes and supply chains across Asia and the Pacific, with some of the region’s most vulnerable economies already feeling the strain through rising prices, rationing and threats to jobs, food security and remittances.

More than two years of unrelenting violence, displacement and loss have pushed children and young people in Palestine into what one UN official describes as a “profound mental health emergency”, with girls facing heightened risks, including a resurgence in child marriage.