News headlines in March 2026, page 11

The international community must step up efforts to support Syria amid the current conflict raging in the Middle East, two senior UN officials told the Security Council on Wednesday.

The crisis in the Middle East continues, with ongoing strikes and rising humanitarian needs. The UN nuclear watchdog reported Wednesday that a projectile struck the site of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, although no casualties have been reported. In Lebanon, the humanitarian situation is worsening, with hundreds reported killed and more than one million people displaced. UN agencies are scaling up emergency assistance despite mounting challenges. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. App users can follow coverage here.

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, March 17 (IPS) - Iranian and Israeli flags fill the centre of Manchester, in northern England. There are also portraits of a king overthrown almost half a century ago and of his son, now a claimant to the throne from exile. It is yet another march of Iranians calling for Reza Pahlavi as an alternative to the regime of the ayatollahs.

PORTLAND, USA, March 17 (IPS) - Throughout its 250-year history, following the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the United States has elected 47 presidents. From George Washington in 1789 to Donald Trump in 2024, each U.S. president has left their mark on the nation and the world in various ways.

BRATISLAVA, March 17 (IPS) - Gito* had just arrived at his father’s house in Caloocan City in the Philippines on December 7, 2016, when three armed policemen burst into the home, grabbed his father, took him outside and shot him multiple times. Gito told IPS his father had put his hands up when the officers told him they had come to arrest him, but they opened fire anyway.

BRIGHTON, UK, March 17 (IPS) - A massive expansion of AI-enabled surveillance of public spaces across Africa is violating citizens’ freedoms and the fundamental human right to privacy, warns a new report by the Institute of Development Studies.

UNITED NATIONS, March 17 (IPS) - The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) has brought together global leaders, gender equity advocates, and youth representatives at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters to advance efforts to strengthen mechanisms for justice, equality, and representation for women and girls worldwide. With challenges particularly pronounced in conflict zones, this year’s priority theme —“ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls — focuses on repealing discriminatory laws and addressing persistent structural barriers that prevent women and girls from being fully heard, represented, and treated equally.

An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new United Nations estimates released on Tuesday – highlighting a worrying slowdown in global progress on child survival.

UN Women will continue delivering for Afghan women and girls despite sweeping restrictions and ongoing instability, a senior official said on Tuesday.

A new UN human rights report warns that expanding Israeli settlements are driving large-scale displacement of Palestinians across the occupied West Bank.