News headlines in 2026, page 34

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.

Libya’s prolonged political stalemate, worsening economic conditions and an emerging split within the judiciary pose mounting risks to the country’s unity, the UN’s top envoy for the country, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, told the Security Council on Wednesday.

GENEVA, February 17 (IPS) - International humanitarian law is at a breaking point, as rampant impunity for serious violations is enabling even greater abuses against civilians and detainees.

PORTLAND, USA, February 17 (IPS) - The global struggle for equality for women and girls has been ongoing for centuries, with no single country having achieved full equality. In many countries, women and girls continue to face discrimination, harassment, unequal treatment, injustice, domestic violence, and a lack of security and safety.

UNITED NATIONS, February 17 (IPS) - As the campaign for the next Secretary-General gathers momentum– at a relatively slow pace– there is widespread speculation that any candidate running for the post of UN chief will have to abide by the dictates of a politically-hostile White House or face a veto in the Security Council.

ROME & DELHI, February 17 (IPS) - Governments convened in Rome on Monday (February 16) for a critical round of UN biodiversity negotiations, launching the world’s first global review of how countries are acting to protect nature.

At least 52 people have died after Tropical Cyclone Gezani made landfall on the eastern coast of Madagascar on 10 February, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday, citing the authorities.

Palestinian Walid Al-Assi was playing with his young granddaughter this week, promising to take her to the market in Gaza City with the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan as his family had done before the Israel-Hamas war, but now circumstances had changed.

Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya are enduring ruthless and systematic human rights violations, including killings, torture, sexual violence and trafficking, according to a new report published today by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

The UN has the funds and capacity to scale up relief and reconstruction operations in Gaza but does not have the necessary access to carry out these vital tasks, Alexander De Croo, the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), told journalists on Tuesday.