News headlines in 2026, page 35

The large-scale disclosure of materials known as the “Epstein Files” has revealed “disturbing and credible evidence” of what independent human rights experts describe as a possible global criminal enterprise involving systematic sexual abuse, trafficking and exploitation of women and girls.

As the war in Sudan approaches a fourth year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and 123 partners appealed on Tuesday for $1.6 billion to support millions of people forced to flee the country in pursuit of safety.

Nearly two thirds of all maternal deaths worldwide occur in countries marked by conflict or fragility, according to a report released on Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.

Civilian suffering shows no sign of letting up in Ukraine as the four-year-mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion nears amid attacks on energy infrastructure, blackouts and freezing temperatures, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.

  CIVICUS discusses the recent protests in Iran with Sohrab Razaghi, executive director of Volunteer Activists, a Netherlands-based diaspora organisation empowering Iranian civil society.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, February 16 (IPS) - 2026 has begun on a deeply troubling note. International law, long regarded as the backbone of global peace and security, is being challenged in ever more brazen ways. Core principles of sovereignty and restraint are being flagrantly breached.

BANGKOK, Thailand, February 16 (IPS) - Trade in the Asia-Pacific region has moved into a new strategic reality. The latest Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Trends (APTIT) highlights that rapid technological change and a strategic reconfiguration of supply chains are reshaping how economies in the region trade and compete.

GARISSA, Kenya , February 16 (IPS) - By 9 a.m. on a Wednesday, Hawa Hussein Farah is already watching the temperature climb. Awake since 6 a.m., she has prepared her three children for school before walking them to class and heading to Suuq Mugdi, an open-air market in Garissa town, to buy the fruit she will sell.

Rising food prices and declining farm incomes are putting increasing pressure on the global food system, with up to 720 million people facing hunger last year, and billions more struggling to afford healthy diets.

Back-to-back cyclones in Madagascar have left more than 400,000 people in need of food assistance, according to estimates by the UN World Food Programme (WFP), while roads, power lines and homes have been severely damaged.