News headlines in 2026, page 37

UNITED NATIONS, February 13 (IPS) - United Nations member countries will select a new UN secretary-general this year to succeed António Guterres in January 2027. The change in leadership comes at a time when human rights and democracy, as well as the international organizations created to uphold those principles and provide lifesaving assistance, are under unprecedented attack.

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, February 13 (IPS) - Dawn is breaking and the world’s biggest refugee camp stirs to life. Smoke rises from small cooking fires among rows of bamboo and tarpaulin shelters as children line up for food.

A sharp increase in drone attacks across the Kordofan region in the centre of Sudan is endangering civilians and damaging critical infrastructure.

Humanitarians in the Gaza Strip continue to face impediments in their efforts to deliver lifesaving aid to the population.

Syria’s fragile political transition has gained fresh momentum with a landmark agreement between Damascus and Kurdish authorities in the northeast, but renewed violence in the south, Israeli incursions and deep humanitarian needs underscore how precarious the path to stability remains, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Friday.

Paramilitary forces in Sudan unleashed “a wave of intense violence…shocking in its scale and brutality” during their final offensive to capture the besieged city of El Fasher last October, committing atrocities that amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, according to a report released on Friday by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

Some 10 days after Tropical Cyclone Fytia brought heavy rains and flooding to Madagascar, Cyclone Gezani has left the island’s main port in ruins, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.

ROME, February 12 (IPS) - Glaciers – the world’s hidden water banks – are a source of life for billions. The seasonal melt from mountains and glaciers sustains some of the world’s most important rivers, such as the Indus, the Nile, the Ganges and the Colorado. Those and other mountain-fed rivers irrigate crops, provide drinking water for nearly two billion people, and power electricity generation.

SAN FRANCISCO, USA, February 12 (IPS) - The most recent agreement limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals, New START, expired on February 5, and prospects for any kind of follow-on agreement are very uncertain.

UNITED NATIONS, February 12 (IPS) - When the nuclear Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the US and Russia expired last week, it ended a historic era— but triggered widespread speculation about the future.