News headlines in 2026, page 7

UNITED NATIONS, January 23 (IPS) - The two current ongoing conflicts, which have claimed the lives of hundreds and thousands of people, are between nuclear and non-nuclear states: Russia vs Ukraine and Israel vs Palestine, while some of the potential nuclear vs non-nuclear conflicts include China vs Taiwan, North Korea vs South Korea and US vs Iran (Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba and Denmark).

With young people under 30 making up more than half of the global population and over 272 million children and youth still out of school, their participation in shaping education is becoming increasingly vital.

United Nations agencies have regained limited access to Syria’s Al Hol camp and resumed the delivery of essential supplies after days of disruption caused by a volatile security situation, the UN Deputy Spokesperson said on Friday.

As people in war-torn Ukraine face the coldest winter in more than a decade, authorities and humanitarians are working to help them stay warm, particularly the most vulnerable residents.

Disturbing details continued to emerge on Friday about Iran’s State-led crackdown against mass protests, while UN rights chief Volker Türk expressed deep concern that demonstrators could be executed.

The new year provides an opportunity for Colombia to keep advancing towards lasting peace, a decade after a landmark accord that ended more than 50 years of conflict, the UN Special Representative told the Security Council on Friday.

The UN’s top human rights official has raised alarm over what he described as the growing dehumanisation of migrants in the United States, warning that current immigration enforcement practices are undermining due process, family unity and basic human dignity.

Amid reconstruction talks on Gaza linked to President Trump's just-launched Board of Peace, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.

NAIROBI & SRINAGAR, India, January 22 (IPS) - The world is pouring trillions of dollars each year into activities that destroy nature while investing only a fraction of that amount in protecting and restoring the ecosystems on which economies depend, according to a new United Nations report released on today  (January 22).

UNITED NATIONS, January 22 (IPS) - In 2025, global ocean temperatures rose to some of the highest levels ever recorded, signaling a continued accumulation of heat within the Earth’s climate system and raising deep concern among climate scientists. The economic toll of ocean-related impacts—including collapsing fisheries, widespread coral reef degradation, and mounting damage to coastal infrastructure—is now estimated to be nearly double the global cost of carbon emissions, placing immense strain on economies and endangering millions of lives.