News headlines in 2026, page 8

WASHINGTON DC, January 22 (IPS) - Nepal has a unique opportunity for transformation. The recent youth-led protests underscored aspirations for greater transparency, governance and a more equal distribution of economic opportunities and resources. This yearning resonated in Nepal and beyond.

From humanitarian crises and youth unemployment to climate resilience and development financing, many of today’s global challenges pass through a single United Nations body that is quietly turning 80 this year.

A rising trend towards government-enforced internet shutdowns – with at least 300 incidents in more than 54 countries over the last two years – is prompting renewed warnings from the UN about the threat these digital blackouts pose to freedom of expression, access to information and human rights.

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed urged countries to protect the UN Charter in a powerful speech to the Danish Parliament on Thursday, urging countries to “stand up for a rules-based order” – or pay the price.

A tense standoff between the Syrian Government and Kurdish-led forces in the country’s northeast risks igniting wider instability just as Syria struggles to emerge from years of conflict and authoritarian rule, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Thursday.

Russian forces launched a fresh wave of strikes across Ukraine this week which have left hundreds of thousands of families without electricity and heating amid freezing temperatures.

The world spends billions to protect nature, but trillions are being invested in business activities that harm the environment.

As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.

NYERI, Kenya, January 21 (IPS) - For the last twenty years, Sarah Nyaga, a smallholder farmer from Embu County in central Kenya, has farmed coffee. Like most across Kenya, she relies on the export market. A greater percentage of Kenya’s coffee ends up within the European Union market, but a new law threatens to disrupt what has been a source of income for thousands of farmers like Nyaga.

UNITED NATIONS, January 21 (IPS) - The world is already in the state of “water bankruptcy”. In many basins and aquifers, long-term overuse and degradation mean that past hydrological and ecological baselines cannot realistically be restored.