News headlines in 2026, page 8

DELHI, India, March 18 (IPS) - In public discourse today, Muslims often appear as subjects of debate rather than authors of their own histories. Discussions about Muslim societies tend to revolve around geopolitics, security or conflict, leaving little space for the cultural, artistic and intellectual traditions that have shaped Muslim communities across centuries.

UNITED NATIONS, March 18 (IPS) - As the world continues to be weighed down in political and military turmoil, drones are being increasingly used as weapons of war in a rash of ongoing conflicts—including Ukraine vs Russia, Israel vs Palestine, US vs Iran and Israel vs Lebanon, plus in civil wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan and Haiti.

The UN is mourning the loss of Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, whose went from advising Nelson Mandela following the historic anti-apartheid struggle to becoming a “tireless” champion of crisis diplomacy for the UN in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Humanitarian needs are continuing to grow again across Gaza, the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Wednesday, amid mounting pressures on aid delivery and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

UN aid teams in Yemen on Wednesday warned that the situation in the war-torn nation remains dire in a call for $2 billion in aid to deliver lifesaving assistance for 12 million people.

The international community must step up efforts to support Syria amid the current conflict raging in the Middle East, two senior UN officials told the Security Council on Wednesday.

The crisis in the Middle East continues, with ongoing strikes and rising humanitarian needs. The UN nuclear watchdog reported Wednesday that a projectile struck the site of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, although no casualties have been reported. In Lebanon, the humanitarian situation is worsening, with hundreds reported killed and more than one million people displaced. UN agencies are scaling up emergency assistance despite mounting challenges. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. App users can follow coverage here.

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, March 17 (IPS) - Iranian and Israeli flags fill the centre of Manchester, in northern England. There are also portraits of a king overthrown almost half a century ago and of his son, now a claimant to the throne from exile. It is yet another march of Iranians calling for Reza Pahlavi as an alternative to the regime of the ayatollahs.

PORTLAND, USA, March 17 (IPS) - Throughout its 250-year history, following the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the United States has elected 47 presidents. From George Washington in 1789 to Donald Trump in 2024, each U.S. president has left their mark on the nation and the world in various ways.

BRATISLAVA, March 17 (IPS) - Gito* had just arrived at his father’s house in Caloocan City in the Philippines on December 7, 2016, when three armed policemen burst into the home, grabbed his father, took him outside and shot him multiple times. Gito told IPS his father had put his hands up when the officers told him they had come to arrest him, but they opened fire anyway.