News headlines
New Survey: US Funding Freeze Triggers Global Crisis in Human Rights and Democracy
- Inter Press Service
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Mar 19 (IPS) - A new survey carried out by the EU System for an Enabling Environment (EU SEE) network exposes the impact of the US funding freeze on civil society organisations (CSOs) in over 50 countries. With 67% of surveyed organisations directly impacted and 40% of them losing between 25-50% of their budgets, the abrupt halt in funding is disrupting critical human rights, democracy, gender equality and health programs, leaving vulnerable communities without essential support.
Musk is Wrong. Empathy is Not a Weakness
- Inter Press Service
BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 19 (IPS) - “The fundamental weakness is empathy,” Musk recently told radio podcast host Joe Rogan. “There is a bug, which is the empathy response.”
As Musk has established himself as at least the second most powerful person in an administration seeking a wholesale remaking of institutions, rules and norms, what he said matters, because it encapsulates a political plan. What the Project 2025 report set out in over 900 turgid pages, Musk’s remark captures in a simple pithy mantra for the social media age.
Gaza: ‘Dramatic escalation’ as bombardments intensify and displacement surges
- UN News
Israeli bombardments continued across Gaza on Wednesday, killing hundreds more people – many of them women and children – and leaving widespread destruction in its wake, according to local authorities.
Ukrainians tortured, raped, executed by Russian captors, Human Rights Council hears
- UN News
The Human Rights Council on Wednesday heard gruesome testimony of torture, rape and execution of Ukrainian detainees and soldiers allegedly committed by Russian forces, as a high-level independent probe into Russia’s full-scale invasion delivered its latest mandated report in Geneva.
Violence triggers record displacements in Haiti’s capital
- UN News
In just one month, intensifying violence has forced over 60,000 people to flee their homes in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, marking another grim record in the country’s worsening humanitarian crisis.
UN staff member killed in central Gaza blast, five others injured
- UN News
At least one UN staffer has been killed and at least five others injured – several very severely – following an explosion at their official premises in Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
Haitian media struggle to survive in face of attacks, revenue collapse
- UN News
An increase in attacks on media outlets in Haiti by armed gangs which control most of the capital Port-au-Prince is intended to intimidate journalists and instill chaos according to the UN agency for culture, UNESCO.
Epilepsy Patients in Africa Fight Stigma and Neglect
- Inter Press Service
BENIN, Nigeria, Mar 19 (IPS) - When Angela Asemota’s son began having seizures at six years old in 1996, people gossiped that he was possessed by evil spirits, leading her to seek healing from native healers and religious clerics. He underwent several traditional rituals and drank various concoctions, but the seizures persisted. It was not until his fourth year in secondary school in 2004 that she took him to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with epilepsy and began taking medication.
When Ethnic Violence Turns Women Against Women
- Inter Press Service
NEW DELHI, Mar 18 (IPS) - For Kikim*, it was the ides of May, instead of March, that was, in one sense, her undoing. She was looking forward to welcoming her baby, her first. But life took an unexpected turn, and things changed within a split second.
Pioneering Sustainable Energy Solutions in Africa
- Inter Press Service
LONDON, Mar 18 (IPS) - The 12th Sankalp Africa Summit, held on Feb 26-27 in Nairobi, brought together a pivotal cohort of start-up innovators, investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers to accelerate the innovation needed to enhance Africa’s energy transition.
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