News headlines for “Natural Disasters”, page 122
Closed Borders and Hostile Receptions Await Afghan Refugees
- Inter Press Service

TORONTO, Canada, Aug 30 (IPS) - Whether desperately trying to get a place on the last evacuation flights out of Kabul or trekking to the borders with neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, tens of thousands of Afghans are fleeing their country once more.
Vaccine Access Negotiations to Resume as New Variants Spread
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 (IPS) - A committee that has spent almost a year negotiating the terms of a temporary intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 medicines will reconvene in September after pausing for the European Summer.
Pacific Community Warns of Threat to Education Retention in the Wake of COVID-19
- Inter Press Service

CANBERRA, Australia, Aug 27 (IPS) - Before the pandemic, many Pacific Island countries grappled with low numbers of students completing secondary education. Now experts in the region are concerned that the closure of schools to contain the spread of COVID-19, and the economic downturn, will lead to even more students dropping out of education early.
Systemic Barriers Exist in Canadian Healthcare for Immigrant Health Professionals
- Inter Press Service

Toronto, Canada, Aug 27 (IPS) - Albert Einstein said, “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” The year 2020 was a year of crisis across many sectors in Canada, especially the health care sector. There was a severe strain on the health care system through long waiting lists for family physicians, specialists, and vaccination clinics, and Intensive Care Units were working at a high level of capacity.
Haunting Photos of Bangladesh's COVID Pandemic
- Inter Press Service

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Aug 25 (IPS) - Documentary photographer and filmmaker Mohammad Rakibul Hasan has documented the health crisis in Bangladesh over the past several months. In these haunting images, Hasan brings to life the conditions in which many patients are being treated in poor conditions exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuba, a Small Island State Seeking to Manage Its Vulnerability
- Inter Press Service

HAVANA, Aug 25 (IPS) - This article forms part of the special IPS coverage of the Solutions Forum, a high-level conference of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to be held Aug. 30-31.Cuba, already beset by hurricanes, floods, droughts that deplete its main water sources, among other natural disasters, has seen its socioeconomic difficulties, similar to those faced by other Caribbean island nations, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Climate Disaster Migration Rises, Girls Get Married Off
- Inter Press Service

BHUBANESWAR, India, Aug 25 (IPS) - When 11-year-old Mitali Padhi hugged her childhood friends to say goodbye, she felt a deep-seated foreboding.
Resilience in a Riskier World
- Inter Press Service

BANGKOK, Thailand, Aug 25 (IPS) - Over the past two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has made remarkable progress in managing disaster risk. But countries can never let down their guard. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its epicentre now in Asia, and all its tragic consequences, has exposed the frailties of human societies in the face of powerful natural forces. As of mid-August 2021, Asian and Pacific countries had reported 65 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 1 million deaths.
This is compounded by the extreme climate events which are affecting the entire world. Despite the varying contexts across geographic zones, the climate change connection is evident as floods swept across parts of China, India and Western Europe, while heatwaves and fires raged in parts of North America, Southern Europe and Asia.
Drought, Storms, Intense Rainfall and Fires Threatening Millions in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, Aug 24 (IPS) - In 2020, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia faced their worst drought in half a century. The Atlantic Basin saw 30 named storms – the most recorded in a single year. Two category 4 hurricanes achieved an unprecedented feat by making landfall in Nicaragua.
“Don’t Call It Ethnic. Ituri Confict Is a Mystery”
- Inter Press Service

ROME, Aug 24 (IPS) - It is a metallic sound, harmless. It lasts just over a second, but it can become as sharp as a machete blade or as devastating as the burst from an assault rifle. It is a beep, just the beep of a phone notification. A woman is on the ground, her belly open, her intestines exposed and her severed head resting on her arm. A pagne of colorful fabric still girds her hips. Where? Why? Then, a video. Do you hear those voices? It happened there, in that village. It was them who did it, it was them.

