News headlines in 2024

UN humanitarian teams scrambled to get lifesaving aid to communities devastated by deadly flash floods in northeastern Afghanistan over the weekend.

The Secretary-General and the UN human rights chief said again on Sunday that a large-scale Israeli offensive in Rafah must be prevented at all costs, warning of catastrophic consequences in the densely populated southern area in Gaza.

When asked what might be the most beautiful word in Shimamuni, the Indigenous language variety spoken on Okinoerabu Island in Kagoshima prefecture of southwestern Japan, Nami Sao pondered for a moment before replying “mihedirodoo.” Her husband, Tomoyuki Sao, is quick to elaborate that its utterance is always enlivened with a smile and tends to make fellow Shimamuni speakers noticeably more pleased than arigatou, the standard Japanese equivalent for saying thank you.

How can people be best supported during humanitarian crises with limited aid budgets and what can be done to help those same people break out of the cycle of dependency caused by multiple crises and move towards more sustainable development?

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (IPS) - Today, as millions of children and families celebrate their mothers, my thoughts turn to the pregnant women and new mothers our teams at UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, support in more than 130 countries around the world. And I hold in my heart all those who, tragically, will never live to see their newborns.

DOMINICA, May 10 (IPS) - Every year for the last four years, a collaborative effort involving scientists and other experts has assessed the state of the climate in Latin America and the Caribbean. The findings have revealed increasingly alarming trends for the world’s second-most disaster-prone region.

SAN FRANCISCO, USA, May 10 (IPS) - While some Palestine defenders on Wednesday welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold bombs and artillery shells from Israel if it launches a major invasion of Rafah, critics noted that an invasion is already underway and accused the American leader of walking back a previous "red line" warning against an Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city.

Two arson attacks and growing protests forced UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA to temporarily close its office in East Jerusalem this week, but its vital work will continue as war rages in Gaza and violence rises in the West Bank, Senior Communications Manager Jonathan Fowler told UN News on Friday.

A UN independent human rights expert warned on Friday that the recent increase in student protest attacks across campuses in the United States indicates an “erosion of intellectual freedom and democratic principles within educational settings.”

The first-ever UN civil society conference held in Africa wrapped up in Nairobi on Friday hearing calls for “bold and honest” conversations among governments and civil society to drive forward shared vision for reinvigorated multilateralism, a better world and a brighter future for all.