News headlines in May 2020

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 31 (IPS) - Tobacco use kills more than 8 million people each year. Most adult smokers start smoking before the age of 20. This implies that if one can get through adolescence without smokingthe likelihood of being a smoker in adulthood is greatly reduced.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29 (IPS) - Unless global leaders act now, the COVID-19 pandemic will cause unimaginable suffering and devastation around the world, the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres said yesterday, May 28. He painted a picture of hunger and famine at historic proportions, with some 60 million people pushed into extreme poverty and half the global workforce -- 1.6 billion people -- left without work, and $8.5 trillion in global output lost.

NEW YORK, May 29 (IPS) - The United Nations commemorates International Day of UN Peacekeepers on 29 MayOn February 26 this year, 15 South Sudanese children were released from armed groups and handed over to civilian child protection actors, including UNICEF and UNMISS, UN's peacekeeping operation in South Sudan, who were able to facilitate the children's safe return to their families.

BEIRUT / GENEVA, May 28 (IPS) - Health systems around the world are prioritising health care services and equipment to treat people diagnosed with Covid-19, which means that many procedures deemed to be elective and non-essential are being suspended or simply not provided. Abortion, for instance, has been categorised as a non-essential health service by some States, while others have removed certain restrictions to accessing abortion.

MOGADISHU, May 28 (IPS) - While simultaneously suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, flooding and a locust crisis, Somalia, could well see a rise in the number of people who are susceptible to human trafficking.

COPENHAGEN, May 28 (IPS) - For the past few decades, many big corporations and very wealthy individuals have operated according to the myth that they are "self-made", that their success owed nothing to anyone else.

May 27 (IPS) - Between 2002 and 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) faced the first pandemic of the globalized 21st century, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 27 (IPS) - The African Continental Free Trade Area was launched two years ago at an African Union (AU) summit in Kigali. It was scheduled to be implemented from 1 July 2020. But this has been pushed out until 2021 because of the impact of COVID-19 and the need for leaders to focus on saving lives.

HARARE, May 27 (IPS) - In recent years, Zimbabwe has witnessed a rapid growth in the use of digital agriculture but uptake of modern technology is capital intensive for farmers.

BERLIN, May 27 (IPS) -Crises make us think smaller. When everything is uncertain, we turn inward: to our families, our communities, the immediate needs around us. We focus on the essential and the immediate; we survive.