News headlines in 2020, page 45

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Aug 10 (IPS) - COVID-19 has become a scourge affecting all levels of human society – morals, behaviour, human interaction, economy and politics. The pandemic has wrecked havoc on our way of being and its impact will remain huge and all-encompassing. It is not only affecting our globally shared existence, it is also changing what has been called "the little life", i.e. our own way of thinking and being, our personal life situation and the one of those close to us; people we love and depend upon – our friends and family.

Aug 10 (IPS) - School as we all know it hasn't changed that much in over a century. However, in the face of new threats to health and wellbeing, the future of those familiar structures that bring teachers and students together is starting to be questioned.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Aug 10 (IPS) - The Persian Gulf is one of the most strategic waterways in the world and is also one of the most polluted.

According to estimates by experts, pollution levels in the Persian Gulf are 47 times higher than the world's average and are steadily increasing.

Aug 07 (IPS) - While COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across Latin America, its governments are developing policies which they hope will provide for a rapid economic recovery when the pandemic wanes.

Aug 07 (IPS) - These 28 organizations are preserving Indigenous food systems and promoting Indigenous food sovereignty through the rematriation of Indigenous land, seeds, food and histories.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug 07 (IPS) - On the third day of the deadly explosion, amidst an outpouring of anger from the Lebanese people, Angelina speaks about her home lost in the Mar Mikhael area. Josette talks about her experience of the explosion while she was on the road and Charbel shares his thoughts about being a volunteer at this critical time. They are all numb and speak calmly of how their lives were turned upside down, with this tragedy affecting thousands of people.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 07 (IPS) - Countries with low human development are facing the brunt of school lockdowns, with more than 85 percent of their students effectively out of school by the second quarter of 2020, according to a United Nations policy brief on the impact of COVID-19 on education.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 07 (IPS) - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has warned that developing countries would need more than the earlier estimated US$2.5 trillion to provide relief to affected families and businesses and expedite economic recovery.

NEW YORK, Aug 06 (IPS) - A girl has many roles. She can be a daughter, a mother, a friend, a wife or a sister. But her first and foremost introduction is a person, a human and a voice. No matter what remote or accessible part she may belong to, her story is unique and belongs only to her own. And if a thought-provoking, positive platform echo her voice, it can achieve wonders.

Aug 06 (IPS) - In a video message delivered to a Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan on Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has paid tribute to the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which devastated the city in 1945.