News headlines in 2020, page 57

BHUBANESWAR, India, Jul 07 (IPS) - High up at an altitude of between 1,500 to 4,000 feet in India's eastern Odisha state, live the Bonda people — one of this country's most ancient tribes, who have barely altered their lifestyle in over a thousand years.

HYDERABAD, India, Jul 07 (IPS) - Growing up in Senegal's southern Casamence region — a conflict zone —  Fatou Ndiaye, now 43, often heard gunfire and watched fearfully as she saw people flee their villages. But what she dreaded more than a flying bullet was Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 07 (IPS) - In his early February annual State of the Union addressUS President Donald Trump typically hailed his own policies for increasing wages and jobs to achieve record low US unemployment. Directly appealing to labour for a second term, Trump claimed exclusive credit for the US "blue-collar boom".

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 07 (IPS) - More than three months after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres made an urgent appeal for a global ceasefire in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Security Council has finally passed a resolution supporting his call.

CANBERRA, Australia, Jul 06 (IPS) - The onset of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 set off a series of health and economic crises that feed upon each other. The health crisis exacerbates the economic crisis by disrupting supply chains, throwing large number of people (particularly those working in the informal sector) out of work and closing down large numbers of enterprises – particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).

Jul 06 (IPS) - All people belong to one biological species and there are no human "races". So why does belief in race persist? It may be a scientific misconception, but it is real. It defines the lived experience of many people and determines how governments act and how people treat one another. How did race come to have this power and this durability?

NAIROBI, Jul 06 (IPS) - In 2013, Alice Wahome ran in her third attempt to win the hotly-contested Kandara constituency parliamentary seat in Murang'a County, Central Kenya. As is typical of rural politics, the field was male-dominated, with the stakes being high for all candidates but more especially so for Wahome — no woman had ever occupied the Kandara constituency parliamentary seat.

MONTREAL, Canada, Jul 06 (IPS) - As the nations of the world prepare to gather virtually to assess progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), society is just beginning to imagine what a post-COVID world might be like.

BANGALORE, India, Jul 05 (IPS) - Universal healthcare (UHC) is an important global goal because of its close links to poverty reduction and enhancement of the growth potential of countries. While several countries can now be said to be well on their way towards achieving this goal, several others, most notably large ones such as India and Nigeriaare decidedly not.

BEIRUT, Jul 03 (IPS) - Reports of escalating violence against women and children made the news almost everyday in March and April following the announcement of lockdowns to control the spread of Covid-19. The main concern has been that victims cannot escape their abusers or seek help when they share a confined space and are under constant scrutiny and the threat of violence.