News headlines in May 2021, page 14

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation across the planet, millions worldwide still lack Internet access, the UN Secretary-General said on Monday, highlighting why information and communication technologies (ICTs) must be “a force for good.”

The deadly increase in COVID-19 cases  in India could potentially occur elsewhere if vulnerable countries do not have access to vaccines, the head of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned on Monday in a bid to get richer nations to share their excess doses.

The current “senseless” cycle of violence in the Middle East must end now, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in remarks to a Security Council meeting held on Sunday morning in response to the crisis.

For Diarmuid Gavin, a renowned Irish gardener and TV personality, horticulture has to a role to play in all contemporary affairs, from the Black Lives Matter Movement to the ongoing pandemic, because “everything is connected, and everything is political”.

More than 40 children have been killed in the current crisis in the Middle East, a senior official with the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Saturday.

Amid increasing bloodshed and volatility in Gaza and Israel, UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet on Saturday appealed for a de-escalation in tensions and urged all sides to respect international law.

MEXICO CITY, May 14 (IPS) - The gas producing countries of South America are debating how to make better use of the resource and how to integrate the sector, amid geographical and infrastructural barriers.

Child marriage continues to affect many young girls across Tanzania, in East Africa, but now a series of interventions supported by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) are allowing children to get the support they need to avoid unwanted and potentially damaging relationships.

Humiliation and intolerance remain “a stark reality” for many gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people around the world, the UN human rights chief has said, in her message for the upcoming International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. 

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday appealed for wealthier countries to delay vaccinating younger people against COVID-19 and instead donate doses to the COVAX global vaccine solidarity initiative.