News headlines in June 2022, page 11

Scientific evidence shows that overexposure to UV radiation is the major cause of skin cancer. To help people protect themselves adequately, a consortium of UN agencies on Tuesday, launched an innovative new App that can help anyone, anywhere, determine the safe amount of time to stay outdoors, soaking up the rays. 

Nuclear weapons are “a deadly reminder of countries’ inability to solve problems through dialogue and collaboration”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday, urging the international community to abandon them once and for all.  

A shocking new UN report released on Tuesday indicates that the number of crisis-impacted school-aged children requiring educational support has grown from an estimated 75 million in 2016, to 222 million today.

UN humanitarians issued an alert on Tuesday over the deteriorating situation for millions of mainly women and children in northeast Nigeria who continue to be affected by protracted armed conflict, just as the country enters the lean season.

UN delegates and staffers spread out their yoga mats and stretched into various yoga “asanas” or poses, at an outdo​​or event on Monday evening at UN Headquarters in New York, to celebrate the eighth International Day of Yoga, observed annually on 21 June.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 21 (IPS) - After decades of rejecting international tax cooperation under multilateral auspices, rich countries have finally agreed. But, by insisting on their own terms, progressive corporate income tax remains distant.

Tax avoidance and evasion by transnational corporations (TNCs) are facilitated by ‘tax havens’ – jurisdictions with very low ‘effective’ taxation rates. Intense competition among developing countries to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) makes things worse.

The ocean holds the keys to an equitable and sustainable development path for all. This is the premise behind the UN Ocean Decade and it will be in the spotlight during several major international summits this year to promote ocean health, including the UN Ocean Conference, which is set to open soon in Lisbon, Portugal.

With humanitarian needs in Syria at their highest levels since the start of the civil war more than 11 years ago, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed on Monday for the Security Council to renew a resolution on delivering lifesaving aid to millions in northwest Syria, through cross-border operations from neighbouring Türkiye. 

NEW YORK, Jun 20 (IPS) - Patricia Espinosa’s six years as Executive Secretary of the UN’s climate change secretariat ends on July 15th. During her time in charge, she has led efforts to operationalize the 2015 Paris Agreement and inject greater urgency into the diplomatic process. Although progress has been difficult, COP26 in Glasgow added some momentum and arguably brought the UN process to the start of its next stage: implementation.

CARACAS, Jun 20 (IPS) - Numerous countries of the developing South are distancing themselves from the contenders in the war in Ukraine, using the debate on the conflict to underscore their independence and pave the way for a kind of new de facto non-alignment with regard to the main axes of world power.