News headlines in July 2022, page 15

Despite two years of a “surreal struggle” against the COVID-19 pandemic, and amidst rising global challenges, optimism for achieving sustainable development persists, a senior UN official declared on Wednesday. 

Top UN-appointed independent rights experts have condemned Russia’s “continued and heightened crackdown on civil society groups, human rights defenders and media outlets”.

New York, Jul 13 (IPS) - The success of BRAC in Bangladesh highlights the significance of development initiatives led by the Global South to eradicate poverty.

Srinagar, Indian Kashmir, Jul 13 (IPS) - The soaring temperatures this year in India’s northern state of Kashmir are proving calamitous for the region’s farming community.  The place, otherwise known for its emerald streams, lush green hills, and ice sheets, is reeling under heat attributed to climate change this year. The heat wave of such intensity has left most of the water canals dead and dry, plunging the already conflict-torn region into a frightening agrarian crisis.

STOCKHOLM, Jul 13 (IPS) - During the beginning of the pandemic, people wanted to learn more about COVID-19. Enclosed in their homes they watched with fear and fascination how the pandemic swept over the world, while comparing numbers of affected people and the death-toll in different countries. Watching COVID’s rampage became a kind of horror show. However, already after a few months with death-tolls rising and isolation not being over anytime soon, psychological fatigue set in. Judging from media coverage it now appears as if the pandemic finally is over, which is far from being the case.

Ottawa, Jul 12 (IPS) - Lisa Argiropulos, a single mother of two teenage sons and a resident of Ottawa, Ontario, has been facing food insecurity since 2016, after an accident that left her with chronic pain and disabilities.

Rising COVID-19 cases are not only putting further pressure on already stretched health systems and workers but also triggering an “increasing trend of deaths”, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists at the regular weekly press briefing on Tuesday.

More vaccines must be developed to tackle antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacterial pathogens, and countries must make better use of the ones currently available, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. 

MEXICO CITY, Jul 12 (IPS) - This is an alert message: if nothing stops the wave of violence in Mexico, by the end of 2024 the country could exceed the figure of 150,000 missing persons.

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution to extend lifesaving aid deliveries into northwest Syria from Türkiye for a further six months following a vote on Tuesday.