News headlines in September 2022, page 11

ROME, Sep 22 (IPS) - Radical climate groups undeterred by risks and unpopularity as long as message gets acrossBlocking metros and highways in rush-hour traffic to stop commuters getting to work. Vandalizing petrol pumps to put them out of use. Halting sporting events such as the French Open and the British Grand Prix. Disrupting bemused art lovers by gluing oneself to priceless masterpieces.

Addressing world leaders gathered for the first fully in-person high-level debate of the UN General Assembly in three years, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the true essence of the unjust and unsustainable prevailing international order.

Ethiopia’s people are once again “mired…in the intractable and deadly consequences” of conflict between Government troops and forces loyal to Tigrayan separatist fighters, who are all likely responsible for war crimes, top rights investigators said on Thursday.

UN independent human rights experts on Thursday strongly condemned the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody following her arrest for allegedly failing to comply with Iran’s strict rules on women’s dress, by wearing what authorities said was “an improper hijab”.

The UN health agency, WHO, announced on Wednesday that it is speeding up efforts to respond to a fresh outbreak of the deadly, infectious Ebola disease in Uganda.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Sep 22 (IPS) - Each year, low-emitting countries like Bangladesh are the greatest sufferers and, paradoxically, pay the biggest price in losses and damages resulting from climate change.

STOCKHOLM, Sep 22 (IPS) - After general elections on the 12th September, Sweden is on the threshold of a new era. The Sweden Democrats (SD) won almost 21 percent of the votes and thus became the largest in a bloc of right-wing parties that now have a collective majority in the parliament. A nation that for a long time prided itself of being a beacon of tolerance and openness will now experience a historical transformation. The Sweden Democrats was once founded by Nazi sympathisers and for decades shunned by mainstream politicians. However, SD has now tipped the political scale in a country previously known for its stable and predictable politics, and some of the party’s former foes are now willing to co-rule with them.

SYDNEY, Sep 22 (IPS) - Safeguarding plentiful, nutritious supplies of food for the present generation of Pacific Islanders and those who come in the future is a frontline goal in the wake of the pandemic and the continual threat of climate extremes to island farming. But the region, where 50 to 70 percent of people depend on agriculture and fisheries for sustenance and income, is now one step ahead in that objective. The region’s agricultural gene bank, established by the development organisation, Pacific Community (SPC), is now acclaimed as world-class and a leader in building future food supplies.

Worldwide employment in the renewable energy sector reached 12.7 million last year, a jump of 700,000 new jobs in just 12 months, despite the lingering effects of COVID-19 and the growing energy crisis, according to a new report published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO).

With a full-scale war of aggression under way in Europe, the General Assembly was meeting this year “in a new geopolitical era that demands those who believe in the principles of the United Nations to stand up,” according to Elizabeth Truss, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.