News headlines in April 2023, page 7

Ahead of International Mother Earth Dayobserved on 22 April, NASA’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Katherine Calvin, shared her terrestrial and intergalactic experiences with UN News and how viewing the Earth from outer space has driven generations to advance climate action.

On Mother Earth Day, marked annually on 22 April, Naw Ei Ei Min, a member of Myanmar’s indigenous Karen people, explains why indigenous peoples have an important role to play, in protecting the environment and addressing the climate crisis.

LONDON, Apr 21 (IPS) - The current fighting in Sudan marks the failure of supposed processes for transition to democratic rule. The international community needs to learn the lessons of this catastrophe and work with civil society.

KAMPALA, Apr 21 (IPS) - The mothers of LGBTQ+ individuals in Uganda have taken a stand against Bill passed by the Ugandan Parliament proposing the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, life imprisonment for the "offense of homosexuality," and up to 20 years in jail for promoting homosexuality.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Apr 21 (IPS) - The world is becoming increasingly coexistent with crises. A pandemic, the Ukraine-Russia war, and cost-of-living crisis are only a few of the ordeals we’ve seen in just the last two years.

Yemen’s fragile health system is “severely overburdened” the World Health Organization’s (WHO) leading official for emergency operations in the country said on Friday, and more international funding is urgently needed to stop it deteriorating further.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan issued a strong statement on Friday calling on both sides in the military power struggle to “implement humanitarian pauses” allowing civilians and aid workers to access essential supplies.

The relentless advance of climate change brought more drought, flooding and heatwaves to communities around the world last year, compounding threats to people’s lives and livelihoods, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.

Decisions made at the UN can push governments to improve the rights of indigenous peoples, who still face discrimination, says Aboriginal Australian activist and human rights lawyer Hannah McGlade.

HANOI, Apr 20 (IPS) - This month Nature spotlighted three insightful new studies chronicling food-related challenges from a global perspective. One presented worrisome new data on the global rise in the prevalence of diabetes, high blood pressure and liver disease, all linked to obesity. Another presented a new assessment revealing that half of the greenhouse emissions generated by food systems globally are caused by food waste. Finally, the third study found that food consumption could add “nearly 1 degree Celsius to warming by 2100,” with most of that attributed to global methane emissions from meat, dairy and rice production.