News headlines in April 2023, page 8

NEW DELHI, Apr 20 (IPS) - The removal from school textbooks of chapters covering the Mughal period of Indian history spanning three centuries has raised a storm of protests from academics.

GENEVA, Switzerland, Apr 20 (IPS) - As 2022 came to a close, ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, became the fastest-growing app in history, reaching an estimated 123 million users less than three months after its launch.

In April 1994, a sinister call was broadcast over radio stations across Rwanda, triggering the start of 100 days of genocide that left more than one million people dead. Henriette Mutegwaraba heard that call.

An ambitious UN-led effort to create mRNA technology transfer hubs in the developing world, is taking another major step forward this week at an international conference in Cape Town, South Africa, coinciding with the official launch on Thursday of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) first transfer hub.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has carried out a month-long field mission to areas of northwest Syria devastated by the February earthquakes there, and in Türkiye, helping stem the risk of further disease outbreaks or full-blown epidemics.

If governments continue with the same environmental policies currently in place, the world will become 2.8°C hotter by the end of the century, which would be “a death sentence”, warned the UN chief on Thursday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday appealed for warring parties in Sudan to observe a ceasefire for at least three days so that civilians trapped in conflict zones can seek medical treatment, food and other essential supplies. His call to silence the guns during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations, marking the end of Ramadan, followed a virtual meeting on the crisis, convened by the African Union (AU).

Some 67 million children worldwide missed out on one or more essential vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflict, but also decreasing confidence in vaccines, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.

JOHANNESBURG, Apr 19 (IPS) - Matiullah Wesa’s crime was to try to ensure young people got an education in Afghanistan. His recent forceful abduction by the Taliban offers the latest stark reminder that global solidarity and coherent action from the international community are needed to prevent the complete loss of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

SANTIAGO, Apr 19 (IPS) - Good management of the 101 hydrographic basins which run from the Andes mountain range to the Pacific Ocean is key to solving the severe water crisis that threatens the people of Chile and their main productive activities.