News headlines in October 2023, page 7

The UN Secretary-General on Wednesday firmly rebuked what he described as the “false” claim by top Israeli diplomats that he had sought to justify the terror attacks of 7 October by Hamas in a speech he delivered to the Security Council.

Humanitarian operations in Gaza risked grinding to a halt on Wednesday due to the ongoing fuel blockade, while Israel continued to deal with a protracted hostage crisis amid the horrific aftermath of Hamas’ 7 October attacks.

For farmers in the Punjab region of India, water shortages are a harsh reality, and ahead of the publication of a UN report Interconnected Disaster Risks, three rice cultivators have been talking about the challenges they face due to the scarcity of water and the solutions they are adopting.

NAIROBI, Oct 24 (IPS) - Almost all major river basins in Africa have become the epicentres for conflicts over the last 20 years, and agricultural yields on the continent could drop by up to 50 percent in the coming years owing to the drying up of 'traditional' water sources, thanks in part to effects climate change and degradation of the environment, the inaugural edition of the State of Africa's Environment Report 2023 released in Nairobi finds.

MEXICO CITY, Oct 24 (IPS) - The defense of the right to water led Gema Pacheco to become involved in environmental struggles in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, an area threatened by drought, land degradation, megaprojects, mining and deforestation.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Oct 24 (IPS) - Brazil’s Supreme Court has delivered a long-awaited ruling upholding Brazilian Indigenous peoples’ claims to their traditional land. It did so by rejecting the ‘Temporal Framework’ principle, which only allowed for the demarcation and titling of lands physically occupied by the Indigenous groups who claimed them by 5 October 1988, when the current constitution was adopted. This excluded the numerous Indigenous communities who’d been violently expelled from their ancestral lands before then, including under military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985.

NEW YORK, Oct 24 (IPS) - The bloodletting in Israel-Palestine is nothing new, perhaps the ferocity and intensity has become much worse and more frenetic. Ever since the Zionist project to establish a Jewish nation took hold in 1948, and flourished thereafter, the local inhabitants, mostly Arab Muslims and Christians, were displaced in the power equation and became dispossessed in every sense of the word.

Twenty-three years after a landmark UN Security Council agreement focusing on women, peace and security, women and girls continue to bear the brunt of conflicts and remain under-represented in decisions concerning their needs and rights.

Nigeria introduced the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine into its routine immunisation system on Tuesday, aiming to reach 7.7 million girls in the largest single round of HPV vaccinations across Africa.

Afghanistan is facing a deteriorating human rights situation due to the Taliban's repressive policies, a culture of impunity and an ongoing humanitarian and economic crisis, the UN’s independent expert on the country said on Tuesday.