News headlines in December 2023, page 11

BULAWAYO, Dec 13 (IPS) - At first, he danced for money, but later on, he realized the need to dance for sanitary pads in order to help poor girls and women. Now, 29-year-old Proud Mugunhu conducts dance tutorials that earn him 100 pads from each session.

Humanitarians in Ukraine mobilized emergency assistance for citizens of Kyiv on Wednesday morning following the third attack in less than a week by Russia forces which left dozens injured, including children.

Civilians in Sudan – where rival militaries are waging a bloody war, with devastating consequences – are at a high risk of falling into catastrophic levels of hunger by May next year, the UN emergency food relief agency warned on Wednesday.

A record 114 million forcibly displaced around the world represents a “crisis of humanity”, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi said on Wednesday as the Global Refugee Forum got underway in Geneva.

A ceasefire in Gaza is “the only way forward” and “in the interest of everybody” as the war there threatens peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis for years or even decades to come, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said on Wednesday.

With an unprecedented reference to fossil fuels, the UN climate conference in Dubai, COP28, in its final document called on countries to work towards “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems” but fell short of making the much-anticipated call for a “phaseout”.

DUBAI, Dec 12 (IPS) - One of the most heated debates at the annual climate summit coming to a conclusion in this United Arab Emirates city revolved around the phrasing of the final declaration, regarding the "phase-out" or "phase-down" of fossil fuels within a given time frame.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Dec 12 (IPS) - Last month the Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, passed a package of eight laws recognising same-sex civil unions and associated rights. The new legislation came in response to a 2020 Constitutional Court ruling that established that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to the benefits and legal protections afforded to married opposite-sex couples.

NEW YORK, Dec 12 (IPS) - Child poverty persists even in some of the world’s richest countries, new findings from a UNICEF report reveals.

TAGUASCO, Cuba, Dec 12 (IPS) - The combined use of clean energies allows Finca del Medio, a farm in central Cuba, to practice a unique system of family farming production that guarantees self-sufficiency based on permaculture, agroecology and care of the environment.