News headlines in December 2023, page 5

The UN expert working to end rape during wartime remains gravely concerned for the safety and well-being of hostages still being held by Hamas militants, especially the 15 women captives, 75 days after the extremist group’s brutal incursion into southern Israel.

After intense negotiations all week behind closed doors at the 15-member Security Council, ambassadors are still negotiating over a draft resolution penned by the United Arab Emirates which calls for an “urgent suspension” of the conflict to allow safe and unhindered delivery of aid to stricken civilians in the Gaza Strip. The Council is expected to meet on the crisis later on Thursday and we'll bring you live coverage here...

There are no functioning hospitals in the north of Gaza and injured patients who need surgery and cannot be moved are “waiting to die”, the UN health agency said on Thursday, in a plea for a ceasefire to allow more aid into the shattered enclave.

Following the Second World War, acclaimed actor Audrey Hepburn survived on aid supplies from the United Nations during her own childhood in Europe, and as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), she travelled to virtually every region of the world.

AUSTIN, Texas, US, Dec 20 (IPS) - The city of Austin, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border, had 945,000 residents in 2021 and on average each household owned two cars, hundreds of them electric. Among the manufacturers of these electric vehicles are companies such as the US Tesla, Ford and General Motors (GM).

KEZI, ZIMBABWE, Dec 20 (IPS) - Five years ago, farmer Sehlisiwe Sisanda would walk into a nearby forested area to fill a scotch cart with huge wood logs for cooking and heating; a pile of firewood would last her a week during the summer.

WASHINGTON DC, Dec 20 (IPS) - Crime and violence have long been a top-of-mind concern for households across Latin America and the Caribbean. The region accounts for nearly half of the world's intentional homicide victims, despite representing just over 8 percent of the global population, United Nations data show.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec 20 (IPS) - The World Bank insists commercial finance is necessary for achieving economic recovery and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but does little to ensure profit-hungry commercial finance serves the public interest.

By failing to address pressing challenges within their purview, the second-ever Bretton Woods institutions’ (BWIs) annual meetings on the African continent, in Marrakech in October 2023, set the developing world even further back.

The ‘innocent hope for peace’ demonstrated by Ukrainian children and the determination of all citizens there to look to the future, is helping the country survive into a second winter of Russia’s full-blown invasion, according to the senior UNICEF representative based in Kyiv.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is continuously monitoring the global spread of JN.1, a COVID-19 variant of interest, adding that current vaccines continue to offer protection against severe disease and death from this and other variants in circulation.