News headlines in December 2023, page 7

Repeated long-range ballistic missile launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) represent a serious threat to international air and sea transportation, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to renew the mandate of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for another year.

The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva was briefed by High Commissioner Volker Türk on Tuesday who described “a litany of continuous suffering” in Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s continuing invasion.

Tuesday marks another crucial day again at the Security Councilwhere diplomatic negotiations are continuing to find consensus on further unified action in response to the crisis in Gaza, more than ten weeks after terror attacks by Hamas plunged the Israel-Palestine conflict into an unprecedented phase of violence. Follow our live coverage here.

Gaza is by far the most dangerous place in the world to be a child and deaths of youngsters from disease will likely surpass those from bombardment in the absence of a ceasefire, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18 (IPS) - Funding humanitarian programs will continue into the new year, but the funding cuts of the previous year may impact the prioritization of the most immediate and most life-threatening needs.

CUZCO, Peru, Dec 18 (IPS) - "The rich world has caused the climate change that is drying up our water sources, and here we are doing everything we can to recover them because otherwise we will die," said Juan Hilario Quispe, president of the small farming community of Muñapata, just over 50 kilometers from the Peruvian city of Cuzco.

ROME, Dec 18 (IPS) - Giulia Cecchettin had a bright future ahead of her. A smart 22-year-old, she was days away from graduating in biomedical engineering at Padua University. She was a loving sister to her two siblings, helping her father cope after the premature passing of her mother due to cancer in October 2022. Her sweetness and generosity of spirit made her popular with her peers. She only had one problem. Her ex-boyfriend and course mate Filippo Turetta could not accept the end of their relationship.

MONTREAL, Canada, Dec 18 (IPS) - The political significance of US-Israeli differences is easily exaggerated.

It is certainly true that tensions in the relationship exist. Israel is currently committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The US would like Israel to reduce - not cease, but reduce – its slaughter Palestinian civilians,

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18 (IPS) - The unrestrained destruction of Gaza and the disproportionate killings of over 17,000, mostly civilians – in retaliation for 1,200 killings by Hamas and 120 hostages in captivity – have left the Palestinians in a state of deep isolation and weighed down by a feeling of being deserted by the world at large.