News headlines in December 2023, page 8

Despite appeals to all those involved in the stalled deal to ensure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, “diplomatic efforts remain at a standstill”, the UN’s political affairs chief told the Security Council on Monday.

With more than 900 air attacks across Ukraine in just one week, the intensifying Russian bombing campaign is leaving millions of children without sustained access to electricity, heat and water, as winter temperatures plummet.

Despite recent legislative progress, Libya’s political landscape remains fraught with power struggles, as key figures attach conditions to taking part in crucial talks, the UN envoy to the north African nation said on Monday.

“Haiti is not hopeless”, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Monday during a meeting addressing the multiple crises besetting the Caribbean nation, alongside the presidents of the UN Security Council and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Migration is a “fact of life” and a “force for good”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, calling for safer options for the millions seeking opportunities to improve their lives in the face of danger and despair.

The head of the UN health agency Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has spoken out against the “effective destruction” of a hospital in northern Gaza by Israeli forces over the weekend, leading to the deaths of eight patients including a nine-year-old child.

The members of the Security Council have condemned Friday’s assault on a police station in southern Iran, in which 11 Iranian police officers were killed, and eight critically wounded.

UN workers delivering medical supplies to the Al-Shifa Hospital in north Gaza on 16 December have described the emergency department as a “bloodbath”, with hundreds of injured people inside, and a constant flow of new patients.

The global problem of illegal sports betting, the fraudulent manipulation of competitions, and the involvement of organized crime in the sporting world has been tackled at a UN conference in Atlanta, United States.

NAIROBI, Dec 15 (IPS) - The world is not on track to end hunger and poverty as a future of growing food insecurity and climate challenges beckon. Small-scale farmers are the backbone of food production, producing one-third of the world’s food and up to 70 percent of the food consumed in Africa and Asia, yet they are often cut off from the services they need to pull themselves out of poverty and food insecurity.