News headlines in January 2024, page 18

Jan 10 (IPS) - The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasonsThe prevalence of social media usage among Afghan women and girls has surged since the Taliban assumed control of the country in August 2021. Faced with restrictions confining them to their homes, many women find solace in the messaging app WhatsApp.

BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan 10 (IPS) - When students from poor families in developing countries are offered places at prestigious universities, they are often faced with a tough choice. One option is to accept the offer and create more debt, likely through borrowing from a loan shark, to pay for tuition fees. Another option is to forgo this opportunity, which could be the first in family generations, and start working as low-wage workers.

PATUAKHALI, BANGLADESH, Jan 10 (IPS) - In the past, Salma Begum, 40, lost her crops every year due to natural disasters. She lives with her five-member family in Ashabaria village under Rangabali upazila, a remote coastal island in Patuakhali district.

The profile of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was raised in January, following South Africa’s decision to bring proceedings against Israel for violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention. Here is a primer on the ICJ, and what it does.

The UN remains concerned about the fate of personnel travelling on one of its helicopters in Somalia that reportedly was seized on Wednesday by al-Shabaab militants, though no details were provided.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning “in the strongest terms” the multiple attacks by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen which have disrupted global trade and raised fears of further spillover from the war in Gaza.

The new year has brought no respite to Ukraine, with recent weeks seeing some of the worst attacks of the nearly three-year war, the UN political affairs chief told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Global unemployment is expected to rise this year, with growing inequality and stagnant productivity also a cause for concern on the economic horizon, the UN labour agency ILO said on Wednesday.

Repeated refusals by Israeli authorities to allow UN aid teams to deliver desperately needed humanitarian relief inside Gaza have effectively cut off five hospitals in the north from access to “lifesaving medical supplies and equipment”, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) has warned.

PORTLAND, USA, Jan 09 (IPS) - As the signs of population aging are crystal clear and widely available, many countries are taking steps to address the far-reaching effects of that momentous demographic trend. A notable exception is the United States, a country that seems neither ready nor willing to deal with the aging of its population.