News headlines in January 2024, page 19

SAINT LUCIA, Jan 09 (IPS) - As a child on the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Yamide Dagnet dreamed of launching rockets into space.

ROME, Jan 09 (IPS) - All through this week, leading up to January 15th, the world will commemorate Martin Luther King. In a world as wounded as ours is today, the lessons of his life’s work offer a vital opportunity for healing.

The European climate agency on Tuesday reported that record global heat last year showed an overall increase of 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels – just a fraction below the 1.5-degree threshold laid out by the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.

The immediate priority in Gaza must be saving civilian lives said the President of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, as Member States gathered to debate the use of the veto by the United States in the Security Council last month.

With no let-up in fighting across Gaza, the UN health agency pleaded on Tuesday for better access across the enclave, where relief is arriving “too little...too late” to help civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict.

KIGALI, Jan 08 (IPS) - An agreement signed between the Rwandan government and the Africa Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation (APTF) gives impetus to Africa’s domestic industry with the hope of helping the continent tackle vaccine inequity and fill the critical gap in vaccine manufacturing.

NEW YORK, Jan 08 (IPS) - Since October 9 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has displaced over 1.8 million, according to UN estimates and killed almost 22,000 people in Gaza as of 2 January 2024most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Hamas' October 7 surprise attacks on Israel killed 1,200 people.

The UN human rights chief on Monday called on the newly elected Government of Bangladesh to take steps to renew the country’s commitment to democracy and human rights.

On day 93 of the war in Gaza, amid reports of relentless and heavy Israeli bombardment, UN humanitarians issued new reports of “significant casualties, particularly among women and children”, and pleaded for overwhelmed medical teams to be allowed to continue their lifesaving work.

Shiraz, a 23-year-old trans woman from Alexandria, Egypt, attempted suicide when she was not accepted by her family. Today, with support from the UN migration agency (IOM), she sees a brighter future in her new home in Izmir, Türkiye.