News headlines in January 2024, page 6

SILVER SPRING, Maryland / URBANA, Illinois, USA, Jan 25 (IPS) - Ten percent of Americans live in food-insecure households. At the same time, the average U.S. family of four spends $1,500 each year on food that ends up uneaten. Food is the single most common material found in landfills; and food waste is responsible for 58% of landfill methane emissions released to the atmosphere. Food insecurity and food waste create a paradox that necessitates us to creatively address these two interlinked issues.

NEW YORK, Jan 25 (IPS) - A coalition of 16 leading human rights organizations issued a joint statement Wednesday calling on all nations to immediately stop sending weapons to both Israel and and Palestinian militants, warning that continued arms transfers risk exacerbating what's already one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history.

CAIRO, Jan 25 (IPS) - Dr. Zeinab Al-Momany, a prominent social entrepreneur, sheds light on the journey of empowering women farmers in Jordan and the Arab world, where women often work long hours for low pay and lack labour recognition.

The UN “is not in a position” to verify reports surrounding the crash of a Russian aircraft near the border with Ukraine, the Organization’s top political affairs official said on Thursday, calling on the warring sides to avoid fuelling “the already dangerous conflict.”

The UN expert working to eliminate rape during wartime has been invited to Israel by the Government to gather information on sexual violence reportedly committed in the context of the 7 October Hamas attacks and their aftermath.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is due to issue an emergency measures order on Friday relating to South Africa’s accusations of genocide by the Israeli military in Gaza, which Israel strongly denies.

Attacks against shipping in the Red Sea by Houthis are devastating for global trade and supply chains, already reeling under the impacts of the war in Ukraine and climate change-linked conditions in the Panama Canal, said the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD, on Thursday.

More than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti last year, including killings, injuries and kidnappings – a 122 per cent increase over 2022, the UN Special Representative for the country told the UN Security Council on Thursday.

War in Sudan is putting the future of its 24 million youngest citizens at risk, the Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the country has warned.

Attacks on buildings in Gaza where terrified civilians are sheltering are “abhorrent and must stop immediately”, a top UN humanitarian official insisted on Thursday, after a direct hit on a United Nations training centre.