News headlines in January 2024, page 8

The UN Security Council will hold a second day of debate on Wednesday in search of an end to the devastating conflict in Gaza amid growing tensions in the Middle East, as UN humanitarians reiterated grave concerns for extremely vulnerable Palestinians forced once again to flee the war and evacuation orders.

When fighting between rival militaries erupted last April across the Sudanese capital, UN worker Mohammed Ginish went from providing humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons to becoming displaced himself in Port Sudan, along with many of his colleagues.

KOTIANG, RWANDA, Jan 23 (IPS) - Claver Ntoyinkima wakes up early in the morning, at least three times a week, and goes into the Nyungwe rainforest to record bird vocalizations.

BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan 23 (IPS) - Asia and the Pacific is home to 54 per cent of the world's urban population, who are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (ESCAP, 2023; IPCC, 2022). Why then, do climate action projects in cities commonly face delays in implementation?

The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have delivered 19,000 litres of fuel to Al Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, the UN agency said late on Tuesday.

The United Nations on Tuesday underlined its condemnation of capital punishment following Iran's execution of a young man who was sentenced to death in connection with widespread protests.

Many of the world’s top diplomats are debating the deepening crisis in the Gaza Strip and the whole Middle East in the Security Council on Tuesday, against the backdrop of Israel’s unrelenting military operation, mounting death toll and escalating global calls for an immediate ceasefire. The UN Secretary-General told ambassadors and foreign ministers that any refusal to accept a two-State solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, "must be firmly rejected". Follow full live coverage here.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine on Tuesday condemned the latest round of Russian air strikes on the two biggest cities in the country, which killed at least seven people and wounded dozens more, according to news reports.

Amid continuing heavy fighting in Gaza on Tuesday morning including reported attacks on hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, UN humanitarians expressed deep concern for patients and others seeking treatment who had “no way in and out”.

ABU DHABI, Jan 22 (IPS) - “Middle East” or “West Asia?” This somewhat divided nomenclature adds another layer to the region’s already “complicated” label. Is it the “Middle East” because it is in the “middle” of the East? Is it “West Asia” because it is in the western part of Asia? So, why is the region mostly called the Middle East? It is “geographically ambiguous” to some, as it is “East” only from the “West’s” perspective. The term West Asia has fewer challengers, but it isn’t used as much.