News headlines in February 2024, page 4

The mobile phone industry has pledged over $9 billion towards the goal of connecting the world, said the chief of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Monday, addressing the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

UN relief agencies operating in war-torn Gaza voiced deep frustration on Tuesday over continuing aid access restrictions placed on them by the Israeli military, after ambulances carrying patients away from a stricken hospital at the weekend were stopped for several hours while health workers were searched and detained.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 26 (IPS) - As negotiations within the UN Security Council and internationally continue, the humanitarian response to Gaza continues to be under threat.

GENEVA, Switzerland, Feb 26 (IPS) - There are moments when international treaties, long forgotten by the general public, suddenly spring back to life. Moments when glimpses of reality shine through the thick-laden bureaucracies of the United Nations and catch the attention of the world outside.

CHIANGMAI, Thailand, Feb 26 (IPS) - Rangoon Nights is rocking. The bar is on its feet and the cocktail shaker is shaking in abandon as the band Born In Burma starts pumping out its beat.

LONDON, Feb 26 (IPS) - Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine marked its second anniversary on 24 February. And while civil society is offering an immense voluntary effort in Ukraine, in Russia activists have faced intense constraints. The suspicious death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny is part of a great wave of repression. He’s the latest in a long list of people who’ve come to a sudden end after falling out with Vladmir Putin.

Fighting between Government forces and the M23 rebel group has flared up again in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after a brief lull, the UN Spokesperson said on Monday.

The latest meeting of the “world’s parliament on the environment” opened in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday with a clear call for stronger global action to address the “triple planetary crisis” of climate changenature loss and pollution.

Amid geopolitical divides, arms competition, increasingly dangerous new technologies and an elevated nuclear risk, the Secretary-General on Monday highlighted his concern that the UN Conference on Disarmament is consistently failing to deliver.

War crimes, racism, arbitrary detention and rape as a weapon of war: these just a few of the pressing international issues over which the UN Human Rights Council deliberates.