News headlines in March 2024, page 8

The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted a landmark resolution on the promotion of “safe, secure and trustworthy” artificial intelligence (AI) systems that will also benefit sustainable development for all.

Reparatory justice must tackle the grave human rights violations deeply entrenched in the legacy of colonialism and enslavement, the General Assembly heard on Thursday on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, marked annually on 21 March.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres doubled down on his call for a ceasefire in Gaza and peace in Ukraine on Thursday, taking aim at the “chaotic” global outlook and any country or armed group that thinks “it can do whatever it wants because there is no accountability”.

On World Poetry Day, marked on 21 March, and #ThrowbackThursday, we looked at some poetry in motion in the General Assembly’s Third Committee on social, humanitarian and cultural affairs.

SANTIAGO, Mar 20 (IPS) - In Chile, as in the rest of Latin America, the task of caring for people with disabilities, the elderly and children falls to women who, as a result, do not have access to paid jobs or time for themselves.

PRETORIA, South Africa, Mar 20 (IPS) - Like surface waters, groundwater resources frequently cross international boundaries, potentially igniting disputes among nations that rely on this essential resource. Disagreements over shared groundwater can arise from various issues, such as inequitable resource distribution, competing water needs and economic dependencies, governance challenges, and the varying effects of climate change on water availability.

SAN MIGUEL, El Salvador, Mar 20 (IPS) - Faced with the recurring problem of environmental pollution caused by the poultry industry in rural communities in El Salvador, some companies are responding by producing biogas from organic waste from their chicken farms and processing plants, and using the gas to generate clean electricity.

KARACHI, Mar 20 (IPS) - Justice Zafar Yab Chadhar's March 6 order sentencing 22-year-old Junaid Munir to ‘be hanged by his neck till he is dead’ on charges of sharing blasphemous material over WhatsApp was devastating for his family.

QUEZON CITY, Philippines, Mar 20 (IPS) - Throughout history, Indigenous Women have made remarkable contributions to forwarding the aspirations of their communities for self-determination. Amid the compounded burdens they face as Indigenous Peoples, as women and an oppressed class, let us recognize and celebrate the bravery of Indigenous Women as they strive and inspire with their courage, heritage, leadership and knowledge.

NEEMRANA, Rajasthan, India, Mar 20 (IPS) - Developing countries wanting to pursue industrial policy were severely reprimanded by advocates of the ‘neoliberal’ Washington Consensus. Now, it is being deployed as a weapon in the new Cold War.