News headlines in July 2024, page 5

LONDON, Jul 26 (IPS) - Two politicians have just been sentenced to long prison terms in Eswatini. Their crime? Calling for democracy.

Mthandeni Dube and Bacede Mabuza, both members of parliament (MP) at the time, were arrested in July 2021 for taking part in a wave of pro-democracy protests that swept the southern African country. A third MP, Mduduzi Simelane, remains subject to an arrest warrant after going into hiding.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 26 (IPS) - “The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures," says the UN Secretary-General as he launches a call to action on extreme heat and its impact on society and the environment.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 26 (IPS) - When Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a pact last month to revive a Cold War-era mutual defense pledge between two of the world’s nuclear powers, it also had the implicit support a third nuclear power standing in the shadows: China.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 26 (IPS) - Around the world countries are taking powerful steps to protect people’s rights, dignity, and health. Dominica and Namibia became the most recent to decriminalize same-sex relations. South Africa made strides towards decriminalizing sex work.

Over 1.5 million people have been affected in the Philippines, where a state of calamity was declared this week in Metro Manila and nearby areas, as Super Typhoon Gaemi swept through the island nation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) has reported.

The World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced on Friday that the Monastery of Saint Hilarion/Tell Umm Amer in Palestine has been added to its list of global heritage sites and another for sites in danger.

Senior UN officials on Friday reiterated the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, and escalating threat to aid workers, urging immediate action prevent further deterioration.

Humanitarians estimate that more than 190,000 Palestinians were displaced this week in Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah following the latest evacuation orders in Gaza, the UN said on Friday.

A UN-backed global fund that supports education in emergencies will provide $2.5 million to ensure that thousands of children affected by gang violence in Haiti can attend school in safety.

The UN health agency said on Friday that it is sending more than a million polio vaccines to Gaza after the discovery of the highly infectious disease in sewage samples.