News headlines in December 2024, page 8

The ongoing conflict in Sudan - particularly around besieged El Fasher – and a growing refugee crisis on the South Sudan border, have intensified an already alarming humanitarian crisis, according to UN agencies on Friday.

West Africa and the Sahel continue to grapple with a confluence of political, security and humanitarian crises as countries prepares for pivotal elections in 2025, the UN special envoy for the vast region told ambassadors in the Security Council on Friday.

The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.

Hunger, dire living conditions made worse by heavy winter rains and ongoing hostilities continue to endanger people’s lives in Gaza, which has become “a graveyard”, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.

DUISBURG, Germany, Dec 19 (IPS) - Donald Trump, president-elect of the USA, wants to end the Ukraine war within a day, as he has emphasized several times, but without saying how. Despite the brutal clashes on the ground in Ukraine, do negotiations now have a chance? Are we near to a "ripe moment" for negotiations?

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (IPS) - The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad came about following a series of coordinated offensive missions spearheaded by the Syrian opposition which resulted in the seizure of the capital city Damascus. In the days following the fall of Assad’s government, the Syrian Civil War has reached a phase of heightened insecurity, plunging Syria into a state of nationwide insecurity.

MEXICO, Dec 19 (IPS) - The expansion of the port of ManzanilloMexico's most important port in terms of cargo movement and located on the central Pacific coast, has major environmental impacts, as well as presenting climatic risks.

WINDHOEK, Dec 19 (IPS) - Nature is at a tipping point. With human activity having pushed up to 1 million plant and animal species close to extinction, securing sustainable development and halting global biodiversity collapse is no longer just an option but a requisite for human wellbeing.

WASHINGTON DC, Dec 19 (IPS) - As the global community races to close the staggering $4.2 trillion financing gap needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) emerges as a crucial juncture.

In Ukraine, the UN continues to provide aid and support to communities impacted by Russia’s full-scale invasion.