News headlines in 2024, page 4

MADRID, Dec 20 (IPS) - Perhaps demographers would consider designing a new classification system to separate from their estimates of the world’s total population—eight billion plus—the billion humans who live without legal identity and, thus, are deprived from the most basic rights.

MANAUS, Brazil, Dec 20 (IPS) - The flow of the igarapé always dropped for three months every year, but now it has been dry for two years in a row, complains Maria Aparecida dos Anjos, looking at the trickle of water that when flooded reaches the stilts of her wooden house, 50 metres away and on a slope of more than 10 metres high.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 20 (IPS) - In overthrowing Bashar al-Assad and his regime, Syria reaches the process of re-affirming its sovereignty, a process that the United Nations chief asserts must be led by the Syrian people.

COTONOU, Benin, Dec 20 (IPS) - Construction of the new Museum of Modern Art is underway in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city. The museum, along with three others being built throughout the country, are part of the Beninese government’s extensive plan to ramp up the nation’s tourism industry and preserve its culture. It is expected to open at the end of 2026.

SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec 20 (IPS) - As many middle-income countries in the world, Chile finds itself at a critical juncture. The country has made significant progress over the past decades in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction, yet many structural challenges remain.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 20 (IPS) - The United States, long described as a country built largely by immigrants, is planning to clamp down on migrants, refugees and asylum seekers entering the country—which averaged about 2.4 million in 2022-2023, according to the US Congressional Budget Office.

The incoming Trump administration is calling for “mass deportations” of mostly illegal aliens and undocumented workers.

In a landmark mission to Syria, the UN probe into the most serious rights violations committed in the country since 2011 has called on caretaker authorities to take immediate measures to protect mass grave sites and preserve critical evidence.

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.