News headlines in February 2025, page 3

As Muslims around the world prepare to mark the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan, UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a call on Thursday for compassion, empathy and generosity, urging people everywhere to embrace their common humanity and work towards a more just and peaceful world.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday called for an end to the “abhorrent, dehumanizing narratives” that continue to hamper a positive outcome to the Middle East crisis.

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are carrying out further investigations to determine the cause of another cluster of illness and deaths in Équateur province, UN officials reported on Thursday.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) together with refugee agency, UNHCR, on Thursday strongly condemned Thailand’s deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China, calling it a serious violation of international law and the fundamental principle of non-refoulement.

Wisam sits in her classroom, absorbed in her work, her fingers gripping a blue-coloured pencil, carefully sketching a flower in her notebook, one of more than 100,000 displaced students in war-torn Sudan who have returned to classes, with the support of Education Cannot Wait for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) efforts to distribute urgently needed school supplies to help them get back to learning.

Humanitarians are calling for $2.54 billion to support operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), amid ongoing attacks by M23 rebels in the east and a severe funding shortfall.

HORTOLANDIA, Brazil, Feb 26 (IPS) - Almost everything seems new or under construction in the southern Brazilian city of Hortolandia, from its wide avenues and cable-stayed bridge to its large buildings and riverside parks.

PORTLAND, US, Feb 26 (IPS) - Yeah, governments are having a hissy fit over it. And their hissy fit is not over the usual concerns of governments such as defense, the economy, trade, inflation, unemployment, crime, or terrorism.

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Feb 26 (IPS) - On Christmas Day in 2022, 27-year-old Thabani Dlodlo’s eight-year-old son drowned in a flooded pit dug up by quarry miners in the vicinity of Pumula North, a high-density suburb in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.

WASHINGTON DC, Feb 26 (IPS) - New technologies have the potential to improve the relationship between governments and citizens. Tax portals, customs IT systems and online services have simplified interactions with public authorities, reduced bureaucratic hurdles, and increased transparency. Now, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as the next transformative force.