News headlines in April 2025

NAIROBI, Apr 07 (IPS) - CGIAR and the Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) are bringing together the world’s leading scientists and decision-makers in agriculture, climate, and health for the first CGIAR Science Week. This gathering will be a key moment to advance research and innovation, inspire action, and establish critical partnerships that can secure investment in sustainable food systems for people and the planet.

NEW YORK, Apr 07 (IPS) - The Taliban’s egregious violations of women's rights in Afghanistan, especially banning women from education and even from speaking in public, are beyond the pale. Imposing economic sanctions alone, however, has not changed in any significant way the Taliban’s treatment of women.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Sunday for an investigation into the Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih which reportedly killed 18 people, including nine children.

Unprecedented aid cuts are putting global progress to end maternal deaths at risk, three UN agencies warned in a new report that calls for greater investment in midwives and other health workers.

Monday’s World Health Day highlights a critical issue for global health: the particular vulnerabilities faced by women and girls.

The blockade of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip is having dire consequences for more than a million children, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Saturday.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine has strongly condemned a missile strike in Kryvyi Rih on Friday which killed more than a dozen people, including at least nine children, and left several others injured.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) race needs to slow down and IT firms should instead be focusing on the bigger picture to ensure that the technology is not misused on the battlefield, UN disarmament experts and leaders of ‘big tech’ companies have insisted.

UKARA, Tanzania, Apr 04 (IPS) - The night after her husband was laid to rest, 24-year-old Vivian Magesa sat in the dimly lit brick-walled house, surrounded by women from her late husband’s family. She had spent the past few days in mourning, wrapped in a white shroud, her head shaved as custom dictated. But as the hushed voices of her in-laws filled the room, Magesa realized her grief was far from over.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on Friday called for urgent answers over the whereabouts of a missing paramedic, coupled with a full independent investigation into the killing of 15 humanitarian workers in Gaza on 23 March.