Page 148 - Lobal Issues News Today

BULAWAYO, Jun 28 (IPS) - For years, self-employed and unemployed women in Zimbabwe formed neighbourhood "clubs" where they pooled money together for everything from buying bulk groceries to be shared at the end of the year to meeting funeral expenses.

The Secretary-General condemned on Wednesday Israel’s recent advancement of plans for over 5,500 housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank. He also denounced the retroactive regularization of three outposts adjacent to the settlement of Eli.

SAN FRANCISCO, USA, Jun 27 (IPS) - A recent Justice Department report concluded that “systemic” racial bias in the Minneapolis Police Department “made what happened to George Floyd possible.”

While no longer a global emergency, COVID-19’s long-term effects alongside such other threats as mpox and seasonal heat waves may challenge Europe through the summer months, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office warned on Tuesday.

Violations of international law regarding children and armed conflict continued to have a “devastating impact”, the UN’s top official on the issue said on Tuesday, with a 112 per cent rise in the number of attacks on schools and hospitals.

Unless decisive steps are swiftly taken to rein in Israeli-Palestinian violence, there is a “significant risk” that the situation could deteriorate, the top UN Middle East official told the Security Council on Tuesday.

MADRID, Jun 27 (IPS) - How come that in a world where technology is -or is about to be- able to detect an ant in a jungle, the traffickers of death continue to carry out their lucrative criminal activities everywhere and in all fields, from weapons to prostitution, enslavement and drugs, to deadly fake medicines, through oil, gas and poisoned food.

People who use drugs in Thailand are receiving more help to reduce the harm caused by their habit thanks to a change in formerly punitive drug laws and support from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

There are many dangers lurking in the shadows just off the bustling streets of the Afghan capital Kabul, but none is more threatening than the drug abuse crisis that is ravaging the city, and the entire country.

For “countless civilians” caught in current conflicts around the world, taking responsibility for protecting them to prevent atrocities is more critical than ever, a senior UN official told the General Assembly on Monday.