Page 171 - Lobal Issues News Today

ROME, May 04 (IPS) - Some days ago in Rome, the Italian taxi driver switched on the radio during a longish ride through the usual traffic jam. Music, gossip, and the hourly news bulletin. All of a sudden, the man strongly hit the steering wheel. “They are stupid, those bastards…,” he shouted.

With 860,000 people projected to flee the fighting in Sudan for neighbouring countries, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and partners on Thursday appealed for $445 million to assist the displaced through October.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Ethiopia has said it’s “deeply concerned” over reports that significant amounts of food aid has been diverted away from those in desperate need in the post-conflict region of Tigray.

Following a systematic crackdown on the rights of Afghan women and girls by the Taliban – from attending school to working at the UN – “the stage may be set for multiple preventable deaths that could amount to femicide” unless restrictions are reversed rapidly, independent UN human rights experts announced on Friday, following an eight-day visit to the country.

LONDON, May 05 (IPS) - In 2022, Charles III became king not just of the United Kingdom, but of 14 other states, and Head of the Commonwealth. He now heads a monarchy that is starting to face questions about its role in British imperial atrocities, such as slavery, and, as he has said, concerning which  it is time to "acknowledge the wrongs that have shaped our past."

The head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has declared “with great hope” an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency, stressing that it does not mean the disease is no longer a global threat.

Recurring attacks by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continue to drive forced displacement and extreme hardship for millions of Congolese, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 04 (IPS) - We are a group of Afghans living in the country and working across sectors including peace, civil society, humanitarian aid, human rights, media, and the private sector, and are working to promote dialogue and seek long-term solutions for our country.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Friday urged States to keep borders open to people fleeing military infighting across Sudan and suspend "negative asylum decisions" for Sudanese nationals outside the country, who cannot return because of the conflict.

Armed groups – both local and foreign – must lay down their arms in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and efforts must be redoubled to advance a lasting, sustainable peace in the region, the UN chief said on Friday during his first visit to the African nation as Secretary-General.