Page 3 - Lobal Issues News Today

ROME, May 01 (IPS) - Journalism is in crisis, again. The challenges to press freedom are enormous and multi-faceted and they are deepening -- in “free” and open societies as well as autocracies. And there are no simple solutions.

Palestine’s recent attempt to become a full member of the United Nations was the focus of discussion in the General Assembly on Wednesday.

The UN and humanitarian partners have provided emergency support for over 124,000 people in Kenya, where heavy rains continue to cause chaos, the UN said on Wednesday, as the UN chief extended his condolences to countries across the region where hundreds of lives have been lost in recent days due to flooding. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased obesity in school-aged children in Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) office for the region said in a new report issued on Wednesday, sounding the alarm for action.

HYDERABAD & MONTREAL, May 02 (IPS) - In a world faced with habitat loss and species extinction, climate change, and pollution, it’s crucial that countries develop their national action plans and create a society that lives in harmony with nature, says David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in an exclusive interview with IPS.

Almost seven months into the devastating war in the enclave, Gazans face a new threat: booby-trapped food.

With the situation in Gaza “worsening by the day”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday appealed for Israeli and Hamas leaders currently taking part in intense negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Both positive and “worrying” developments have recently unfolded in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a top UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday at an emergency meeting requested by Russia.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday said he was troubled by “a series of heavy-handed steps” taken by some universities in the United States to disperse and dismantle Gaza war protests.

Amid growing international calls for restraint from Israel in Gaza and reports on Wednesday of further deadly strikes overnight, UN humanitarians underscored the ongoing devastating impact of the war and the need to ensure reliable aid supply lines to people in desperate need in the enclave.