Global Issues

NEW DELHI, India, Jun 14 (IPS) - In 2015, When Rabina Khan was running as an independent candidate in the Tower Hamlets’ mayoral elections in London, a male voter asked her what colour her hair was under her veil. Rabina replied and said, it was pink. This small interaction is what got Rabina inspired to write her book, My Hair is Pink Under This Veil.Read the full story, “Britain Must Fix Its Anti-Muslim Sentiment Problem”, on globalissues.org →

BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE, Jun 14 (IPS) - Once a week a tonnage of fresh charcoal is dropped off at Sibangani Tshobe's rugged, pit-stop stall by a hired, battered old Bedford lorry. Small, makeshift trolleys — nicknamed Scania's — quickly cart off small loads and disappear into Old Pumula, the oldest suburb in the country’s second-largest city of Bulawayo.Read the full story, “Charcoal Production Risks Future of Zimbabwes Native Forests”, on globalissues.org →

ROME, Jun 14 (IPS) - Italy, as other countries, has been struggling to balance the health and economic challenges posed by COVID-19. Controlling the spread of the virus implied restrictions on economic activity, on school and college attendance, and on personal movement. It also had to deal with the economic and social implications of a fall of almost 10% in GDP. This has been hard for a country which, even before the pandemic, was one of the slowest growing economies in Europe, with unemployment, especially among young people in the South of the country, at alarming levels.Read the full story, “Letter from Rome – Italy at the Crossroads”, on globalissues.org →

Immediate action is required now to initiate critical reforms and lay the groundwork for credible elections in Mali, where the security situation is as worrying as ever, the Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) told the Security Council on Monday. Read the full story, “‘Critical juncture’ for Mali warns UN mission chief, with democratic future at risk”, on globalissues.org →

Stepping up global efforts to combat land degradation is the only way to safeguard food and water security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ward against future threats to health and the environment, the UN General Assembly President told ambassadors meeting in New York on Monday.  Read the full story, “Restoring nature ‘the test of our generation’: UN General Assembly President”, on globalissues.org →

As Lebanon endures one of its worst financial and economic crises ever, the UN estimates that over the next eight months around $300 million is needed to provide vital aid to around 1.5 million Lebanese and 400,000 migrant workers living there. Read the full story, “More than a million Lebanese in need, top UN humanitarian official there warns”, on globalissues.org →

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported to the UN health agency has declined for seven weeks in a row, in what the top official there called on Monday “the longest sequence of weekly declines during the pandemic so far”. Read the full story, “COVID-19 cases drop for seventh week, but deaths fall less slowly: WHO”, on globalissues.org →

Senior UN officials have condemned a deadly attack on a hospital in Syria this past weekend, underlining the need for accountability for crimes committed in the country’s decade-long war.  Read the full story, “UN strongly condemns ‘appalling’ attack on Syrian hospital”, on globalissues.org →

With “entrenched ageist attitudes” already undermining the autonomy of elder persons in making their own choices and decisions, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus further violence, abuse and neglect against them, a UN independent expert said on Monday, marking World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.  Read the full story, “Violence against elderly has risen during COVID, UN expert warns”, on globalissues.org →

ARLINGTON, Virginia, USA, Jun 14 (IPS) - August of this year will mark the one-year anniversary of the end of South Sudan’s civil war, yet recent surges of violence suggest that peace is far from being realized. These attacks by armed groups include instances of sexual violence against women and girls.Read the full story, “The Real Price of Marriage in South Sudan”, on globalissues.org →