Category: Editors’ Choice

Fri 23 August 2019: The global fight against malaria has stalled and requires massive investment as well as political leadership, the UN health agency warned in a report published Friday. “The world is at a crossroads. Historical progress that has been achieved over the last decade is clearly slowing down,” Pedro Alonso, director of the […]

Thu 22 August 2019: The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday the level of microplastics in drinking-water is not yet dangerous for humans but called for more research into potential future risk. In its first report into the effects of microplastics on human health, WHO looked into the specific impact of microplastics in tap and […]

Mon 19 August 2019: The number of refugees in the world has hit a record of 70 million, the highest figure since World War II, according to the United Nations. People are fleeing war, persecution and the consequences of global warming, the German branch of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said in a statement on […]

Sat 17 August 2019: The daily struggle to survive for Myanmar’s Rohingya people in one of the world’s largest refugee settlements, has caused “overwhelming” despair and jeopardized the hopes of an entire generation, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore, said on Friday. In a report marking two years since the arrival of around […]

Wed 14 August 2019: Climate deniers have garnered far more media attention than prominent climate scientists over the years, fuelling public confusion and slowing the response to global warming, researchers reported Tuesday. From 2000 through 2016, hundreds of academics, business people and politicians who doubted global warming or attributed rising temperatures to “natural” causes got […]

Crimean Tatars stage a protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Istanbul on Monday, DEC 2, 2014. | AP Sun 11 August 2019: Five years ago, the Russian Federation annexed the Crimean Peninsula after unmarked troops marched into the Ukrainian territory and took control of the local parliament. In the first six months of […]

Fri 09 August 2019: More than two million Muslims begin the annual hajj on Friday as the Saudi hosts seek to deter politicisation of the pilgrimage against a backdrop of simmering Gulf tensions. The hajj, one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings, is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken […]

Looking for answers. Activists hold portraits of those detained or missing in Syria near a ‘Freedom Bus’ in Paris, last January. (AFP) Thu 08 August 2019: Reports suggest that more than 100,000 people in Syria have been detained, abducted, or gone missing during the eight-year conflict, with the government mainly responsible, the UN political chief […]

Tue 06 August 2019: Nearly a quarter of the world’s population lives in 17 countries facing extremely high water stress, close to “day zero” conditions when the taps run dry, according to a report released Tuesday. The World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas ranked water stress, drought risk and riverine flood risk using a […]

Sat 03 August 2019: Breastfeeding saves lives — not just kids, but mothers too.  On the heels of new evidence of the lifesaving benefits of early and exclusive breastfeeding, UNICEF calls for increased investment in workplace programs and other support for breastfeeding moms.  New research examining the human and economic costs of not breastfeeding found that […]