UNICEF urges support for children, as wildfires rage across Greece

Heatwave deaths increased across almost all Europe in 2023, says UN weather agency

New data published jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed fears that 2023 was the joint warmest or second warmest year on record in Europe. In practical terms, this led to a record number of days with “extreme heat stress” across Europe, “an increasing trend” in the number “strong…

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First Person: Crafting a new life after a devastating hurricane

44-year-old Vanessa Winston lives in Roseau, the capital of Dominica, where she runs a small-scale business primarily making bespoke, hand-made fashion accessories. She is also President of the UN-supported Dominica Arts & Craft Producers Association, which helps its members to promote their products.  Hurricane Maria destroyed her home and the workshop where she produced all…

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World News in Brief: Green light for new cholera vaccine, Ukraine attacks condemned, action against racism call, Brazil rights defenders alert

World News in Brief: Green light for new cholera vaccine, Ukraine attacks condemned, action against racism call, Brazil rights defenders alert

The World Health Organization (WHO) decision means that Euvichol-S vaccine can be added to other cholera-busting drugs which are not being produced in sufficient quantities to help countries battling outbreaks of the preventable disease. WHO reported 473,000 cholera cases in 2022 – double the number in 2021. “The new vaccine is the third product of…

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Ukraine war, ‘stark reminder’ of the trials facing multilateralism

Ukraine war, ‘stark reminder’ of the trials facing multilateralism

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ian Borg briefed ambassadors during their annual meeting on cooperation between the UN and the regional body, which is comprised of 57 States spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America, representing one billion people.   The Maltese Foreign Minister said OSCE countries and their societies “are confronted with an era of profound uncertainty”, given…

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Mixed efforts to achieve energy goals highlighted at the end of Sustainability Week

Mixed efforts to achieve energy goals highlighted at the end of Sustainability Week

The unanimous declaration of the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All in 2012 aimed to hone on the importance of improving “access to reliable, affordable, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound energy services and resources for sustainable development.”  Dennis Francis said there have been both achievements and shortcomings in meeting the goal throughout the…

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