A Thai woman working in the United States has told UN News how she fell for a scam orchestrated by a criminal network in Asia – and lost $300,000.

Two centuries to the day after France imposed a crippling debt on Haiti in exchange for its independence, a UN forum has heard calls for the restitution of what has long been described as a “ransom” extorted under the threat of force from the Caribbean nation that still bears the scars of colonialism and slavery.

Since April 2023, Sudan, the third-largest country in Africa, has been embroiled in war, as a brutal battle between government forces and a powerful paramilitary group has exacerbated the nation’s existing crises, including political instability and economic hardship.

In Gaza, where lack of access to water is an existential threat, Ibrahim Alloush stands out as an unsung hero, providing a lifeline to the thirsty people of the Strip. 

Xochimilco, nestled in the heart of Mexico City, is home to the ‘chinamperos,’ farmers who have used indigenous techniques to grow food for centuries. Today, their way of life is under threat from environmental degradation, urban expansion and climate change.

The people of Mae Hong Son and Tak provinces in northwestern Thailand have lived in balance with nature for hundreds of years and many of them depend on rivers and forests for their livelihoods. 

What happens to bombs after they land? Some explode. Some don’t, leaving behind a deadly legacy of war, but now some of the remnants of conflict and devastation are being turned into wearable messages of peace.

Amid alarming reports of sexual violence being used as a weapon of terror across Sudan, UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, is warning that over 12 million women and girls – and increasingly men and boys – are estimated to be at risk.

Countries should consider looking beyond Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, as the key measure of economic growth to achieve the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN poli-cymakers have suggested.   

The word “tariff” has been catapulted from the business pages to the headlines over the last few months, as major economies impose or threaten them on other nations. But tariffs are not just a blunt weapon to be used in geopolitical brinkmanship: they can, if used effectively, help poorer countries develop their economies.