Desperation intensifies in Gaza amid uncertainty of ‘safe zones’

Desperation intensifies in Gaza amid uncertainty of ‘safe zones’

Speaking from the southern city of Rafah, Dr. Rick Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, described further bloodshed after the resumption of Israeli bombing last Friday. “The situation is getting worse by the hour,” Dr. Peeperkorn told journalists in Geneva via video link. “I mean…there’s intensified bombing going on all…

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COP28: Over 60 countries pledge to slash cooling emissions amid rising temperatures

COP28: Over 60 countries pledge to slash cooling emissions amid rising temperatures

Over 60 countries signed up to a so called ‘cooling pledge’ with commitments to reduce the climate impact of the cooling sector, that could also provide “universal access to life-saving cooling, take the pressure off energy grids and save trillions of dollars by 2050.”  The cost of keeping cool The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates…

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World News in Brief: WFP ‘pauses’ north Yemen food aid, human rights and sport, Myanmar latest

World News in Brief: WFP ‘pauses’ north Yemen food aid, human rights and sport, Myanmar latest

The region has been under the control of opposition Houthi forces since the internationally recognized Government were driven out of the city in 2015. WFP said that despite negotiating with the authorities for nearly a year to provide a more limited aid programme that would reach around 6.5 million in need, versus the current 9.5…

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It’s official: July 2023 was the warmest on record, says UN weather agency WMO

UN confirms the past decade was the hottest on record ‘by a clear margin’

Marked by record breaking land and ocean temperatures, the decade between 2011-2020 saw continued rising concentrations of greenhouse gasses that “turbo charged” dramatic glacier loss and sea-level rise, according to a new report from the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).  The report comes as the latest annual UN climate conference, COP28, reaches its midway point…

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COP28: Bring the vulnerable to ‘front of the line’ for climate funding

COP28: Bring the vulnerable to ‘front of the line’ for climate funding

Among them is young Senegalese singer and rapper Oumy Gueye, who goes by OMG and was triggered to embrace climate action when her grandparents’ home in Bargny east of the Senegalese capital Dakar was destroyed by rising seas.  She has been collaborating with UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA to advocate for humanitarian causes in the Sahel…

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Gaza: Aid access to north now entirely blocked amid escalating bombing raids in south

Gaza: Aid access to north now entirely blocked amid escalating bombing raids in south

The latest update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, confirmed rising casualties and devastation amid “heavy Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea”. “From the afternoon of (Saturday) 2 December to the afternoon of (Sunday) 3 December, at least 316 people were killed and at least another 664 injured in Gaza,” OCHA’s situation update…

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Ghana meeting seeks to boost political support to strengthen UN Peacekeeping

Ghana meeting seeks to boost political support to strengthen UN Peacekeeping

They are taking part in the 2023 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial, which opens in the capital, Accra, on Tuesday. The two-day meeting aims to secure vital political support and concrete commitments to strengthen UN Peacekeeping efforts to meet current and future challenges and needs, in line with ongoing reform under the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) framework…

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COP28: Women and climate advocates driving forward change together

COP28: Women and climate advocates driving forward change together

This year’s UN climate conference, underway in the United Arab Emirates’ largest city, Dubai, opened its second full week hearing a diverse cross-section of women leaders and activists raise their voices to call for ending existing gender gaps and mitigating the worsening impacts of climate change on women and girls. Prevailing gender norms, existing inequalities…

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