Countries urged to take more action against chemical pollution

Climate action: ‘Take steps to close the adaptation gap, now’

The Adaptation Gap Report 2023 issued by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), says the world is underprepared, under invested and lacking the necessary planning, leaving us all exposed. It warns that instead of speeding up, progress on adapting to climate change is stalling. The slowdown extends to finance, planning and implementation, says UNEP, with massive…

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Israel-Palestine crisis: UN welcomes first medical evacuations from Gaza

Israel-Palestine crisis: UN welcomes first medical evacuations from Gaza

“We have been working with Egypt’s Health Ministry on planning for medical evacuations and will continue to support,” said the World Health Organization (WHO) head. His comments came amid reports that the Rafah passenger terminal between Egypt and Gaza had been allowed to opened on an exceptional basis Wednesday morning for the first time since…

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Rise in intimidation, settler violence in the West Bank, warns OCHA

Rise in intimidation, settler violence in the West Bank, warns OCHA

Israeli settler violence has increased significantly, from an already high average of three incidents per day in 2023 to seven a day now, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA). During this period, OCHA recorded 171 settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 26 different casualty incidents, damage to 115 Palestinian…

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World News in Brief: Mali mission latest, starvation alert for ‘hotspots’, inclusive sport for all

World News in Brief: Mali mission latest, starvation alert for ‘hotspots’, inclusive sport for all

In line with the accelerated withdrawal process of the UN’s stabilization mission, MINUSMA, the convoy initially left by road on Tuesday for Gao, and suffered two attacks from improvised explosives on the way that caused vehicle damage and minor injuries to two peacekeepers which were treated on site. Thursday’s incident involved another explosive device leading…

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World News in Brief: Russia likely attacked Ukraine cafe, disease alert for Sudan, Taliban must release rights defenders

World News in Brief: Russia likely attacked Ukraine cafe, disease alert for Sudan, Taliban must release rights defenders

The report published on Tuesday and based on site inspections and witness interviews says that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the missile was launched by Russian armed forces”. It details the devastating impact of what has been one of the deadliest single incidents for Ukrainian civilians since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. …

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Amazon, DoorDash, Walmart, trapping workers in poverty: UN rights expert

Amazon, DoorDash, Walmart, trapping workers in poverty: UN rights expert

In separate letters to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, the UN-appointed independent expert on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, requested a response to reports of inadequate pay, aggressive union-busting tactics, and the misclassification of workers as “independent contractors”, intentionally depriving them of traditional employment benefits such as…

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Guterres blasts ‘completely inadequate’ levels of aid for Gaza civilians

Guterres blasts ‘completely inadequate’ levels of aid for Gaza civilians

Secretary-General António Guterres also reiterated his call for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and other militant groups. Consistent flow of aid essential In a statement, Mr. Guterres said depriving Gaza’s people basic supplies was only “compounding the human tragedy” of the conflict, calling for…

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Bangladesh, Maldives, DPR Korea make ‘tremendous’ strides toward disease elimination

Bangladesh, Maldives, DPR Korea make ‘tremendous’ strides toward disease elimination

Visceral leishmaniasis – a parasitic disease spread by sandflies – has been wiped out in Bangladesh, along with rubella in the Democratic Republic of Korea (more commonly known as North Korea) said WHO in a statement. Bangladesh has become the first country to be validated for the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis (also known as kala…

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Toll of Israel-Palestine crisis on children ‘beyond devastating’

Toll of Israel-Palestine crisis on children ‘beyond devastating’

UN relief chief Martin Griffiths, who has been visiting Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, spoke to families in Gaza over the phone from east Jerusalem on Tuesday and said that what they have endured since the start of Israel’s retaliation for Hamas’ deadly 7 October attacks is “beyond devastating”. “When an eight-year-old tells you…

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