World News in Brief: End e-cigarette boom urges WHO, measles surge in Europe, Central Asia; crisis for kids in Lebanon

World News in Brief: End e-cigarette boom urges WHO, measles surge in Europe, Central Asia; crisis for kids in Lebanon

WHO said that 88 countries have no minimum age at which e-cigarettes can be bought and 74 countries have not implemented any e-cigarette regulations. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries to ramp up prevention measures, saying that “kids are being recruited and trapped at an early age to use e-cigarettes and may get…

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'Desperate, hungry, terrified': Gazans stopping aid trucks in search of food

‘Desperate, hungry, terrified’: Gazans stopping aid trucks in search of food

Speaking later in the day at UN Headquarters, the deputy head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), confirmed that following a food assessment, around half of all Gazans “are starving”, with no idea where their next meal is coming from. Briefing journalists in Geneva uon his return from Rafah governorate, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of…

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Looming hunger emergency for South Sudanese families fleeing war

South Sudan: No basis for free and fair 2024 elections, warns Haysom

Briefing ambassadors at the UN Security Council, Nicholas Haysom outlined key conditions required by April 2024 for moving ahead, according to the agreed timeline. All in the details These include a new permanent constitutional framework; voter registration details; an election security plan; well trained, equipped, and unified security forces; and a mechanism for resolving disputes…

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Explainer: How Darfur became a ‘humanitarian calamity and catastrophic human rights crisis’

Explainer: How Darfur became a ‘humanitarian calamity and catastrophic human rights crisis’

Close to nine million people need humanitarian assistance and reports suggest that some 4000 people have been targeted and killed because of their ethnicity. There are now concerns that Darfur is returning to the years of brutal fighting and increasing atrocities last witnessed two decades ago that left some 300,000 people dead and millions of…

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Stories from the UN Archive: Kissing trees and protecting the natural world

Stories from the UN Archive: Kissing trees and protecting the natural world

On the heels of the International Day of Neutrality, marked annually on 12 December, we took a look at Ms. Goodall’s contributions as a Messenger of Peace. Launched in 1997, the UN Messengers of Peace programme has designated more than a dozen influential individuals, including Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai and superstar Stevie Wonder….

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Global Refugee Forum opens amid ‘crisis of humanity’

Global Refugee Forum opens amid ‘crisis of humanity’

The world’s largest gathering dedicated to refugee issues, the Forum is co-hosted by UNHCR and Switzerland and convened by Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan and Uganda. It brings together Member States, civil society, financial institutions, private companies and more than 300 refugee advocates. Shattered dreams, disrupted lives Setting the tone for the discussion, Mr. Grandi said…

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World News in Brief: Kyiv under attack, Sudan peace talks, progress on hunger in Europe

World News in Brief: Kyiv under attack, Sudan peace talks, progress on hunger in Europe

That’s according to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York who said critical infrastructure in at least four of the capital’s 10 districts have been damaged, including homes, a hospital and a kindergarten. “Water and electricity systems were also hit, but authorities managed to quickly restore these vital supplies”, he added, quoting UN humanitarians…

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