INTERVIEW: Actor Natalie Portman celebrates women and girls’ voices

INTERVIEW: Actor Natalie Portman celebrates women and girls’ voices

In an interview with UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming on the sidelines of SDG Summit 2023 held at UN Headquarters in New York in September, Ms. Portman discussed combatting violence against women and reframing masculinity to be less aggressive and more empathetic towards gender issues. Melissa Fleming: The UN 2023 Gender Snapshot report painted a…

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Gaza crisis: Starvation must never be allowed to happen, says UN rights chief

Gaza crisis: Starvation must never be allowed to happen, says UN rights chief

“Starvation must never be a means or result of warfare,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk said, responding to an alarming food security report released on Thursday that confirmed repeated warnings of catastrophic hunger levels in the besieged enclave amid ongoing fighting.  In a tweet, Mr. Türk urged Israel to act immediately to ensure that all…

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Dengue spike fuels concerns of public health threat in previously untouched countries: WHO

Dengue spike fuels concerns of public health threat in previously untouched countries: WHO

The warning came as WHO reported more than five million dengue infections and 5,000 deaths from the disease worldwide this year. Briefing journalists at the UN in Geneva, Dr. Diana Rojas Alvarez, WHO Team Lead on Arboviruses, said that the threat required “the maximal attention and response from all levels” of the UN health agency…

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World News in Brief: UN chief shocked by Czech mass shooting, UNICEF appeal for West and Central Africa, world leaders urged to heed climate science

World News in Brief: UN chief shocked by Czech mass shooting, UNICEF appeal for West and Central Africa, world leaders urged to heed climate science

At least 14 people were killed and 25 injured after a gunman opened fire in what some media called the worst shooting in the country’s history. The gunman, reportedly a student at the university, also killed himself. UN chief António Guerres was shocked and saddened by the incident, his Spokesperson said in a statement issued later on…

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Gaza: UN expert on sexual violence in conflict reiterates grave concern for hostages

Gaza: UN expert on sexual violence in conflict reiterates grave concern for hostages

Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, called for the immediate, safe, and unconditional release of all those who remain in captivity. Ms. Patten met this week with the mother of one of the young women taken hostage who expressed the pain, despair and helplessness that families are facing as they…

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‘Genuine progress’ towards political solution, essential to end war in Syria: UN envoy

‘Genuine progress’ towards political solution, essential to end war in Syria: UN envoy

Briefing ambassadors at the Security Council, Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, noted that though there have been some diplomatic breakthroughs none led to tangible changes on the ground for civilians. He also raised the alarm over the impact on the region of the devastating Israel-Palestine crisis. On top of killings, injuries, displacement, abduction…

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UPDATED: Injured patients ‘waiting to die’ in northern Gaza as last hospital shuts down, amid rising 'catastrophic' hunger levels

UPDATED: Injured patients ‘waiting to die’ in northern Gaza as last hospital shuts down, amid rising ‘catastrophic’ hunger levels

The latest grave assessment from the World Health Organization (WHO) came after UN teams reached Al Ahli Arab hospital and Al Shifa hospital on Wednesday, amid reports of intensifying ground operations by Israeli Defense Forces and continuing airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas’s 7 October terror attacks on southern Israel.  “Patients were…

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World News in Brief: Latest Sudan fighting displaces thousands, second malaria vaccine, Russian dissidents ‘disappeared’

World News in Brief: Latest Sudan fighting displaces thousands, second malaria vaccine, Russian dissidents ‘disappeared’

Wad Madani is located some 140 kilometres southeast of the war-torn capital Khartoum and sits at the heart of Al Jazirah state, known as Sudan’s breadbasket.  Nearly half a million people have fled to the state since war broke out in April between the Sudanese Army and a rival military group known as the Rapid…

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