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World News in Brief: Arson at UNRWA’s East Jerusalem office, UN probe on staff member’s death in Gaza, food insecurity in South Sudan

This time it was an “arson attempt by Israeli children and young people on UNRWA”, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a social media post on Tuesday. “This has got to stop,” he said. Last Thursday evening, Mr. Lazzarini said Israeli residents had set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA headquarters when staff from several […]

Guterres deplores Rafah escalation | UN News

“These developments are further impeding humanitarian access and worsening an already dire situation. At the same time, Hamas goes on firing rockets indiscriminately,” the statement said. Stressing that civilians must be respected and protected at all times, Mr. Guterres noted that “for people in Gaza, nowhere is safe now.” The Secretary-General reiterated his longstanding urgent […]

World News in Brief: Children in eastern DR Congo, Iran death sentence, support for Haiti

Concluding a five-day visit to the region, UNICEF Deputy Director Ted Chaiban noted that fighting has reached new heights and created the worst humanitarian crisis there since 2003. He highlighted growing concerns for safeguarding children’s rights and protection of civilians as the situation worsens. Grave violations mount “Children are being killed, maimed, abducted, and recruited […]

Dealing with ‘unknowns’ flying in high-conflict Haiti

Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, is gripped by insecurity due to gang violence and now UNHAS, which is managed by the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) is the only option for humanitarian workers to travel safely in and out of the city and for critical equipment and relief aid to be transported and distributed within the country. […]

Countless lives at stake in Sudan’s El Fasher, warn UN aid teams

According to UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths, a “strike” damaged the roof of the intensive care unit at Southern Hospital in El Fasher Town – the only working hospital in North Darfur state – where medical supplies are running dangerously low. Some 800,000 people live in and around El Fasher Town where “countless lives […]

‘Untold harm to nature’ from wildlife trafficking, warns UN crime agency

“Wildlife crime inflicts untold harm upon nature and it also jeopardizes livelihoods, public health, good governance and our planet’s ability to fight climate change,” said Ghada Waly, UNODC Executive Director. The agency’s World Wildlife Crime Report takes stock of the efforts to counter poaching worldwide. Although there are positive signs that trafficking of some iconic species […]

UN teams dispatch aid as deadly flash floods hit northern Afghanistan

Flash floods in the area have reportedly killed at least 300 people, including 51 children, with many more injured, with these figures expected to increase as additional reports come in, according to UN agencies. UN chief António Guterres expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “The United Nations and its partners in Afghanistan […]

Gaza: We must prevent a large-scale offensive in Rafah, UN pleads

The warning comes as the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, reported that over the past week that nearly 300,000 people have now fled Rafah following the Israeli military’s orders for further evacuations from area. “There is nowhere safe to go,” the agency warned in a message on X. Catastrophic consequences In a telephone conversation on […]

Japan: Safeguarding a mother tongue and mother nature

Even though both Nami and Tomoyuki were born on Okinoerabu Island (currently home to only 12,000 inhabitants), neither learned to speak Shimamuni – a local variety of the Kunigami language – fluently as children. Kunigami was added to UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger in 2009 and classified as “definitely endangered” to raise […]