Archive for March, 2025

20/03/2025

Gaza: ‘Dramatic Escalation’ as Bombardments Intensify and Displacement Surges

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Israeli bombardments continued across Gaza on Wednesday , killing hundreds more people – many of them women and children – and leaving widespread destruction in its wake, according to local authorities.

Renewed airstrikes have reportedly killed hundreds of people in the Gaza Strip.
© UNICEF | Renewed airstrikes have reportedly killed hundreds of people in the Gaza Strip.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that leaflets were dropped over Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the shattered-north, as well as eastern Khan Younis in the south, ordering residents once again to leave their homes.

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18/03/2025

‘Developing Countries’ External Debt Hit $11.4 Trillion in 2023 – 99% of Their Export Earnings’

Human Wrongs Watch

14 March 2025 (UNCTAD)* — Governments are grappling with soaring debt costs that are squeezing public finances and stalling development.

Women trudge miles to fetch safe drinking water in Baidoa Somalia.

Default image copyright and description © Shutterstock/sntes |Women trudge miles to fetch safe drinking water in Baidoa, Somalia. Public debt burdens can undermine countries’ ability to invest in essential services and infrastructure.

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18/03/2025

FAO Warns of ‘Unprecedented’ Avian Flu Spread Worldwide

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The rapid spread of the highly infectious avian flu virus H5N1 has reached an “unprecedented” scale, wiping out hundreds of millions of birds worldwide and increasingly spilling over into mammals, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday .

A laboratory specialist doing research into avian influenza at a human health lab. (file)
World Bank | A laboratory specialist doing research into avian influenza at a human health lab. (file).
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Briefing Member States in Rome, FAO officials called for urgent action to strengthen biosecurity, surveillance and rapid-response mechanisms to curb the outbreak.

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18/03/2025

Adverse Climatic Conditions Drive Coffee Prices to Highest Level in Years

Human Wrongs Watch

New FAO study notes a nearly 40 percent price surge in 2024 due to supply-side disruptions, primarily from unfavourable weather

FAO/Santiago Billy

Smallholder farmers account for 80 percent of global coffee production. ©FAO/Santiago Billy

Rome (FAO)* – World coffee prices reached a multi-year high in 2024 – increasing 38.8 percent on the previous year’s average – mostly driven by inclement weather affecting key producing countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 14 March 2025 said.

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17/03/2025

Trump, Democracy and the U.S. Constitution

Human Wrongs Watch

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Mar 14 2025 (IPS)* In these turbulent and sad times, it is hard to keep quiet about abuses and violations of human rights taking place around the world; in eastern DR Congo, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza.

Among the most egregious examples of incomprehensible stances on such abuses is the behaviour displayed by the Trump Administration, not least the President’s behaviour against the lawfully elected president of Ukraine. 

Trump’s doubts about the validity of a nation’s desperate struggle against the forces of a dictatorial regime, which destroys their country and aims at taking over its richest territory.

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16/03/2025

“The People in Syria Are Destroyed from War”

Human Wrongs Watch

 A woman stands in backlit profile beside a window, through which destroyed buildings can be seen
A young woman stands in front of a window at the UNFPA-supported centre in Homs which helps young people with their mental and social well-being, education and livelihood training, as well as youth empowerment initiatives. © UNFPA Syria / Alaa Ghorra

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16/03/2025

‘Reject Bigotry and Discrimination, Combat Islamophobia’ – United Nations

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN Secretary-General has urged everyone to speak out against xenophobia and discrimination to combat a “disturbing rise” in anti-Muslim bigotry.
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Peace doves fly on the grounds of the historic Hazrat-i-Ali mosque, in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. (file)
UN Photo/Helena Mulkerns | Peace doves fly on the grounds of the historic Hazrat-i-Ali mosque, in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. (file)

In a message marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, Secretary-General António Guterres warned of racial profiling and discriminatory policies that violate human rights and dignity, to outright violence against individuals and places of worship.

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16/03/2025

No Food Deliveries to Gaza as Border Closures Continue

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN emergency food relief agency has not been able to transport any aid into the Gaza Strip, due to the ongoing closure of all border crossing points, which is now in its twelfth day, the UN Spokesperson said on Friday .

People gather at a food distribution point in Gaza City in February 2025.
© WHO | People gather at a food distribution point in Gaza City in February 2025.

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15/03/2025

Bangladesh: Cox’s Bazar Rohingya Refugee Camp, “Ground Zero” for the Impact of Drastic Aid cuts

Human Wrongs Watch

By Vibhu Mishra

(UN News)* — UN Secretary-General António Guterres, during his visit to the Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh, vowed to do everything in his power to prevent further hardship as drastic aid cuts threaten food supplies and other critical relief efforts.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets Rohingya refugee students at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.
© UNHCR/Shari Nijman | UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets Rohingya refugee students at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

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15/03/2025

Ukraine the World’s Biggest Arms Importer; United States’ Dominance of Global Arms Exports Grows as Russian Exports Continue to Fall

Human Wrongs Watch

By The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)*

Photo: US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Alexander Cook

Photo: US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Alexander Cook
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European arms imports overall grew by 155 per cent between the same periods, as states responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and uncertainty over the future of US foreign policy.

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