'Unseen' News and Views
In recent weeks, UN agencies have recorded nearly 900 deaths of desperate and hungry Gazans as they try to collect food – with most linked to private aid hubs run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
World’s nuclear arsenals being enlarged and upgraded
(Stockholm) The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on 16 June 2025 launched its annual assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament and international security.
Key findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2025 are that a dangerous new nuclear arms race is emerging at a time when arms control regimes are severely weakened.
Nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Israel—continued intensive nuclear modernization programmes in 2024, upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions.
Credit: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters via Gallo Images
By threatening to redefine NATO’s article 5– the collective defence provision that has anchored western security since 1949 – Trump won commitments from NATO allies to almost triple their defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035.
European defence budgets will balloon from around US$500 billion to over US$1 trillion annually, essentially matching US spending levels.
10 July 2025 — In 2017, extreme violence erupted in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, and spread to other areas. The conflict, along with two major cyclones in two years, has driven hundreds of thousands of people away from their homes.
Yet, Mozambique’s crisis has unfolded largely outside the spotlight, as competing global crises have diverted attention and resources elsewhere. In 2024, Mozambique was third on NRC’s list of the world’s most neglected displacement crises.
Here’s what you need to know.
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Amsterdam – Responding to a rapid study by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine that found that the number of heat-related deaths across 12 European cities tripled due to the climate crisis in the 10 day period between 23 June and 2 July, as well as to preliminary data published by the Copernicus Climate Change Service that June 2025 was the hottest ever June for Western Europe and the third-warmest June globally.[1][2]
Nairobi – Despite its critical role in sustaining billions of lives, the global food system fails to deliver for health, rights, and particularly, nature.
A report published on 1 July 2025 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Chatham House highlights three system barriers – the cheaper food paradigm, market consolidation and investment path dependencies – that must be addressed to meet sustainable development goals.
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A new study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows the wide range of demographic and socio-economic profiles affected by weather-related displacement worldwide.
This publication provides first-of-its-kind global insights into the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of communities facing weather-related displacement.
With an estimated 218.6 million internal displacements caused by weather-related disasters over the past decade, the analysis fills a critical data gap by revealing detailed profiles of these populations, including their age, income, education, and livelihoods.
Palestinian communities are being displaced and dispersed across the occupied West Bank as settler violence, backed by Israeli authorities, forces families from their land. One community has just been emptied. Others may soon follow.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warns that the recent uprooting of families from Muarrajat East could soon be repeated in Ras Ein al-Auja, where sustained settler attacks and mounting restrictions on water and grazing access are making it nearly impossible for families to remain.
These are not isolated acts.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
In January this year, a nuclear trafficking case made the international news headlines. The United States Department of Justice announced that Takeshi Ebisawa, an alleged Japanese gangster, had pleaded guilty to charges of major narcotics trafficking as well as conspiring to traffic nuclear materials.