NICE, France, Jun 2 2025 (IPS)** – As David Attenborough reflects in his new documentary Ocean, “After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea”.
Credit: NOAA Photo Library
The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3), scheduled to take place in Nice, France from 9-13 June, will bring together Heads of State, scientists, civil society and business leaders around a single goal: to halt the silent collapse of the planet’s largest – and arguably most vital – ecosystem.
(UN News)* —As coral reefs bleach, fish stocks collapse, and sea temperatures break records, world leaders are heading to the French Riviera — not for leisure, but for one of the most urgent diplomatic gatherings of the year.
(UN News)* —A draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass in the UN Security Council on Wednesday after the United States cast its veto – blocking the initiative backed by all ten elected members of the Council.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe | UN Security Council members voting in favour of the draft resolution.
The text, co-sponsored by Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia – collectively known as the E-10 – received 14 votes in favour, with the US casting the lone vote against.
Rome, 26 May 2025 – Less than five percent of the Gaza Strip’s cropland area remains available for cultivation, according to the latest geospatial assessment carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), further deteriorating food production capacity and exacerbating the risk of famine in the area.
GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2 June 2025 –“Sometimes I need pads and soap more than I need food,” said Aisha*, a young displaced girl in Gaza, revealing a serious burden too often overlooked in crisis settings – menstrual health.
Since 2 March 2025, Israel has imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza that has caused the complete depletion of hygiene supplies, including sanitary pads for menstrual health.
Almost 90 per cent of water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza has been either destroyed or partially damaged, and fuel for water pumping and distributions has now run out.
(UN News)* — The UN Secretary-General has condemned the reported killing and injury of Palestinians seeking food aid in Gaza on Sunday 1 June 2025, calling for an investigation into the matter.
More than 30 people were killed and over 100 wounded while waiting in the morning to get food from two sites in Rafah and Middle Gaza run by the newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to media reports.
The organization is backed by Israel and the United States and uses private US security contractors supervised by the Israeli military.
JERUSALEM – Dozens of Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured on 1 June 2025, as they waited for food at the newly-created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centres in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine, and close to the Netzarim Corridor, according to the Ministry of Health.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams joined the mass casualty response in Nasser hospital, Khan Younis. Patients told MSF they were shot from all sides by drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and Israeli soldiers on the ground.
With over half a million people in Gaza on the brink of starvation and aid groups warning of an “imminent famine,” Israel has agreed to allow a token number of relief trucks into the besieged enclave. But what’s entering Gaza now isn’t humanitarian aid, it’s a Trojan horse.
A Palestinian mother holds her starving child in Gaza as famine deepens under Israeli siege. NurPhoto | AP
A new, U.S.-backed private aid scheme staffed by former CIA operatives, ex-Marines, and mercenaries tied to Israeli intelligence and Wall Street elites has been deployed in Gaza under the guise of relief.
(UN News)* — The UN is facing a deepening budget crisis that threatens lifesaving operations worldwide. From refugee aid in Mozambique to maternal health services in Afghanistan, critical programmes are on the brink of collapse unless urgent funding is secured.
TheUnited Statesis the largest debtor at about $1.5 billion, as the Trump Administration is withholding funds to cut what it sees as unnecessary spending.
(UN News)* —Amid disputed reports of Israeli forces firing on civilians near a new privatised aid distribution point in southern Gaza, the head of the Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, said on Sunday that lifting the months-long aid blockade of the enclave is the only way to avoid “mass starvation”.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 