()* — The global drive for renewable energy technologies has sharply increased demand for so-called critical minerals, heightening the risk of crime, corruption, and instability across supply chains as organised crime groups infiltrate the mining industry.
(United Nations)* — As the global community is called to re-examine our relationship to the natural world, one thing is certain:
The unrestricted exploitation of wildlife has led to the disappearance of many animal species at an alarming rate, destroying Earth’s biological diversity and upsetting the ecological balance. PHOTO:Vladimir Wrangel/Adobe Stock
despite all our technological advances we are completely dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems for our water, food, medicines, clothes, fuel, shelter and energy, just to name a few.
Myanmar, 21 May 2025 – When a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar in late March of this year, 76-year-old Daw Khin Yee was at home with her daughter. In what felt like a split second, she was buried under the rubble, unable to move.
Daw Khin Yee and her grandchild are among many who survived the devastating Myanmar earthquake. Photo: IOM/Nang Seng Nang
In excruciating pain, Daw Khin remembers feeling bricks fall on her “like rain”. “I told my daughter, ‘You can’t get me out alone, you need help,’” she recounts. “There was a large stone above me, and I just prayed that it wouldn’t fall.”
(UN News)* — Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and more international support is urgently required, senior UN aid officials said on Friday .
Wrapping up a visit to the country, Edem Wosornu, who heads operations and advocacy for the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said that she could “feel the momentum for change” on the ground after years of suffering and hardship under the Assad regime ended with its overthrow last December.
But formidable challenges remain as 16.5 million Syrians require humanitarian assistance and protection, andneeds are “staggering”.
(UN News)* — Women and clerical workers face the highest risk of their roles being radically transformed by Artificial Intelligence, prompting calls for inclusive policy responses.
One in four jobs worldwide is potentially exposed to what’s known as Generative Artificial Intelligence – or Generative AI (GenAI) – according to a new joint study from the UN labour agency (ILO) and Poland’s National Research Institute.
The study finds that transforming job descriptions, not widespread job loss, is the more likely result.
Humanitarian aid teams highlight growing anxiety in Gaza after food is looted
(UN News)* —Long-awaited food supplies have been looted in Gaza overnight while being transported to desperate communities in the war-torn enclave, UN aid teams reported on Friday.
WPF | Trucks carrying bags of flour arrive at Al-Banna Bakeries in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, at dawn on Friday.
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“Fifteen World Food Programme trucks were looted late last night in southern Gaza, while en route to WFP-supported bakeries,” the UN agency said.
“These trucks were transporting critical food supplies for hungry populations waiting anxiously for assistance.”
(UN News)* — Armed violence and insecurity in Haiti have exposed already vulnerable children to sexual violence and exploitation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Wednesday .
Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, gang violence has permeated the capital Port-au-Prince and expanded into other regions, displacing over one million people.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that more than half of the displaced are children, meaning one in eight Haitian children has been uprooted in recent years.
(UN News)* — More than half the people killed in Gaza over the past week were in shelters and residential buildings, the UN human rights office OHCHR said on Thursday .
UN News | A displaced family travels on a donkey-pulled cart carrying their belongings.
.629 Palestinians were reportedly killed in the last week, according to OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
At least 358 were killed because of attacks targeting houses and tents for displaced people, with children and women comprising at least 148 of the victims.
“The high number of strikes on shelters, in the context of the existing destruction of infrastructure in Gaza, raises grave concerns that not all strikes were targeting military objectives,” OHCHR said.
()* — UN agencies in Gaza confirmed on Thursday that desperately needed aid has finally arrived at warehouses inside the enclave after an 11-week blockade by Israeli authorities.
UN News | UN-supported bakeries throughout Gaza have closed as supplies of flour have run out.
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“Today will be crucial. Truckloads of lifesaving aid finally on move again,” said top UN aid relief coordinator Tom Fletcher.
Hours earlier and in a major development, 198 trucks entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south of the enclave, carrying nutrition supplies, medicines and wheat flour.
Announcing the news online, top UN aid relief coordinator Tom Fletcher reported that humanitarian organizations then retrieved“about 90 truckloads of goods” in a nighttime operation to prepare them for distribution.
NEW YORK, May 21 2025 (IPS)* –The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons must not be allowed to collapse under the weight of geopolitical cynicism, the preparatory committee at the UN heard.
The closing session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Credit: UN TV
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 