(UN News)* — Amid the ongoing Israeli aid blockade and bombardment of Gaza, aid teams on warned that civilians trapped there face multiple daily challenges as relief supplies run critically low.
In a joint statement, the heads of the UN’s aid agencies warned that “we are witnessing acts of war in Gaza that show an utter disregard for human life,” with Israeli displacement orders forcing hundreds of thousands to flee – with nowhere safe to go.
(UN News)* — Unprecedented aid cuts are putting global progress to end maternal deaths at risk, three UN agencies warned in a new report that calls for greater investment in midwives and other health workers.
MANDALAY, Myanmar, 4 April 2025 — “I’ve lived here all my life, but I have never experienced anything as devastating as this earthquake,” said 55-year-old Than in Mandalay, her voice trembling. “Everything fell apart in seconds.”
On March 28, 2025, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar, devastating communities across the regions of Mandalay, Sagaing and beyond.
Homes crumbled, bridges collapsed, and essential services were brought to a halt. The disaster left thousands dead and injured, and countless others – especially women and girls – battling to survive.
PORTLAND, USA, Apr 2 2025 (IPS)* – For most voters, to make America great again, as the 47th president has repeatedly pledged, meant to make the United States markedly superior globally.
The US administration’s actions, policies, program cuts and employee firings will not improve but likely only worsen America’s mediocre standing on virtually every major measure of societal wellbeing and development. Credit: Shutterstock.
However, the administration’s actions, policies and program cuts will not improve but only worsen the US’s mediocre standing among advanced countries.
(UN News)* — Amid reports of escalating settler violence in the West Bank, the UN rights office, OHCHR, briefed the Palestinian rights committee at UN Headquarters in New York, which also featured a screening of the Oscar winning documentary No Other Land.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe | Basel Adra (left), Palestinian film director, delivers testimony during a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.\
Ambassador Riyad Mansour of the Observer State of Palestine and Israeli Human Rights lawyer Netta Amar Schiff – who joined via videolink – also took part.
(UN News)* —Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on course to become a $4.8 trillion global market by 2033 – roughly the size of Germany’s economy – but unless urgent action is taken, its benefits may remain in the hands of a privileged few, a new UN report warns.
Public Domain | Visualization of Artificial Intelligence combining a human brain schematic with a circuit board.
The Technology and Innovation Report 2025, released on Thursday by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), sounds the alarm on growing inequality in the AI landscape and lays out a roadmap for countries to harness AI’s potential.
The report shows that just 100 companies, mostly in the United States and China, are behind 40 per cent of the world’s private investment in research and development, highlighting a sharp concentration of power.
(UN News)* —The recent killings of 15 medical personnel and humanitarian aid workers in Gaza raise further concerns over the commission of war crimes by the Israeli military, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told the Security Council on Thursday .
UN Photo/Loey Felipe | Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, briefs the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
Ambassadors met for an emergency session to discuss the escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Rights chief Volker Türk said he was pained to brief the Council once again on the “catastrophic suffering of people in Gaza,” noting that “the temporary relief of the ceasefire, which gave Palestinians a moment to breathe, has been shattered.”
IOM is urgently appealing for USD 17.3 million to assist communities devastated by Myanmar’s strongest earthquake in over a century. Credit: M-DoS Field Team 19
Bangkok, 3 April 2025 – The International Organization for Migration(IOM)* is appealing for USD 17.3 million to respond to the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on 28 March, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in critical need of humanitarian assistance.
(UN News)* —UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave concern on Wednesday over the human toll resulting from the intensified hostilities in Gaza.
He condemned the reported killing of more than a thousand people, including women and children, since the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on 18 March.
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Mar 25 2025 (IPS)* –The United Nations Refugee Agency faces devastating cuts that may eliminate 5,000 to 6,000 jobs, with potentially catastrophic consequences for millions of people fleeing war, repression, hunger and climate disasters.
Credit: Pietro Bertora/SOS Humanity
This 75-year-old institution, established to help Europeans displaced by the Second World War, now confronts an unprecedented financial crisis, primarily due to the US foreign aid freeze – and the timing couldn’t be worse.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 