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
GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 19 May 2025 –“There’s a severe shortage of food and essential medicines, particularly during this siege,” said a doctor at Al-Awda Hospital, in Gaza’s central Deir Al-Balah governorate.
(UN News)* —Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza overnight into Friday [] killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas, demanding an end to Israel’s blockade.
Updating journalists in Geneva, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris described another night of terror in the war-torn enclave.
She said that some of those injured in the attacks had sought help from the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, even though it was now “just a shell” after 19 months of war.
(UN News)* —The UN human rights office (OHCHR) called on Friday [] for an end to senseless killings in the occupied West Bank, where a pregnant Israeli woman was among the latest victims.
OHCHR has urged Israel to stop all extrajudicial executions and other unlawful use of force and ensure all those responsible are brought to justice.
Over the last two weeks, Israeli security forces killed two Palestinian men in planned summary executions, while seven others were killed in conditions that raise concerns over the use of unnecessary or disproportionate lethal force, the office said in a statement.
(Beirut) –The Israeli government’s plan to demolish what remains of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and concentrate the Palestinian population into a tiny area would amount to an abhorrent escalation of its ongoing crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and acts of genocide, Human Rights Watch on 15 May 2025 said.
New displacement orders force thousands to flee as famine looms
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UN News | Two children in Gaza City. Humanitarian partners have also witnessed soaring malnutrition levels among children.
(UN News)* — Intensified hostilities continue in the Gaza Strip, bringing further death, displacement and destruction as the weeks-long aid blockade grinds on, the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) said on Thursday [].
In addition to ongoing bombardment, Israel issued another three displacement orders over the past two days, covering seven per cent of the total area of the territory.
(UN News)* — The UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk has voiced concern over the recent deportation of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States, particularly to third countries.
(Beirut) – Scores of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia die in gruesome yet avoidable workplace-related accidents, including falling from buildings, electrocution, and even decapitation, Human Rights Watch said on 14 May 2025.
(UN News)* — Devastating floods in South Sudan in recent months left thousands of herders without their most precious possessions: goats, cows and cattle. The animals are central to people’s lives and age-old customs including marriage and cultural traditions. All risk being swept away or scorched by the ravages of climate change.
(UN News)* —Shattered by her husband’s death during the rising tide of gang violence in Haiti last year, Christiana and her six children fled 223 kilometres from their hometown to the city of Mirebalais, where her six-year-old daughter, Leineda, began treatment for malnutrition.