Over two hundred press freedom advocacy groups and international newsrooms have joined Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in issuing a public appeal demanding that foreign journalists be granted immediate, independent and unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip
(Ottawa) –G7 leaders should commit to taking concrete actions to halt Israeli atrocities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory at their upcoming summit, Human Rights Watch on 13 June 2025 said in a letter to G7 leaders.
Leaders of the G7 will be gathering in Kananaskis, Alberta from June 15-17, 2025, for the Leaders’ Summit hosted by Canada.
The summit takes place in the context of ongoing hostilities and Israel’s unlawful blockade of Gaza, where the world’s foremost experts on food security warn that there’s a high risk of imminent famine for the entire civilian population.
ALBERTA, Canada, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)* – Aid cuts could cost millions of lives and leave girls, boys, women and men without access to enough food, water, education, health treatment.
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Credit: United NationsThe 51st G7 summit is scheduled to take place 15-17 June 2025 in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. The G7 consists of seven of the world’s largest developed economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States plus the European Union (EU), a non-enumerated member.
G7 countries are making deliberate and deadly choices by cutting life-saving aid, enabling atrocities, and reneging on their international commitments.
—Famine is defined as “extreme food deprivation” by the Integrated Food Security Classification, or IPC, the global hunger monitoring body. It is at the extreme end of IPC Phase 5, the highest hunger level under the IPC’s classification. Not all IPC 5 areas are in famine.
WFP food assistance arriving in Sudan’s North Darfur State, where pockets of famine have been confirmed. Photo: WFP/Mohamed Galal
Famine is rare, predictable and – with the right resources, political will and action – preventable.Vulnerable population groups such as young children, pregnant and nursing women and displaced people are most at risk of hunger emergencies.
Once a famine is declared, many people have already died of starvation, and it’s hard to slow it down.
To stem this pollution crisis, countries agreed in 2022 to establish a new body that would provide policymakers with robust, independent information on chemicals, waste and pollution prevention.
Negotiators are finetuning the details of this new science-policy panel, with the latest round of discussions set for 15-18 June in Uruguay.
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 13 June 2025 – Amina sits behind a wood stove, exposed to the elements, a small teapot warming over the fire.
Amina prepares something to eat for her family with the few food supplies she has left. Photo: IOM 2025
She has been displaced six times in just under 20 months – sometimes twice in the same month. Today, she lives in a tent, with only the memory of a home that no longer stands.
Her story echoes the reality of nearly two million people in Gaza, living through what has become one of the most devastating chapters in the region’s history.
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 13 2025 (IPS)* – The United States, a longstanding and unyielding Israeli ally, is threatening UN member states urging them to keep off an upcoming high-level meeting aimed at recognizing a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
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Delegates discuss preparations for the high-level conference at UN Headquarters in New York. May 2025. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
The meeting, to be co-chaired by France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and Saudi Arabia, a strong political ally of the US, is scheduled to take place June 17-20.
According to the London Guardian, the Trump administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending the conference.
(UN News)* — Meeting in emergency session on Thursday in New York, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
The move followed the Security Council’s failure to pass a similar resolution last week due to a lone veto by permanent member the United States.
The resolution was backed by 149 Member States, with 12 voting against and 19 abstaining.
Among those opposing the resolution were the United States and Israel, who were joined among others by Argentina, Hungary and Paraguay. India, Georgia, Ecuador, Romania and Ethiopia were among the countries abstaining.
OSLO, Norway, Jun 12 2025 (IPS)* –The world is experiencing a surge in violence not seen since the post-World War II era. 2024 marked a grim new record: the highest number of state-based armed conflicts in over seven decades.
The scene of a destruction caused by the war in Ukraine. Credit: UNOCHA/Dmytro Filipskyy
“This is not just a spike – it’s a structural shift. The world today is far more violent, and far more fragmented, than it was a decade ago,” warned Siri Aas Rustad, Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and lead author of the report.
(UN News)* — With 13.5 million people displaced by over 13 years of brutal civil conflict, Syria used to represent the largest displacement crisis in the world. This is no longer the case.
In December last year, the overthrow of the Assad regime by opposition forces reignited hope that most Syrians could see home again soon.
As of May, 500,000 refugees and 1.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) returned to their areas of origin. But that’s not the only reason Syria is no longer the largest displacement crisis in the world.