Machines gather dust in bakeries and pots sit empty at hot-meal points as a new report confirms hunger is sliding towards starvation and famine
A woman holds up a piece of bread made from a crushed pasta as her daughter looks on – with markets in Gaza empty even such desparate measures are increasingly impossible. Photo: WFP/Ali Jadallah
— People in Gaza are at risk of starvation, with all aid blocked from entering since 2 March. A report by 17 United Nations agencies and NGOs released last week says 470,000 people face catastrophic hunger – level 5 on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the global standard for measuring food insecurity.
Pest-infected plants can trigger a cascade of negative effects on food supplies and induce outbreaks of zoonotic diseases…
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Plant health is the foundation of food security and is interconnected with human, animal and environmental health. Healthy plants provide nutrient-rich diets for humans and animals and help promote a balanced ecosystem.
Pest-infected plants can trigger a cascade of negative effects on food supplies and induce outbreaks of zoonotic diseases transmitted through harmful pathogens.
In 2024, over 295 million people across 53 countries and territories faced acute hunger—an increase of almost 14 million people compared to 2023, while the number of people facing catastrophic levels of hunger reached a record high.
Geneva/New York/Rome/Washington (FAO)* –Acute food insecurity and child malnutrition rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2024, pushing millions of people to the brink, in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), released on 16 May 2025.
UN humanitarian chief demands resumption of aid in Gaza
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UN News | A child in Gaza carrying an empty plate.
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(UN News)* — Humanitarians demand access to the Gaza Strip and already have a plan in place to deliver life-saving assistance to civilians, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said in a strong call issued late on Friday evening.
No aid has entered the enclave since Israel implemented a ban on 2 March and the entire population, more than two million people, is at risk of famine.
GIANYAR, Bali, May 14 2025 (IPS)* –It was Christmas Eve last year when visitors across several tourism hotspots in Bali woke up to a ghastly scene they hadn’t expected: layers of cans, bags, bottles, and driftwood covering their favorite sandy beaches, washed up by hours of rain and high tide.
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Organic waste being composted at a community-led waste management facility in Sesdan village of Gianyar regency, Bali. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
(UN News)* —Glaciers in many regions will not survive the 21st century if they keep melting at the current rate, potentially jeopardising hundreds of millions of people living downstream, UN climate experts said on the first World Day for Glaciers.
Together with ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers lock up about 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater reserves. They are striking indicators of climate change as they typically remain about the same size in a stable climate.
But, with rising temperatures and global warming triggered by human-induced climate change, they are melting at unprecedented speed, said Sulagna Mishra, a scientific officer at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
(UN News)* — The United Nations Secretary-General warned on Friday [] that Himalayan glaciers are “caving in,” urging immediate action to address the climate crisis, especially in the world’s most fragile ecosystems.
UN News/Vibhu Mishra | Mountains in Nepal’s Annapurna range, where glaciers are retreating and snow lines are rising due to climate change.
António Guterres issued the warning in a video message to the inaugural Sagarmatha Sambaad, or “Everest Dialogue,” convened by the Government of Nepal in Kathmandu.
“Record temperatures have meant record glacier melt,” he said.
(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.
15 May 2025 — Before seeking refuge became her only option, Fadimatou lived a modest yet peaceful life in her hometown of Berberati in the Central African Republic (CAR), surrounded by family.
Fadimatou and her daughter. Photo : Patricia Pouhe/NRC
Her husband, a farmer, provided for their daily needs while she cared for their children, ensuring their education and wellbeing. Fadimatou could not imagine what was about to happen.
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