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
(UN News)* — UN aid workers said on Wednesday that they are still waiting for permission from Israel to distribute five trucks’ worth of lifesaving relief that was allowed into Gaza at the start of the week, after an 11-week blockade.
Existing supplies of basic necessities have been running dangerously low and on Wednesday 21 May 2025 the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said that its nutrition stocks to prevent increasing malnutrition “are almost gone”.
“Humanitarian assistance is being weaponised to serve and support political and military objectives,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
1️⃣ The consequences of nuclear weapons are catastrophic.
Nuclear weapons are not like other weapons, they are designed to mass murder civilians, wipe out entire cities and cause irreversible harm to the environment.
First responders like the Red Cross have warned that they would have no capacity to deal with a nuclear detonation, and if the conflict were to escalate into nuclear war, recent studies show over 5 billion people could die from the famine that follows.
(Stockholm) — World military expenditure reached $2718 billion in 2024, an increase of 9.4 per cent in real terms from 2023 and the steepest year-on-year rise since at least the end of the cold war.
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Photo: Shutterstock
Military spending increased in all world regions, with particularly rapid growth in both Europe and the Middle East.
(UN News)* — The 78th World Health Assembly opened on 19 May 2025 with a broad appeal to global solidarity, as delegates from around the world gather in Geneva to confront mounting health, climate, and financial challenges – and finalise a global treaty to head off the next pandemic.
(UN News)* —The UN humanitarian affairs chief has welcomed Israel’s decision to allow limited aid to cross into Gaza after 11 weeks of complete blockade – but significantly more is needed“ starting tomorrow morning”.
Tom Fletcher said in a statement on Monday that nine UN trucks were cleared to enter the southern Kerem Shalom crossing earlier in the day.
“But it is a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed… We have been reassured that our work will be facilitated through existing, proven mechanisms. I am grateful for that reassurance, and Israel’s agreement to humanitarian notification measures that reduce the immense security threats of the operation.”
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.
15 May 2025 — Hawaou Adama, a mother of three, knows all too well what it means to fight for survival every single day. Hawaou is a refugee who fled the violence that tore through her home country, the Central African Republic (CAR).
Hawaou Adama. Photo: Patricia Pouhe/NRC
After years of living in uncertainty, without a proper roof to protect her family from the elements and the dangers of daily life, Hawaou can now look forward to a safer, more stable future.
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Before war tore through her homeland, Hawaou lived a simple yet fulfilling life. Her husband worked as a farmer, while she cared for their three children, dreaming of a peaceful future for them.
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.
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.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 