(UN News)* —Across southeast Asia, record-breaking rains and flooding caused by back-to-back tropical storms have claimed hundreds of lives and brought devastation and displacement upon entire communities, UN agencies said on Tuesday [].
WMO/Daniel Pavlinovic | Across the world, more incidents of extreme weather events are being recorded.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spokesperson Clare Nullis told reporters in Geneva that Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam are among the countries most affected by what she described as “a combination of monsoon-related rainfall and tropical cyclone activity”.
(UN News)* — Millions of jobs across Asia could be at risk as the AI industry booms at the expense of poorer nations still struggling to provide basic digital access and literacy, UN economists said on Tuesday [].
Just as industrialisation in the 19th century “split the world into a wealthy few and the impoverished”, the AI revolution could do the same.
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“Countries that invest in skills, computing power and sound governance systems will benefit, others risk being left far behind,” warned Philip Schellekens, Chief Economist for the UN Development Programme for the Asia and Pacific region.
(UN News)* — More than 260 media professionals were killed in the recent hostilities in Gaza – the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades.
UN News | Mourners perform the funeral prayer for Palestinian journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike on August 10.
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The issue was in the spotlight at UN Headquarters on Monday [] during a forum focused on the dangers and complexities of reporting from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
(UN News)* —The UN says humanitarian partners in Gaza are scaling up winterisation efforts as cold weather and heavy rain continue to impact displaced Palestinians.
More than 230,000 families – that’s around 1.15 million people – received monthly food parcels between 1 and 27 November, through 59 distribution points, including 21 in northern Gaza.
(UN News)* — With nearly $1.6 billion in unpaid dues, the UN Secretary-General warned on Monday [] that chronic late payments are hampering the world body’s ability to function, even as sweeping cuts move forward through the General Assembly’s main budget committee.
António Guterres told the Fifth Committee the UN is facing its most fragile cash position in years, despite sharp reductions already built into next year’s budget plans.
UN News/Vibhu Mishra | The United Nations Headquarters as seen from First Avenue in New York City.
MANILA, Philippines, Nov 11 2025 (IPS)* –US President Trump’s economic strategy for his second term aims to get the rest of the world, especially its wealthy allies with greater means, to pay more to help strengthen the US economy.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Recent US initiatives have undoubtedly accelerated de-dollarisation but these have largely been unavoidable consequences of its own actions rather than due to any conspiracy by others to that end.
De-dollarisation distraction
Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff recently observed, “We are absolutely at the biggest inflection point in the global currency system since the Nixon shock to end the last vestige of the gold standard.”
After the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the gold price was set at $35 per ounce. In August 1971, US President Richard Nixon ended this gold-dollar parity. Continue reading →
BRATISLAVA, Dec 1 2025 (IPS)* – “It’s like adding fuel to an already burning fire,” says Aditia Taslim.
UNAIDS campaigns have dominated the global effort to end HIV/Aids as a public threat since 1999. Credit: UNAIDS
“We have not recovered from the impact of the US funding cuts earlier this year, and closing down UNAIDS prematurely will only make things worse, especially for key populations and other criminalized groups, including people who use drugs,” Taslim, who is Advocacy Lead at the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), tells IPS. Continue reading →
NEW YORK, 28 November 2025 (UNICEF)* –Children and adolescents living with HIV continue to be left behind in access to early diagnosis, life-saving treatment, and care, as shrinking funding threatens to increase their risks and reverse decades of progress, UNICEF on 28 November 2025 warned ahead of World AIDS Day(1 December 2025).
(UN News)* —A record seizure of cocaine off the coast of Haiti has underlined the island nation’s “pivotal role in trafficking routes linking South America, the Caribbean and the United States of America,” according to the United Nations.
AUDIO AND SUBSCRIPTION
UN Photo/Victoria Hazou | A package of cocaine seized in Haiti is put on show. (file)
Haiti is in the grip of a security crisis as gangs battle for control of territory in the capital and beyond while continuing to expand their criminal activities.
(UN News)*– The humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s El Fasher remains dire as mass displacement accelerates and aid access stays restricted, amid warnings of widespread trafficking, sexual violence and the recruitment of children.
UN agencies say conditions are deteriorating further across North Darfur and neighbouring Kordofan, while independent human rights experts on Thursday warned that the collapse of protection following the city’s fall has sharply increased the risks facing women and children.
UN News/Vibhu Mishra | The United Nations Headquarters as seen from First Avenue in New York City.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 