The ICC issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Go here to read our analysis of the decision and the likely next steps, and here for our ICC explainer. The …
GIL 
2024 was the hottest year on record, says UN weather agency — Global Issues
“We saw extraordinary land, sea surface temperatures, extraordinary ocean heat accompanied by very extreme weather affecting many countries around the world, destroying lives, livelihoods, hopes and dreams,” WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis said. “We saw many climate change impacts retreating sea ice glaciers. It was an extraordinary year.” Four of the …
It’s not censorship to stop hateful online content, insists UN rights chief — Global Issues
“Allowing hate speech and harmful content online has real world consequences. Regulating this content is not censorship,” Volker Türk wrote on X. In a longer LinkedIn post on the same theme, Mr. Türk maintained that labelling efforts to create safe online spaces as “censorship…ignore[s] the fact that unregulated space means …
Global growth to remain subdued in 2025 amid uncertainty, UN report warns — Global Issues
The World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2025 report shows that despite withstanding a series of mutually reinforcing shocks, global economic growth has stagnated and remains below the pre-pandemic annual average of 3.2 per cent. The report produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), highlights the …
More than 125,000 refugees return to Syria in desperate conditions — Global Issues
Leading calls for the international community to “move from words to action” to help the country’s most vulnerable returnees urgently, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that many families have little shelter and few economic prospects. “In recent weeks, there has been talk in high-level international circles of the need …
Gaza’s health system on brink of collapse — Global Issues
In a Security Councilmeeting on Friday, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) representative for the West Bank and Gaza, painted a grim picture of the situation, emphasising that over 25 per cent of the 105,000 injured civilians now face life-changing injuries. “At the current rate, it would take five …
UN continues to call for timely Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon — Global Issues
This includes movements further north reported in Sector East, while a redeployment by the Lebanese Armed Forces was conducted this week in Shama, in Sector West. Both Israel and Lebanon have recommitted to full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said during the daily media …
Top rights expert decries attacks on hospitals — Global Issues
William O’Neill, who reports to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, highlighted an attack on the Bernard Mevs Hospital in Port-au-Prince on 17 December and the killing of several journalists and a police officer at the General Hospital on 24 December. The victims were attending the hospital’s official reopening. …
Security Council holds emergency meeting on collapse of Gaza health system — Global Issues
© UNRWA Patients are teated at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza (file photo). Friday, January 03, 2025 UN News The UN Security Council is meeting in emergency session at 10am in New York on the collapse of health services in Gaza. The meeting was called by Algeria, the …
UN teams support cholera vaccination in northeastern camps — Global Issues
The cholera outbreak was detected in the camp in early October and subsequently confirmed by laboratory tests. Because Al Hol does not have a specialist treatment centre for acute watery diarrhoea, it is crucial that as many people are vaccinated as quickly as possible, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, insists. …
Young Venezuelan refugees get a fresh start in Trinidad’s schools — Global Issues
When 11-year-old Venezuelan refugee Astrid Saavedra walked into her fourth-grade classroom in Trinidad and Tobago for her first day of school in September, she was eager to begin lessons in her favourite subject, mathematics. But the prospect of teaching fellow students about her homeland Venezuela was equally exciting. Astrid is …
Israel attacks push Gaza healthcare ‘to brink of collapse’ — Global Issues
A report published by the Office documents attacks carried out between 12 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, raises serious concerns about Israel’s compliance with international law. Medical personnel and hospitals are specifically protected under international humanitarian law, provided they do not commit – or are not used to commit, …
‘Absolutely the wrong path,’ Türk warns against Afghanistan’s ban on women in NGOs — Global Issues
The measure, issued by the de facto Ministry of Economy on 26 December, enforces a two-year-old decree prohibiting women from working with both national and international NGOs. In his statement, Mr. Türk emphasised the devastating impact on the delivery of critical humanitarian aid in Afghanistan the decree will have, where …
UNRWA chief renews call for probe into attacks on humanitarians in Gaza — Global Issues
Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini made the appeal in a statement posted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He noted that 15 months after the war began in Gaza, “horrors continue unabated under the world’s watch”. 258 UNRWA staff killed Citing latest information from his teams, Mr. Lazzarini said that …
UN official warns against further escalation amid attacks in Yemen, Israel and the Red Sea — Global Issues
Briefing the Security Council in New York, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Khaled Khiari, warned the Middle East was witnessing another dangerous escalation. He said that attacks in Israel and Yemen, as well as in the Red Sea, are of grave concern, and warned that further …
UN chief hails ‘peacemaker, human rights champion’, former President Jimmy Carter — Global Issues
The Democratic Party icon lived longer than any president in US history, serving one term between 1977 and 1981, going on burnish his reputation on the international stage by being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and establishing a major hub for diplomacy and conflict resolution in the form of the …
The inspiring female engineer breathing new life into Yemen’s ancient capital — Global Issues
“There is a common language between me and the buildings. In every house I try to preserve. I feel that the city is grateful to me, and I am grateful to the city because it has taught me a lot”, says Yemeni engineer Harbia Al-Himiary, describing her relationship with the …
‘Hunger is everywhere’, babies die from the cold, airstrike on unarmed journalists condemned — Global Issues
In Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes are sheltering in tents, the temperatures are expected to drop further in the coming days. Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, reported in a statement on Friday that, according to the Palestinian …
Spirit of resilience braces desertification winds in Saudi Arabia — Global Issues
The deserts of Saudi Arabia are amongst the largest in the world and controlling the natural migration of sand has always been a challenge not just to farmers, who want to increase agricultural productivity, but also to communities that want to ensure a more prosperous future or seek investment for …
5 things to watch out for in 2025 — Global Issues
1 Can we keep 1.5 alive? “Keep 1.5 alive” has been the UN’s rallying cry for a number of years, a reference to the goal of ensuring that average global temperatures don’t soar beyond 1.5 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels. The scientific consensus is that a lack of action would …
