Bahrain and US float Security Council resolution on the Strait of Hormuz
This article is published in association with United Nations. Bahrain and the United States have circulated a draft Security Council resolution calling for Iran to cease attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, their ambassadors outlined to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday. The text is supported by Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the […]
Commission greenlights Austria’s fourth payment request for €325 million under NextGenerationEU
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission positively assessed Austria’s fourth payment request for €325 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. This is an important step in the delivery of the reforms and investments tied to this payment request, supporting the green […]
Commission proposes new measures to fight poverty and improve the lives of persons with disabilities
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission has unveiled an ambitious social plan aimed at helping to eradicate poverty and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities across the EU. The package includes the first-ever EU anti-poverty strategy – the Commission’s plan to help end poverty in the EU by […]
Discharge: MEPs sign off on the management of the EU’s budget in 2024
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. MEPs approve the Commission’s management of the 2024 EU budget but warn that rule of law backsliding in several member states is harming the use of EU funds. On Wednesday, plenary signed off the budgetary management by the European Commission, responsible for the majority […]
Commission greenlights Italy’s ninth payment request for €12.8 billion under NextGenerationEU
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the Commission positively assessed Italy’s ninth payment request of €12.8 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. Following its assessment of the payment request, the Commission found that Italy has satisfactorily completed all 16 milestones and 34 targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision. The reforms and […]
Parliament endorses renewed EU trade instrument for development
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. On Tuesday, Parliament adopted the renewed regulation on the generalised system of preferences (GSP). The updated rules, passed with 459 votes in favour, 127 against and 70 abstentions, allow vulnerable developing countries to export goods to the EU with low or no tariffs. Several […]
EP President Metsola to EU leaders: “Europe cannot face a new era with an old budget”
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. At the European Council, President Metsola addressed three main topics: the situation in the Middle East, the ‘One Europe One Market’ Roadmap and the Multiannual Financial Framework. Speaking to EU leaders, Parliament President Metsola focused on three topics: The situation in the Middle East […]
UN leads call to prepare ‘for when digital systems fail’
This article is published in association with United Nations. It can be annoying when the wifi signal is cut, but what about if everything digital we rely on were to crash suddenly – from satellites to life-support systems in hospitals? That’s the nightmare scenario that the UN is trying to avoid, in a call to all […]
Global rise of cyberattacks exposes limits of technical solutions
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The internet reaches into every corner of the world and is vital to everything from health systems and financial markets to public services and election organising. This intense global interconnectedness clearly comes with great benefits, but a cybercrime epidemic is putting millions of lives […]
Parliament wants stronger action against cyberbullying in the EU
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. MEPs are demanding the strict enforcement of existing EU laws, a harmonised definition of cyberbullying, and increased platform responsibility to improve the protection of victims. In a resolution adopted on Thursday with a show of hands, plenary calls for effective and dissuasive penalties for […]
AI in advertising risks fuelling information crisis, UN warns
This article is published in association with United Nations. With spending on advertising topping $1 trillion a year worldwide, the United Nations on Wednesday highlighted the untapped power of major brands to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence, warning that a failure to act could deepen a global information integrity crisis. In a new brief titled […]
Review highlights Digital Markets Act remains fit for purpose and has positive impact
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission’s first review of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) found that in the first two years of its application, the DMA remains fit for purpose and has opened up new opportunities for businesses and developers, while giving users more control over their experiences and […]
EU to strengthen regional dimension of research and innovation
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions signed a new Joint Action Plan to enhance the role of cities and regions in research and innovation (R&I). Under the Joint Action Plan, the Commission and the Committee of the Regions will collaborate […]
Bahrain and US float Security Council resolution on the Strait of Hormuz
This article is published in association with United Nations. Bahrain and the United States have circulated a draft Security Council resolution calling for Iran to cease attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, their ambassadors outlined to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday. The text is supported by Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the […]
Hantavirus outbreak: Another passenger contracts disease
This article is published in association with United Nations. It’s been confirmed that another passenger from the cruise liner linked to the outbreak of hantavirus has contracted the disease, which has claimed the lives of three people on board and sparked an international alert coordinated by the UN World Health Organization (WHO). The individual, who is […]
UN warns of worsening human rights crisis in Mali after deadly attacks
This article is published in association with United Nations. The human rights situation in Mali is rapidly deteriorating following coordinated attacks by armed groups across the country, with civilians killed, displaced and cut off from food and aid, UN rights office OHCHR said on Tuesday. The violence, which erupted on 25 and 26 April, saw large-scale […]
In Lebanon, the same fears and dangers persist despite ceasefire: UNHCR
This article is published in association with United Nations. Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday. “Civilians in the south of Lebanon and parts of the Bekaa [Valley] are really living with the […]
Uncertainty continues over safety in the Strait of Hormuz
This article is published in association with United Nations. Amid claims and counter-claims of strikes and confrontations in the crucial Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the United States, UN maritime officials continue to urge vessels to exercise “maximum caution”. “We are aware of the reports but do not have further details. We continue to urge […]
Middle East crisis puts aid, food, fuel further out of reach for millions already struggling – UN agencies
This article is published in association with United Nations. As the Middle East crisis continues the humanitarian fallout is worsening, with aid route disruptions and food and fuel price hikes wrecking the lives and the rights of the most vulnerable people worldwide, UN agencies warned on Friday. Heightened insecurity and instability around key Gulf routes, including […]
Hormuz crisis strangling global economy, Guterres warns, demanding solutions to end stalemate
This article is published in association with United Nations. The escalating crisis in the Strait of Hormuz could push tens of millions into poverty, trigger a surge in global hunger and even tip the world towards recession, the UN Secretary-General warned on Thursday. António Guterres decried the restrictions on free passage through the crucial chokepoint which […]AI in advertising risks fuelling information crisis, UN warns
This article is published in association with United Nations. With spending on advertising topping $1 trillion a year worldwide, the United Nations on Wednesday highlighted the untapped power of major brands to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence, warning that a failure to act could deepen a global information integrity crisis. In a new brief titled […]
2015 nuclear deal ‘no basis’ for any new agreement with Iran
This article is published in association with United Nations. The 2015 nuclear accord with Iran cannot be the starting point for a new agreement with the country, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday in New York. Rafael Mariano Grossi was speaking during a press conference at UN Headquarters held on […]
From Hormuz to Lebanon, crisis reverberates through trade routes, upending humanitarian networks
© WHO/Hanan Balkhy In Gaza displaced families are living in overcrowded tents and makeshift shelters, surrounded by waste and debris, with limited access to safe water and sanitation services. This article is published in association with United Nations. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to send shockwaves through global food systems, the UN Food and Agriculture […]
World News in Brief: Sudan drone attacks condemned, South Sudan violence, airstrikes in Ukraine, South Africa Freedom Day
This article is published in association with United Nations. The United Nations has condemned two recent drone attacks in Sudan, one of which left seven dead, Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday during his regular media briefing in New York. An aid truck from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) that was carrying emergency shelter kits came under attack by […]
Chokepoints and conflict: How the Hormuz crisis is exposing global shipping vulnerabilities
This article is published in association with United Nations. The blockading of ships in the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the conflict between the United States and Iran has demonstrated how ships and seafarers have become “leverage in geopolitical disputes,” according to the head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO). Since conflict began […]
Middle East war: After oil and gas, concerns grow over minerals crunch
This article is published in association with United Nations. The shipping crisis in the Strait of Hormuz caused by war in the Middle East has exposed a new threat: a looming shortage of strategic minerals that drive economies all over the world – and a race by countries to obtain them. Until war erupted on 28 […]
Ceasefire extension offers diplomatic opening, but tensions persist in Strait of Hormuz
This article is published in association with United Nations. The United States’ decision to extend a fragile ceasefire with Iran has kept a narrow window open for diplomacy, but fresh security incidents in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday underscore the volatility of the situation and the risks to global shipping and regional stability. The UN […]
Strait of Hormuz: With hunger looming, life-saving fertiliser shipments cannot wait, head of UN task force says
This article is published in association with United Nations. As the Persian Gulf crisis continues, time is ticking for farmers who rely on fertilizer shipped via the Strait of Hormuz – and millions worldwide who depend on their crops, particularly in vulnerable countries such as war-torn Sudan. In normal times, one third of global fertiliser trade […]
Economic collapse pushes highly educated Gazans into the ‘survival economy’
This article is published in association with United Nations. Young Palestinians in Gaza with university-level educations are setting aside dreams of putting their hard-won skills into practice and doing whatever they can to survive. Abdullah al-Khawaja, an electrical engineering graduate displaced from Rafah to Khan Younis, now stands behind a small spice stall, having lost the […]
