OECD Secretary-General Gurría welcomes announcement of new trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada

FAO/Giulio Napolitano FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva (right) and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría launch the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook.

This article is brought to you in association with OECD. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has welcomed the announcement of a new, modernised United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. “The OECD has long supported open markets for trade and investment as a crucial driver of economic growth and jobs”, Mr. Gurría said. “Today’s announcement supports strong growth and good jobs in all three countries; it will boost the confidence of firms and investors by preserving stable and predictable rules-based trade in North America. It will make the region more productive and more competitive internationally”. The Secretary-General praised the political leadership and dedicated negotiating efforts of all three countries.

Discover more from The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

© NASA/Jeff Schmaltz A satellite image shows the Strait of Hormuz. (far right)

Iran ceasefire raises hopes for reopening key Strait of Hormuz

April 9, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The announcement of a shaky two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, will it is hoped, lead to the opening of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes. The strait has become a global […]

Fokah Wembe Darrell Dupray is a 4th-year medical student at Université des Montagnes, Bangangté Cameroon and a student leader within the Cameroon Medical Students’ Association (CAMSA).

Global Health Priorities for the Year Ahead: Why the Next Generation Must Lead

April 8, 2026

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Mr. Sharif Mohammed Sadat, a medical student from Bangladesh and serves as the Regional Director for Asia-Pacific of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). He is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this […]

© IOM Families returning to Khartoum face the mounting task of rebuilding their lives and livelihoods amid damaged homes and limited access to basic services (file).

World News in Brief: ‘Skyrocketing’ needs outpace Sudan funding, Ukraine strikes update, global water security

April 7, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The UN is significantly scaling up its presence in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to expand life-saving operations as the conflict between rival militaries approaches its third year. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown has returned to the city with a core team, marking a renewed commitment […]

© UNHCR Smoke and debris from a building in the Bashura neighbourhood of Beirut, Lebanon, after an airstrike.

MIDDLE EAST LIVE 6 April: Strikes persist across region as humanitarian needs rise

April 7, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Strikes and counter-strikes continue across the Middle East, with dozens of casualties reported over the weekend in Lebanon following Israeli strikes targeting the south and the capital, Beirut. Meanwhile, humanitarian needs are rising, critical infrastructure remains under strain, and the wider economic and global impacts of the […]

UN nuclear agency chief ‘deeply concerned’ by reports of latest attack on Iran power plant

April 6, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Reports of yet another projectile strike near the Bushehr nuclear power plant prompted Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to register his deep concern on Saturday. The IAEA was informed of the strike – the fourth such incident in recent weeks – by […]

Guterres warns of ‘wider war’ as Middle East conflict enters second month

April 3, 2026

The Middle East crisis has lurched into its second month, prompting UN Secretary-General António Guterres to issue a stark warning on Thursday morning that the world is “on the edge of a wider war” with catastrophic global implications. Speaking to the press outside the Security Council in New York, the UN chief painted a grim picture of the rapidly […]

Middle East war: Energy crunch hits vulnerable nations

April 2, 2026

The war in the Middle East and the near halt to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has amplified the energy crunch facing developing nations in Africa and South Asia that rely heavily on imported liquid gas, food and fertilizers. And with Brent Crude still trading at more than $100 per barrel, many workers and households have reverted to […]

© WHO UN officials in Cyprus oversee the loading of emergency humanitarian supplies for Gaza.

Breaking the Gaza aid bottleneck: 106-tonne delivery arrives via new sea route

April 2, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) has facilitated the delivery of some 106 metric tonnes of lifesaving nutrition supplies to the Gaza Strip – the first shipment via a mechanism to deliver aid by sea, in line with a UN Security Council resolution and amid the ongoing war […]

© IMO Crew members take a break on a ship. (file)

‘No precedent’ for seafarers caught in war zone in post-WW2 era

April 1, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Some 20,000 seafarers remain stranded on ships in the Strait of Hormuz as the war in the Middle East continues, a situation which has been described as unprecedented in the post-Second World War era. The seafarers are working on some 2,000 ships including oil and gas tankers, […]

© UNIFIL UNIFIL peacekeepers on patrol along the Blue Line in southern Lebanon.

UN condemns killing of two more peacekeepers in Lebanon

March 31, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The United Nations has condemned two consecutive days of deadly attacks on peacekeepers serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), amid rising hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants. Two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed on Monday, and two more were injured, in an explosion that hit a UNIFIL logistics convoy, destroying […]

© WFP/Arete/Ali Yunes A building in Beirut lies in ruins after airstrikes in Lebanon.

Middle East war: Attacks on vital healthcare, evacuation strike fears

March 30, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Almost one month since Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran began, sparking a wider regional war, UN agencies and partners on Friday highlighted the terror among civilians fleeing bombardment, with “no safe space” to go. In a rare piece of good news, though, the UN World Health […]

UN News/Daniel Dickinson The closure of the Hormuz strait is impacting trade on a global scale.

Persian Gulf crisis impacting food security, FAO warns

March 27, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The intensifying conflict in the Persian Gulf “has triggered one of the most rapid and severe disruptions to global commodity flows in recent times,” the Chief Economist with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday. The crisis is affecting agricultural production and food security worldwide, with impacts […]

Gulf war ‘out of control’, Guterres warns, as UN appoints envoy to push for peace

March 26, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the escalating Gulf war is “out of control”, urging all sides to step back from the brink and allow diplomacy to prevail, as he announced the appointment of a senior envoy to spearhead peace efforts. Speaking outside the UN Security Council in New York […]

Gaza: Commitment to US-backed plan crucial to recovery, Security Council hears

March 25, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. As tensions escalate in the Middle East, the international community must not lose sight of the situation in Gaza, an official with US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace across the shattered enclave said on Tuesday in his first appearance in the UN Security Council. High Representative […]

© IMF/Stephen Jaffe The UN is warning of surging food and fuel prices driven by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Dire fertiliser shortage a lurking threat due to Hormuz crisis

March 24, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Since the start of the Middle East conflict with Israeli and US strikes on Iran on 28 February, concerns have been growing over rising oil and commodity prices. At the centre of it lies the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints […]

War in the Middle East: Iran nuclear facility hit as equivalent of ‘one classroom of children’ killed, wounded daily in Lebanon

March 23, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. More than 1,000 people have been killed and 2,584 injured in Lebanon since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, UN officials said Saturday. Key points “Recent escalation has killed or wounded the equivalent of one classroom of children every day,” said Ted Chaiban, deputy chief […]

Middle East war shockwaves ripple through Asia-Pacific fuel and supply chains

March 20, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The fallout from the war in the Middle East is rippling far beyond the Gulf, disrupting fuel supplies, shipping routes and supply chains across Asia and the Pacific, with some of the region’s most vulnerable economies already feeling the strain through rising prices, rationing and threats to […]

© WFP/Jaber Badwan A woman carries food rations distributed by the World Food Programme in Almaghazi, Gaza.

Humanitarian needs in Gaza deepen as aid access remains constrained

March 19, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Humanitarian needs are continuing to grow again across Gaza, the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Wednesday, amid mounting pressures on aid delivery and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. “Families face ongoing hardship” as access to essential aid remains limited and many continue […]

© WFP/Khadija Dia Food is distributed to displaced families sheltering in a school in Tariq Jdide, Beirut.

Middle East war risks pushing 45 million more people into acute hunger

March 18, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The Middle East war could cause the worst disruption to lifesaving humanitarian work since COVID, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday, as the UN chief again demanded an end to the widening conflict. “The Secretary-General asserts once more that the war in the Middle […]