As “deepening divisions” threaten global peace and security, “dangerous rhetoric” is raising nuclear tensions, the UN chief told a meeting of Asian leaders in Cambodia on Friday.

Amid a looming food security crisis linked to Sri Lanka’s cost-of-living crunch, the country’s most vulnerable breadwinners wonder how much longer they can cope, as the Government battles the nation’s worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. 

Millions of people displaced by conflict or persecution from Ukraine, Afghanistan and across the Middle East could face a perilous winter as freezing temperatures add to the misery already that they are already suffering from spiralling prices, the lingering impact of COVID-19 and extreme weather linked to the climate crisis, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.

A UN Human Rights Council-appointed probe into alleged rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, and Israel, wrapped up a week of public hearings in Geneva on Friday that included testimony on the killing of veteran US-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.  

Authorities in Liberia, as well as businesses operating there, must prioritize people over profits and ensure a responsible corporate environment, UN-appointed human rights experts said on Friday in the capital, Monrovia.  

Food import costs globally are projected to reach nearly $2 trillion this year, or higher than previously expected, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report published on Friday. 

Negotiations, sharing solutions aimed at curbing emissions by the world’s biggest-polluting industries, as well as continued calls for climate justice and finance for hard-hit developing countries were in the spotlight on Friday as the latest UN Climate Conference reached its midway point in Egypt.

Sixteen UN-appointed independent human rights experts encouraged Iranian authorities on Friday to stop indicting people with charges punishable by death for participating in peaceful demonstrations.

Next week, the world’s population is due to reach eight billion, which the UN chief is describing as “a testament to scientific breakthroughs and improvements in nutrition, public health and sanitation”.

NEW YORK, Nov 10 (IPS) - We are living in a world where both our bilateral and multilateral achievements, consensuses on human rights and social justice, and our resolve to public good are being tested like never before.