News headlines
Security Council LIVE: Gaza in the spotlight as dire conditions continue
- UN News

The Security Council debated conditions in Gaza at the request of its 10 elected members amid concern that the territory's humanitarian crisis is being overshadowed by wider regional developments. The meeting took place under a ceasefire that has existed in name since October 2025 – but nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, and most Gazans remain displaced. Relief chief Tom Fletcher told ambassadors that “fragile gains” since the truce are “the bare minimum of what Palestinians need.” Follow live below and wider Meetings Coverage can be found here.
‘Stop this madness’: Rights chief warns of impending atrocities as militia closes in on El Obeid, Sudan
- UN News

The UN’s top human rights official has issued an urgent warning that an imminent offensive against El Obeid, the capital of Sudan’s North Kordofan state, carries the risk of serious international crimes and threatens to deepen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
US makes $1 billion contribution to UN child rights and food agencies
- UN News

Two United Nations agencies have together welcomed more than $1 billion in assistance from the United States to support their operations targeting millions of children and hungry families in more than 40 countries.
US-Iran deal: technical work can begin, says atomic energy agency
- UN News

The head of the UN’s atomic energy agency on Thursday welcomed the signing of an initial Iran-US memorandum aimed at ending the war, before proposing “to sit down” with both parties to assist with concrete measures such as verification of Iran’s nuclear programme, a key sticking point.
Trump Declared Peace in Congo. This Is the Reality
- Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, June 17 (IPS) - “General” Sultani Makenga stood before thousands of newly trained armed group recruits in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in February and offered them a promise. “You are now part of an army that has risen up to liberate the country and to really liberate the people,” declared Makenga, the military leader of the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group.
In Sikkim, Snow Leopards and Communities Share the High Mountains
- Inter Press Service

SIKKIM, India, June 17 (IPS) - The tea arrives before the conversation starts. Jayanta Mukhia sets two cups on the wooden table and pulls up a chair across from the couple who arrived that afternoon with trekking poles and rucksacks. They have come to walk the Goechala trail into the heart of Khangchendzonga National Park in India. They will leave in two days. Before they go, she has something to tell them.
Global Economy Endures War Shock—So Far
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON DC, June 17 (IPS) - More than three months into the war in the Middle East, the global economy appears to be holding up. Commodity prices, inflation and expectations for it, and financial conditions have all been impacted—but not yet in ways that signal a global slowdown. And we have seen strong economic momentum in the world’s biggest economies, the United States and China.
GLOBAL TAX TREATY: ‘Without Sustained Pressure from Organised Movements, the Political Space to Win Simply Doesn’t Open’
- Inter Press Service

CIVICUS discusses a proposed United Nations (UN) tax treaty with Jenny Ricks, General Secretary of Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that organises to counter the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a small elite.
New Caledonia’s Election to Set the Stage for New Talks With France on Its Political Future
- Inter Press Service

SYDNEY, June 17 (IPS) - The French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific will hold elections on 28 June in the wake of the latest agreement on its political status with France being rejected. The representatives elected in the three provincial assemblies and territorial congress will then determine a new round of negotiations as the mission of achieving consensus on New Caledonia’s future continues.
Fiscal Reform Needs More Than Strong Finance Ministries
- Inter Press Service

In the human body, connective tissue rarely gets the attention given to the heart, lungs or brain. But without it, even the strongest organs cannot function as a system. It binds, supports and connects a healthy body. Fiscal systems work in a similar way.

