News headlines
Five things you need to know about ocean plastics
- UN News

From surgical gloves to water bottles, shopping bags and chewing gum, every part of our daily lives includes plastic. They epitomise convenience – their durability makes our dependence on them inextricable, but it also stifles the environment.
Make Last Sprint for Nature a ‘Turning Point’ for Nature Finance, Eighth GEF Assembly Told
- Inter Press Service

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, June 5 (IPS) - “While pressures on public budgets are growing and geopolitical tensions rising, it can be tempting to see environmental finance as optional. It is not,” GEF Interim CEO and Chair Claude Gascon told the closing plenary of the Eighth GEF Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, today.
As Global Demand for Gold Grows, UN Mercury Head Warns Toxic Fumes Put Women in a Motherhood Dilemma
- Inter Press Service

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, June 5 (IPS) - Ask any woman miner in the Katoro goldfield in Tanzania’s northern Geita region, and she will tell you that she touches toxic mercury with her bare hands when extracting gold from crushed ore.
UN Climate Resolution: Time to Protect Activists
- Inter Press Service

LONDON, June 5 (IPS) - Ahead of World Environment Day, the UN General Assembly made a vital commitment to protect people from climate impacts, adopting a resolution on the climate change obligations of states. The resolution follows up on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion issued last year, which found that states have a legal duty to prevent activities that cause environmental harm. Most states voted for the resolution despite a concerted campaign by the Trump administration to block it.
‘The ocean has no boundaries’: Beauty and life in a war zone
- UN News

When US and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran on 28 February, triggering one of the most serious geopolitical crises in years, the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow channel just 34 kilometres wide at its narrowest point – became a global flashpoint overnight.
World News in Brief: Millions displaced in South Sudan, global meat supply quadruples, Middle East crisis deepens global hunger
- UN News

Months of fighting and insecurity have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in South Sudan’s eastern Jonglei State, triggering “one of the most severe conflict-related displacement emergencies in recent years”, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
Faith, fear and trust: Inside DR Congo’s fight against Ebola
- UN News

In a village in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers arrived a few days ago to help bury a person who had died from Ebola. Instead, they were threatened, told armed rebels would be called if they stayed, and forced to leave.
‘The true cost of peace’: UN honours fallen peacekeepers as dangers mount
- UN News

The United Nations paused on Friday to pay tribute to the more than 4,500 peacekeepers who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past 78 years.
Haiti: Harrowing needs must be met with long-term engagement
- UN News

Escalating gang violence across Haiti has pushed displacement to record levels, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis and leaving nearly 1.5 million people without a stable place to live, according to new figures released Friday by the UN migration agency, IOM.
Lebanon crisis: needs soar as UN launches new funding appeal
- UN News

The UN in Lebanon appealed for an additional $331.5 million on Friday to help 1.4 million people in crisis as already massive needs continue to grow, three months since deadly violence erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces.

