Trump issued "one of the most chilling statements any American president has ever made: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” He’s gone from threatening war crimes ... to threatening genocide in less than two days"

MIDDLE EAST LIVE 7 April: Conflict continues as humanitarian and economic pressures mount Hostilities continue across the Middle East, with ongoing strikes, rising civilian impacts and mounting pressure on critical infrastructure and humanitarian services. Attention is also turning to New York, where the Security Council is expected to vote on a Bahrain-led draft resolution concerning the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, displacement remains high, aid access is constrained, and economic and security impacts continue to ripple far beyond the region. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. App users can follow coverage here.

MIDDLE EAST LIVE 7 April: Conflict continues as humanitarian and economic pressures mount

UN human rights chief deplores ‘tirade of incendiary rhetoric’ from all combatants, calls #Trump threat to annihilate Iranian civilisation ‘sickening’

#middleeastwar

Inequalities in Human Mortality PORTLAND, USA, April 7 (IPS) - As stated in Hamlet, “Thou know’st ’tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.” Although death is inevitable for all living beings, human mortality, which is expected to reach approximately 64 million individual deaths worldwide in 2026, is not evenly distributed across populations.

Inequalities in Human Mortality

Where you're born and who your parents are predicts how long you'll live. A gap driven by unequal access to healthcare, education, and resources rather than biology or fate

Japan and Kazakhstan Draw Closer as Iran Crisis Reshapes Energy and Security Priorities TOKYO, Japan, April 7 (IPS) - As tensions surrounding Iran deepen and uncertainty spreads across global energy markets, Japan is once again confronting a structural weakness: its heavy dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

#Japan and #Kazakhstan Draw Closer as Iran Crisis Reshapes Energy and Security Priorities

The two bond over shared #nuclear trauma while deepening energy ties that depend on unstable corridors, revealing how security anxiety can override the very peace advocacy both nations claim to champion

Cambodia Unveils Statue Honouring Tanzanian-Born Bomb-Sniffing Rat Magawa MOROGORO, Tanzania , April 7 (IPS) - At Mazimbu village, not far from Tanzania’s Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Stephano Jaka still remembers the night he trapped and killed a rat that had been feasting on his maize cobs – stored in a meticulously woven basket designed to protect grains from rodents.

Cambodia Unveils Statue Honouring Tanzanian-Born Bomb-Sniffing Rat #Magawa

Cambodia's landmine crisis persists. Millions of unexploded ordnances still buried, yet international mine-clearing efforts face chronic resource constraints slowing progress even as trained rats prove the technology works

From Dialogue to Delivery: The Pacific’s Climate Mobility Moment BANGKOK, Thailand, April 7 (IPS) - Rising seas, intensifying storms, saltwater intrusion and shifting coastlines are the lived realities of Pacific communities today. Families are making difficult decisions about whether to stay, adapt or move. Some communities have already relocated. Others are preparing for that possibility. Many are determined to stay for as long as possible on lands that hold ancestral meaning and identity.

From Dialogue to Delivery: The Pacific’s #Climate Mobility Moment

The framework is centered on community voice and dignity, but risks becoming a checklist while international partners still treat affected communities as passive beneficiaries rather than knowledge holders shaping their own futures

The Political Economy of #Bangladesh’s LDC Graduation

Bangladesh's garment industry dominates exports (80%+) through state capture and EU trade preferences, leaving economy dangerously dependent on a single sector while government blocks graduation from #LDC status to preserve preferential access

‘Entire families brutally erased’: Remembering the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda Thirty-two years ago, a genocidal campaign was unleashed against Rwanda’s Tutsi people, resulting in more than million deaths. On Tuesday, the UN is holding commemorations to ensure that the genocide is never forgotten and never repeated.

‘Entire families brutally erased’: Remembering the victims of the 1994 #genocide against the #Tutsi in #Rwanda

Thirty years of commemoration can't restore what Rwanda lost: over a million Tutsi systematically murdered in just 100 days, entire family lines erased by neighbors

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

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

UN scrambling to scale up aid in Sudan while global funding remains drastically insufficient for a humanitarian catastrophe now entering its third year

Cuba energy crisis: Humanitarian needs remain despite fuel supplies The UN has issued an urgent call for international support as Cuba grapples with a ‘worsening’ humanitarian crisis fuelled by a prolonged energy blockade and the lingering devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last year.

#Cuba energy crisis: Humanitarian needs remain despite fuel supplies

UN warns Cuba's energy crisis is creating humanitarian emergency even as some fuel supplies arrive. Power cuts are straining hospitals, water systems, food production

UN80 Initiative enters ‘delivery phase’, as Member States review progress on key work areas Top officials updated Member States Monday on selected proposals under the UN80 reform initiative, including an initial assessment of a possible merger between gender equality agency, UN Women, and the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, as well as updates on the technology and data tracks.

#UN80 Initiative enters ‘delivery phase’, as Member States review progress on key work areas

UN explores merging gender equality and reproductive health agencies while Member States remain divided on core reform priorities, raising questions efficiency vs diluted specialized mandates

Regime Change – Sometimes It Works, Often It Doesn’t Donald Trump ran on a platform of ending wars. After his success in Venezuela, he is intoxicated by his military achievements and is banking on regime change in several countries.

Regime Change – Sometimes It Works, Often It Doesn’t

US #RegimeChange operations consistently prioritize installing compliant governments over democratic outcomes, treating sovereign nations like hostile corporate takeovers with little regard for democracy, actual consequences or local sovereignty

Post-Protest Bangladesh: Restoration More than Renewal MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, April 6 (IPS) - Bangladesh’s first credible election in nearly two decades delivered a landslide win for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader Tarique Rahman, son of a former prime minister, just back from 17 years of self-imposed exile.

Post-Protest #Bangladesh: Restoration More than Renewal

Generation Z toppled an autocrat through mass protest (costing 1,400+ lives), but the interim government is now excluding the largest opposition party from elections—risking repeating the democratic backsliding they died fighting to prevent.

MIDDLE EAST LIVE 6 April: Strikes persist across region as humanitarian needs rise 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 crisis continue to mount. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. App users can follow coverage here.

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

Escalating military strikes are destroying civilian infrastructure (war crimes) faster than aid agencies can respond, leaving civilians caught between warfare and collapsing access to water, food, and medical care.

Tackling Political Exclusion is Central to Saving Democracy BRIGHTON, UK, April 6 (IPS) - Urgent steps need to be taken to rebuild the relationship between citizens and state to stem the decline of democracy globally. Experts point to inequality and political exclusion as two of the biggest drivers for democratic backsliding, with the exclusion of citizens from a role in policy and decision-making spaces leading to ‘hollow citizenship’.

Tackling Political Exclusion is Central to Saving #Democracy

When billions lack meaningful voice in decisions affecting their lives, institutions alone can't save democracy. Political exclusion becomes the opening that populists exploit

US Aims at Heavy Staff & Budgetary Cuts, Seeks to Launch Cost-Saving Artificial Intelligence at UN meetings UNITED NATIONS, April 6 (IPS) - The US has spelled out in detail its own concept of what a restructured United Nations should look like: after drastic reductions in staff, cutting down its budget, avoiding duplication in mandates, slashing peacekeeping operations worldwide and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) for translations and interpretations in six languages.

US pressuring UN to slash staff and budgets while withholding its own dues (which it has for years on end), using financial leverage to reshape the institution toward narrower strategic interests rather than multilateral consensus. DOGEing the UN...

#UNBudgetCrisis
#MUNGA

As World Cup kick-off nears, a reminder of the power of sport to build bridges and break barriers The 2026 World Cup final will take place at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a few miles away from UN Headquarters where, on Wednesday, elite athletes and sports administrators spoke about the power of football and other international sports to change the world for the better.

As #WorldCup kick-off nears, a reminder of the power of sport to build bridges and break barriers

Sports could unite people across borders, yet global crises show athletes and institutions struggle to translate that goodwill into systemic change when political and commercial interests diverge

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

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

IAEA chief emphasised that nuclear power plant sites or nearby areas must never be attacked. Calls for maximum restraint. Much chance Trump and Netanyahu will listen or care?

Belgian commutes pay off: Employees earn up to €810 for cycling to work One in five people in Flanders commuted by bike and received compensation last year, but this figure is significantly lower in Brussels and Wallonia.

In Belgium, employees receive compensation for every kilometre they ride, with some cyclists earning up to €810 per year.

And why not? Biking saves public money for everyone.

“All employees in Belgium who cycle to work are entitled to a bicycle allowance of €0.28 per kilometre of their commute.”

In #ScienceUnderSiege, @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social & I criticize legacy media outlets like @nytimes.com for platforming antiscience and, in particular, engaging in performative neutrality where fringe views are presented as if they deserve consideration.

From today: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...

The U.S.-Iran War Is Illegal. Here’s Why That Matters. If this war continues without accountability, it threatens even more dire consequences in years ahead.

"President Trump did not even consult with Congress before attacking Iran, let alone receive a congressional declaration of or even authorization for war."

Phyllis Bennis on the illegal war against Iran.

‘We watched them die before our eyes’: Sudan health workers helpless amid medical shortages As violence forces tens of thousands to flee Sudan’s South Kordofan state, doctors in a key maternity hospital are facing impossible choices – with too few supplies, too many patients, and lives slipping away.

‘We watched them die before our eyes’: #Sudan health workers helpless amid medical shortages

Health workers are forced to make life-and-death decisions not based on medical need but on what few supplies they have, watching preventable deaths unfold in real time.

The Inter-American Development Bank Invest Talks Growth–but Ignores People Bearing the Cost MEXICO CITY, April 3 (IPS) - In Asunción, Paraguay last month, finance ministers, central bank presidents, and private sector leaders gathered for the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Annual Meetings to talk about growth.

The Inter-American Development Bank Invest Talks Growth–but Ignores People Bearing the Cost

Indigenous and rural communities that bear environmental and health costs of damaging projects reveals whose prosperity actually counts in the development agenda.

Iran War: What African Countries Can do to Get Through the Crisis and Emerge in a Better Place JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 3 (IPS) - By Easter 2026 it was still not clear when – or how – the war initiated by Israel and the US against Iran would end. But what was already clear was that it would harm Africa in a number of ways.

Iran War: What African Countries Can do to Get Through the Crisis and Emerge in a Better Place

African nations face economic devastation from a crisis they didn't create, yet creditors demand payment while refusing the flexibility that could prevent humanitarian catastrophe across the continent.

Ugandan Farmers Sue EACOP in London in Last Minute Effort to Stop Crude Oil Pipeline NYAMTAI, Uganda, April 3 (IPS) - Environmental activists and farmer groups opposed to the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), the world’s longest heated oil pipeline, are mounting a last-ditch legal effort meant to stop its construction in a suit they plan to have filed in London, UK, believing that it stands a chance to stop the controversial project despite being at the 78 percent completion stage.

Ugandan Farmers Sue EACOP in London in Last Minute Effort to Stop Crude Oil Pipeline

Ugandan farmers are suing in London because their own governments partnered with TotalEnergies on a pipeline that will emit 58 times Uganda's annual emissions, leaving them legally powerless at home to stop it

Deminers race to keep up with military technology In conflict zones where new technologies are making landmines more dangerous, deminers must innovate at the same pace to avoid being left behind, a leading UN mines expert has told UN News.

Deminers race to keep up with military technology

As militaries deploy increasingly sophisticated mines faster than ever, the people tasked with removing them manually are struggling to keep pace with the deadly innovations they face

World News in Brief: South Sudan rights, opioid guidelines update, DR Congo crisis continues South Sudan is evolving into a catastrophic human rights and humanitarian crisis, UN Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts warned on Thursday.

World News in Brief: #SouthSudan rights, #opioid guidelines update, #DRCongo crisis continues

A decade of brutal civil war has left South Sudan in freefall, yet the international community struggles to hold those responsible accountable while millions face starvation and displacement

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

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

Humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding now for millions trapped in active conflict zones with nothing the international community can do to to stop Trump/Netanyahu to end the immediate suffering.

Iconic Andy Singer cartoon with a driver saying “Public Transit wastes money. It always has to be SUBSIDIZED!” He is surrounded by evidence that driving is heavily subsidized. In fact, investing in walking, biking, public transit, and housing for the otherwise homeless saves public money.

One of the biggest disinformation campaigns ever applied to cities involves the constant claims that “driving pays its way.” It’s actually MASSIVELY subsidized, while things like walking, biking, public transit & supportive housing for the unhoused actually SAVE PUBLIC MONEY. #UrbanTruth

Middle East crisis exposes global energy fault line as UN urges shift to renewables The ongoing crisis in the Middle East is exposing a central vulnerability in the global economy: the dependence on fossil fuels flowing through regions affected by conflict, a situation which is strengthening the UN’s case for a faster transition to cheaper, more resilient renewable power.

Middle East crisis exposes global energy fault line as UN urges shift to renewables

The world's addiction to Middle Eastern oil makes us hostage to regional conflicts and geopolitical power play. Fossil fuel interests block the renewable transition that could finally break that disastrous cycle