Over 60 per cent of the Arab world still outside the banking system
Between 2016 and 2024, the number of Egyptians with a bank account – which experts say is essential for financial inclusion – tripled, from 17.1 million to over 51 million.
News
UN needed ‘more than ever before’ says Germany’s candidate to head General Assembly
The former Foreign Minister of Germany outlined her vision for the role of UN General Assembly President, pledging to make the world body more effective, inclusive and focused on results.
‘The world is failing its health checkup,’ says WHO
In just two years, between 2019 and 2021, life expectancy worldwide fell by 1.8 years – the largest fall in recent history according to the World Health Organization (WHO), in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Libya’s fragile peace tested again as new clashes roil Tripoli
A fragile calm has settled over Tripoli after a sudden surge of violence this week left parts of the city in ruins, claimed civilian lives, and heightened concerns about the stability of Libya’s already fragile political and security situation.
A historic course correction: how the world’s shipping sector is setting sail for net zero
Long overlooked as a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, the shipping industry is now at the forefront of a unique display of international cooperation. The shift signals that even the world’s largest transport sector can be steered toward climate accountability.
8 million teens in world’s wealthiest countries functionally illiterate: UNICEF
Children in many of the world’s wealthiest countries saw marked declines in their academic performance, mental wellbeing, and physical health as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report published by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday.
In Berlin, broad backing for UN peacekeeping as global threats mount
More than 130 countries and international partners threw their weight behind UN peacekeeping at a high-level ministerial summit in Berlin on Wednesday, pledging military, tech and political support.
UN aid office denounces attacks on Gaza hospital
The UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, underlined the need to protect civilians and healthcare facilities in the Gaza Strip in a renewed appeal on Wednesday.
‘Politically unacceptable, morally repugnant’: UN chief calls for global ban on ‘killer robots’
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has once again called for a global ban on lethal autonomous weapon systems – machines capable of taking human lives without human oversight – describing them as “politically unacceptable” and “morally repugnant.”
Funding cuts in Afghanistan mean ‘lives lost and lives less lived’
In a remote village clinic in the Bamyan Province in Afghanistan last week, a group of teenage girls were given potentially life-saving reproductive health advice, excited by the small kit of menstrual supplies they had been given.
US-Houthi ceasefire ‘a welcome opportunity’ to advance peace efforts in Yemen
The ceasefire between the United States and Houthi rebels in Yemen provides an opportunity to revitalize the peace process in the Middle Eastern country, the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday.
World News in Brief: Sudan refugees, aid for Syrian returnees, MERS alert in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela urged to end secret detentions
More than 40,000 Sudanese have fled to eastern Chad in the past month to escape intensifying violence in Darfur.