32 h. ago Rising poverty in conflict zones ‘causes a billion people to go hungry’

In first assessment since pandemic in 2020, World Bank urges other countries to step up supportExtreme poverty is accelerating in 39 countries affected by war and conflict, leaving more than a billion people to go hungry, according to the World Bank.Civil wars and confrontations between nations, mostly in Africa, have set back economic growth and reduced the incomes of more than a billion people, “driving up extreme poverty faster than anywhere else”, the Washington-based body said. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Family hubs offering support to those in crisis reduced by more than a third

Child poverty levels have risen by more than 15 per cent to include over a third of children

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8 d. ago Stunning map shows the lengths pilots go through to avoid conflict zones

As the Russia-Ukraine war rages on and the Israel-Iran conflict intensifies, the world has become more chaotic, and so has its airspace

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8 d. ago Children suffered record levels of violence in conflict zones in 2024, UN report shows

Surge in violations to more than 40,000 – the highest since records began in 1996 – must serve as a ‘wake-up call’A record number of children were subjected to acts of violence in conflict zones in 2024, with the number of incidents recorded rising by 25%, according to a UN report.The UN security council’s annual report on children and armed conflict found 22,495 children in 2024 were killed, wounded, denied humanitarian support or recruited for conflict. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Britain has escalated the global nuclear arms race – and is bringing us closer to armageddon | Simon Tisdall

The UK’s strategic defence review risks normalising nuclear warfare. Don’t believe the PR hype: these weapons are immoral, irrational and catastrophicPlans by Keir Starmer’s government to modernise and potentially expand Britain’s nuclear weapons arsenal, unveiled in the 2025 strategic defence review (SDR), seriously undermine international non-proliferation efforts. They will fuel a global nuclear arms race led by the US, China and Russia. And they increase the chances that lower-yield, so-called tactical nukes will be deployed and detonated in conflict zones.This dangerous path leads in one direction only: towards the normalisation of nuclear warfare.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

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3 w. ago ‘These are traps set for the people’: the story of a mother shot dead searching for food in Gaza

A family is reeling from the killing of a woman who walked for hours to an Israeli-backed distribution point with her son and daughterReem Zeidan was terrified of being separated from her children. As they trudged for hours through the ruins of Gaza towards a food distribution centre, she rehearsed over and over again with her 20-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son what they should do and where they should wait if an Israeli attack turned the column of hungry people into a chaotic, panicking mass and the family were torn apart.It was the last conversation she had with them. She was dead before dawn broke on Tuesday, killed by a single bullet through her forehead. Her daughter and son spent nearly three hours beside her body, pinned down by gunfire. Continue reading...

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last month Aïda Muluneh on capturing the UK’s contradictions: ‘It’s hard to imagine there are people going hungry’

For her latest exhibition, the Ethiopian photographer drove a minivan around the country, resulting in images that explore identity, gender and conflict. ‘It was a crash course in history,’ she saysGrowing up, Aïda Muluneh moved around a lot. She was born in Ethiopia, but also lived in Yemen, Cyprus, Canada and, for a short time, England. There was a spell in Sunderland for about eight months when she was six: “My mother was dating a guy from the UK,” she says. “I have very distinct memories of England. I went to school briefly, but I didn’t really speak any English. I remember the cold and the grey skies.”More than 40 years later, Muluneh returns to the UK, invited by Impressions Gallery to make new work across Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow for this year’s UK City of Culture programme. Comprising 22 images, The Necessity of Seeing was made over a month-long road trip. She crammed all her equipment into two cars and a minivan, along with a mobile studio, painted backdrops a...

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