"Hunger is Tightening its Grip on Millions" - World Food Programme
From Gaza to Sudan, Haiti to Bangladesh, millions are starving—fueled by war, displacement, and indifference, warns the head of WFP USA.
A humanitarian tragedy unfolded in northern Gaza this week after a convoy of 25 World Food Programme (WFP) trucks delivering food to starving families came under fire. Civilians, who had gathered in desperation and hope, were killed and injured — simply for trying to eat. According to WFP USA President and CEO Barron Segar, images circulating on social media show blood splattered on UN-flagged trucks, a horrifying symbol of how aid has become a weapon of war. “This is not just heartbreaking — it’s outrageous,” Segar said. “It runs contrary to everything the UN stands for: neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence.”
The attack underscores a growing global crisis where conflict-fueled hunger is tightening its grip on millions — from Gaza and Sudan to Haiti and Bangladesh. And it’s not just civilians who are being targeted. WFP staff and other humanitarian workers are increasingly paying with their lives to deliver life-saving aid in the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. “This moment demands more than sorrow. It demands action,” Segar added. “We have the food. We have the teams. What we need is safe access — and your support.”
A doctor in Gaza says Palestinians are "not close to famine, we're living it", describing mass starvation across the region as "disastrous.” The UN warns the amount of aid reaching Gaza is "a trickle", saying "the hunger crisis in Gaza has never been so dire.” The Hamas-run health ministry says another two people have died of malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of such deaths to 113 since 7 October 2023. This week, more than 100 international aid organisations warned of mass starvation in Gaza, blaming an Israeli "siege.” Israel says 150 food trucks were collected by the UN and other agencies inside Gaza on Wednesday, adding that another 800 are waiting collection. Aid workers say Israel obstructs them from doing so - the UN says it has 6,000 trucks' worth of aid waiting to enter Gaza. BBC News and news agencies AFP, AP and Reuters warn that journalists in Gaza are at risk of starvation: "They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering"- BBC
VIDEO COMMENTARY: Gaza - the largest open crime scene in the world…
Thai officials said that nine Thai civilians had been killed after Cambodia and Thailand exchanged fire along their hotly contested border on Thursday, escalating a monthslong standoff between the two neighbors that contributed to the suspension of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Thailand. Shots were heard early Thursday morning near Prasat Ta Muen Thom, an ancient temple on the Thai side of the border whose ownership is disputed by the two countries. The Thai army said the Cambodian army had fired two Russian-made rockets into civilian areas of Surin province, killing one person and injuring at least three others. The Cambodian government has not commented on the civilian deaths. The standoff has brought Thai-Cambodian relations to their lowest point in decades. It was ignited in late May by a skirmish between Thai and Cambodian troops along the border, which led to the death of a Cambodian soldier. Tensions quickly worsened on Wednesday when a Thai soldier lost his right leg in a land mine explosion at the border. The Thai government downgraded its diplomatic relations with Cambodia, expelling Cambodia’s ambassador and recalling its own from Phnom Penh. Border tensions with Cambodia have also created a political crisis in Thailand. Last month, Hun Sen, a former prime minister of Cambodia who maintains a strong influence over the country’s politics, leaked a recording of a private phone call he had with Ms. Paetongtarn. The call caused an uproar in Thailand over Ms. Paetongtarn’s deferential tone to Mr. Hun Sen, whom she called uncle, and disparaging remarks she made about the Thai military. Earlier this month, Ms. Paetongtarn was suspended from office by the Constitutional Court while it reviewed a petition to permanently remove her from office - NYT
Cambodia is requesting that the United Nations Security Council convene an "urgent meeting" to stop the clashes. “Considering the recent extremely grave aggressions by Thailand, which have gravely threatened peace and stability in the region, I earnestly request you to convene an urgent meeting of the Security Council to stop Thailand's aggression," Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote to Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, the council's president, in a letter dated Thursday - BBC
U.S. Justice Department officials are set to meet on Thursday with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned girlfriend of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a person familiar with the matter. The meeting in Florida, which Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday he was working to arrange, is part of an ongoing Justice Department effort to cast itself as transparent following fierce backlash from parts of President Donald Trump’s base over an earlier refusal to release additional records in the Epstein investigation. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans quashed a Democratic bid to force greater disclosure of the Epstein files, notably, the first time many Republicans in the Senate had to take a stand on the issue. And, Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing Democratic calls to testify before Congress following a newspaper’s revelation that she told President Donald Trump that his name appeared in the files of the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation. - AP
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a new draft law to parliament, seeking to guarantee the independence and necessary powers of the country’s two anti-corruption authorities as he scrambled to respond to growing criticism of the “reform” passed earlier this week. The Guardian reported that the move comes after another evening of protests across Ukraine and his consultation with European leaders, including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK prime minister Keir Starmer. Separately, there was a massive overnight Russian drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, and other strikes on Kostiantynivka and Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, which killed at least two and injured over 40, officials said. In Odesa, the largest public market, Pryvoz, was badly damaged - as well as a large apartment building, port facilities and critical infrastructure.
Five Australian women who were strip-searched and invasively examined at Doha airport have won the right to sue Qatar Airways after an appeal. The women were ordered off a flight and checked for whether they had given birth after a baby was found abandoned in an airport bin in 2020 - an incident that sparked global outrage. An Australian judge last year found the state-owned airline could not be prosecuted under the laws governing global travel, and said the proposition its staff could have intervened was "fanciful, trifling, implausible, improbable, [and] tenuous". The women appealed, with the full bench of the Federal Court finding the primary judge erred in throwing out the case - BBC
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