
The UN Spokesperson has welcomed the announcement on Friday by the Israeli cabinet that the Kerem Shalom border crossing into the Gaza Strip will be reopened.
Amidst a multitude of global crises and escalating of armed conflicts, small arms and light weapons remain a silent killer, having claimed over 260,000 lives during 2021, amounting to 45 per cent of all violent deaths.

NAIROBI, Dec 15 (IPS) - The world is not on track to end hunger and poverty as a future of growing food insecurity and climate challenges beckon. Small-scale farmers are the backbone of food production, producing one-third of the world’s food and up to 70 percent of the food consumed in Africa and Asia, yet they are often cut off from the services they need to pull themselves out of poverty and food insecurity.
Under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women reporting gender-based violence to the authorities may end up in prison – allegedly for the victims’ own protection.