Synthetic drugs are rapidly transforming the global drug trade, fuelling an escalating public health crisis, according to the UN administered International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

Israel’s move to prevent all aid from entering the Gaza Strip after Hamas reportedly refused to accept a plan to continue with phase one of the fragile ceasefire has had an immediate impact, including a 100-fold increase in the price of flour and vegetables.

Dramatically evolving geopolitical tensions amid “dangerous nuclear rhetoric and threats” are a stark wake-up call for States to take action to support the legally binding atomic weapon ban treaty, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday.

In his latest address to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors on Monday, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned of the escalating nuclear safety risks in Ukraine as the conflict grinds on.

The booming ocean economy sustains hundreds of millions of people, but it is being squeezed dry by overfishing, pollution, climate change and waste, UN economists warned on Monday, in a call for smarter, more concerted action to protect the world’s vast marine spaces for future generations.

Gang violence, political instability and economic turmoil have displaced over 700,000 people in Haiti, forcing families from their homes with nothing but what they can carry; some 5.5 million people – half of Haiti’s population – rely on humanitarian aid to survive.