More than 100 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed and dozens of others injured since dawn on Saturday as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
United Nations leaders and agencies have welcomed the entry of a humanitarian aid convoy into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt but noted that it is only a small beginning, still far from enough and reiterated their appeal for an immediate ceasefire.
Announcing a partnership between the UN World Food Programme and the Millenia Villages Project, WFP chief Josette Sheeran said, "Hunger is on the march and is right now the most threatening Millennium Development Goal".
According to an official statement by the Committee, the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 has been decided to be given to the World Food Programme "for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict."
World Food Programme executive director Josette Sheeran said the organisation is hoping to reach 108 million people in 74 countries this year with food aid, but the UN body expects to receive only $3.7 billion of the $6.7 billion needed for 2009.
The guidelines note that while there is not enough evidence yet to measure the impact of school closures on the disease transmission rates, the adverse effects of school closures on children's safety and learning are well documented. Gains made in increasing access to children's education in recent decades risk being lost and, in the worse cases, reversed completely.
WFP is calling for further support to alleviate world hunger, as the G-8 summit gathers this week in L'Aquila, Italy, to discuss the global food security crisis, UN spokeswoman, Michele Montas, told reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
India has expressed concern that foreign fighters involved in the conflict in Syria have moved to other places as mercenaries, as New Delhi underlined that it is ready to play a constructive role in the Security Council to help realise the objective of the West Asian country reclaiming its place in the comity of nations.
Six months after Nepal was devastated by a massive earthquake, relief efforts are literally running out of steam as weeks of protests against a new constitution have led to a critical shortage of fuel. Naomi Mihara reports on how NGOs are racing against time to reach aid to the people before winter sets in.
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