logo
Global acute hunger hits new high, 2025 outlook ‘bleak': report

Global acute hunger hits new high, 2025 outlook ‘bleak': report

PARIS: More than 295 million people faced acute hunger last year, a new high driven by conflict along with other crises — and the outlook is 'bleak' for 2025 as humanitarian aid falters, a UN-backed report said Friday.
It was the sixth consecutive annual increase in the number of people hit with 'high levels' of acute food insecurity, according to the Global Report on Food Crises.
A total of 295.3 million people endured acute hunger last year — almost a quarter of the population in 53 of the 65 countries analysed for the report.
This was up from 281.6 million people in 2023, according to the report, which is drafted by a consortium of international organisations and NGOs.
The number of people facing famine reached 1.9 million, more than double from the previous year, according to the report.
A food security monitor warned on Monday that Gaza was at a 'critical risk of famine' after more than two months of an Israeli aid blockade.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy
26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy

Express Tribune

time3 days ago

  • Express Tribune

26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy

At least 26 migrants died Wednesday when two boats sank off the coast of Italy's Lampedusa island on Wednesday. Photo REUTERS At least 26 migrants died Wednesday when two boats sank off the coast of Italy's Lampedusa island, with around 10 others still missing, the coastguard and UN officials said. Around 60 people were rescued after the sinkings in the central Mediterranean, a stretch between North Africa and Italy described by the UN as the world's most dangerous sea crossing for migrants. The two boats had left Tripoli, Libya, earlier in the day, according to the Italian coastguard. It said one of the boats started taking on water, causing people to climb onto the other boat, which itself then capsized. "Currently 60 people have been rescued and disembarked in Lampedusa, and (there are) at least 26 victims. The toll is still provisional and being updated," the coastguard said in a statement. Italy's Red Cross, which manages Lampedusa's migrant reception centre, said the survivors included 56 men and four women, updating a previous toll of 22 dead. Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman for the UN's migration agency (IOM), said around 95 people had been on the two boats. Given how many had been saved, "approximately 35 victims are feared dead or missing", he wrote on social media. Among the first to be transported to the Lampedusa mortuary were the bodies of a newborn, three children, two men and two women, according to Italy's ANSA news agency. Lampedusa, just 90 miles (145 kilometres) off the coast of Tunisia, is often the first port of call for people trying to reach Europe in leaky or overcrowded boats. In recent years, Italian authorities have sought to intercept the boats at sea before they arrive. It was a helicopter from Italy's financial police that spotted a capsized boat and several bodies in the water on Wednesday, about 14 nautical miles off Lampedusa, the coastguard said. Five vessels were searching for survivors, including one from the EU's Frontex border agency, alongside a helicopter and two aircraft, it said. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her "deepest condolences" to the victims and vowed to step up efforts to tackle migrant traffickers.

At least 20 dead in shipwreck off Italy's Lampedusa
At least 20 dead in shipwreck off Italy's Lampedusa

Express Tribune

time4 days ago

  • Express Tribune

At least 20 dead in shipwreck off Italy's Lampedusa

At least 20 migrants died after a boat overturned in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, with many more still missing, the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) said. "Deep anguish for the umpteenth shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa, where UNHCR is now assisting the survivors. It looks to be 20 bodies found and as many missing," wrote the agency's spokesman, Filippo Ungaro, on social media. Italian news agency Radio Radicale said the boat had been carrying 97 people when it shipwrecked 14 miles southwest of Lampedusa. Details remained sketchy but Save the Children Italy said that a baby girl, aged one-and-a-half, appeared to be lost in the shipwreck. Read More: Aid queues turn deadly as 73 killed in Gaza in one day RaiRadio1 reported between 12 and 17 migrants missing, and said that 60 survivors had been transported to safety on the island. The boat, which had already overturned, was spotted from the air by a plane from Italy's financial police, it said. Migrants heading to Italy from North Africa often cross in leaky or overcrowded boats via the central Mediterranean route, one of the world's deadliest, and arrive in Lampedusa. The UNHCR said Wednesday there have been 675 migrant deaths on the central Mediterranean route so far this year. As of Wednesday, 38,263 migrants have arrived on Italy's shores this year, according to the interior ministry.

Israeli strikes kill 26 in Gaza, including 14 near aid distribution site
Israeli strikes kill 26 in Gaza, including 14 near aid distribution site

Express Tribune

time05-08-2025

  • Express Tribune

Israeli strikes kill 26 in Gaza, including 14 near aid distribution site

A Palestinian mourns a relative, who was killed while seeking aid at the Zikim crossing, ahead of their funeral at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on August 5, 2025. Gaza's civil defence agency said 26 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on August 5, including 14 who were waiting near an aid distribution site inside the Palestinian territory. PHOTO: AFP Listen to article Gaza's civil defence agency said 26 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Tuesday, including 14 who were waiting near an aid distribution site inside the Palestinian territory. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that eight people were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid near the south Gaza city of Khan Yunis. Six more people were killed and 21 injured by Israeli fire in central Gaza while waiting for food near a distribution centre, according to Bassal. The Israeli army told AFP it was looking into the incidents. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. Thousands of Gazans gather daily near food distribution points across Gaza, including four belonging to the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect rations. Read More: Pakistan sends 28th aid shipment to Gaza Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods and aid into Gaza since the start of the war nearly 22 months ago have led to shortages of food and essential goods, including medicine, medical supplies and fuel, which hospitals rely on to power their generators. Bassal said that five people were killed by a nightly air strike on a tent in Al-Mawasi in south Gaza, an area Israeli authorities designated as a safe zone early on in the war. "It's said to be a green zone and it's safe, but it's not. They also say that the aid (distribution) is safe, but people die while obtaining aid," said Adham Younes, who lost a relative in the strike. Also Read: Israel mulls seizing entire Gaza "There's no safety within the Gaza Strip, everyone is exposed to death, everyone is subject to injury," the 30-year-old told AFP. Mahmud Younes, another Gazan who said he witnessed the strike, said: ""We found women screaming -- they were covered in blood. The entire family has been injured." Bassal of the civil defence agency said that six more people were killed in a strike near Gaza City, and one in a strike near the southern city of Khan Yunis. The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing and the largest armed force in Gaza, said in a statement Tuesday that they had bombarded an Israeli command-and-control centre in south Gaza's Morag Axis, an Israeli-controlled corridor.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store