Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The third edition of the World Sea Forum will kick off Wednesday in Bizerte, Tunisia, an official source told PANA here Full text...
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Egypt to market less cotton this year to decreased harvest
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Libyan minister meets international bodies to promote museums
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Lessons of Hamas operation against Israel, - Libyan newspaper,
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CFAF 15 billion already invested in Benin’s special employment integration programme
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Gaza: UN official warns of ’assault on dignity’ as blockade cripples humanitarian response Jonathan Whittall, Head of UN OCHA’s Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaks with journalists in Gaza. UN News Jonathan Whittall, Head of UN OCHA’s Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaks with journalists in Gaza. 26 April 2025 Humanitarian Aid Gaza City, Gaza (PANA) - The coming days in Gaza are set to be critical, the UN warned on Saturday, as humanitarian operations are severely curtailed amid an intensifying blockade, escalating violence, and soaring humanitarian needs. Speaking to journalists in Gaza City, Jonathan Whittall, local Head of Office for the UN aid coordination wing, OCHA, painted a dire picture of life under what he called a "total and complete blockade" now approaching its third month. "The coming days in Gaza are going to be critical. Today people are not surviving in Gaza, those that aren’t being killed with bombs and bullets are slowly dying," he said. Whittall stressed that humanitarian agencies are unable to meet the soaring needs of civilians due to the collapse of supply lines. Hospitals are overwhelmed, but medicines and equipment are running out. People are going hungry, but food warehouses are empty and bakeries are closing. Clean water is desperately needed, but water wells are inaccessible. He noted that solid waste is piling up in the streets with no equipment to remove it, and that rescue efforts after airstrikes are impossible without fuel and machinery. Displaced families are forced to live in rubble without shelter materials, and fishermen are being shot at sea, while humanitarian organisations lack the resources to assist them. "Nowhere in Gaza today is safe", he said. He added that children need to learn, but schools have been destroyed or are inaccessible, and that education supplies are not available. Prices of the remaining goods in Gaza continue to rise, but there is no cash available. There is no cooking gas or fuel, forcing families to burn trash to generate some energy. A war ’without any limits’ "This is not only about humanitarian needs, but it’s about dignity. There is an assault on people’s dignity in Gaza today," he warned. "We also know that humanitarian workers, first responders, you as journalists, should be protected, like all civilians, but we’re being killed in a war that appears to be fought without any limits," he added. Whittall emphasised that the situation in Gaza does not even resemble a war. "People in Gaza are telling me that they feel like it’s the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in plain sight, for all to see, documented every day by you as journalists," he said. He described the devastation witnessed daily — including children’s bodies thrown by explosions, families burnt alive, and colleagues killed — as part of what he termed "everyday atrocities." "As humanitarians we can see that aid is being weaponised through its denial," he warned. "There’s no justification for the denial of humanitarian assistance. And humanitarian aid should never be weaponised." Despite the catastrophic conditions, he stressed that humanitarian organisations are continuing to operate where possible, but "we have less and less and less supplies and less and less capacity to be able to meet the growing and growing needs that are intensifying across Gaza." "Lives depend on the blockade being lifted, on aid being allowed to enter into Gaza, on the ceasefire being reinstated," he said, calling for real accountability rather than waiting for history to judge the international community’s response. Hunger and malnutrition surging In a separate statement, OCHA warned of a “severe decline” in food availability across Gaza, as malnutrition rates escalate rapidly, particularly among children. A UN partner organisation recently screened around 1,300 children in northern Gaza and identified over 80 cases of acute malnutrition, representing more than double the rate recorded in previous weeks. "Nutrition partners report a critical shortage of supplies due to the obstruction of aid entry and challenges in transporting essential materials within Gaza," OCHA said. Access to key facilities, including UNICEF’s main warehouse in Rafah, remains heavily restricted. Journalists who visited the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) main warehouses this week found them largely empty of food supplies, including flour. Call for accountability and action "Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," UNRWA said in a separate statement, stressing that international law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, the obstruction of humanitarian assistance, and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure. The agency reiterated its call for a renewed ceasefire, the dignified release of all hostages, and the immediate, unhindered flow of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into Gaza. -0-PANA RA 27April2025
- Sports
Ghana girls, Tanzania boys crowned CAF African Schools Football champions
Botswana taking action on cruel elephant calf killing by local hunters
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - An elephant calf was cruelly killed by three suspects using dogs and stones on 6 Dec 2019 at Nokaneng village, close to the Namibia/Botswana border, according to investigations by Botswana's Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism Full text...
Professional hunters shoot and kill research elephant n Botswana
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana's Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism has received reports that a collared research male elephant was shot and killed Full text...
New Franco-South African laboratory set up in South Africa
Paris, France (PANA) - An International Research Laboratory Rehabs, a hub for innovative research on socio-ecosystems and the biosphere at the time of the Anthropocene was inaugurated Thursday in Port Elizabeth, PANA learnt from an official source Full text...
News Analysis: COP 25 to highlight role of Innovative Clean Development Mechanism for Africa
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - While the mobilization of climate finance for sustainable development remains key for African negotiators participating next week in the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 in Madrid, Spain, only few African countries are on the right track to establish innovative mechanisms and nationally-owned funds, analysts say Full text...
African development bank commits $25 billion for climate change finance by 2025
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has doubled its total climate change commitment to $25 billion between 2020 and 2025, official sources said here Saturday Full text...
African negotiators set for UN climate talks in Madrid next week
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - As the global climate emergency intensifies and greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow, a group of African negotiators will join representatives of governments from across the globe in Madrid for the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 from 2-13 December 2019 to take the next crucial steps in the UN climate change process Full text...
Religious leaders urged to make climate change an 'evangelical issue' in Rwanda
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwanda's deputy chief of the environment management body has called on local religious leaders to make climate change and environmental protection an "evangelical issue" Full text...
Rwanda wants its youth to be agents of change’ on climate action
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) director general Coletha Ruhamya on Wednesday underscored the important role the youth should play to gain insight into their perspective to ensure that social category is becoming increasingly ‘agents of change’ committed to the fight against global warming Full text...
South Africa to host 17th African ministerial session on environment
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - The 17th ordinary session of the African ministerial conference on environment (AMCEN) will be held from 11-15 November in the South African city of Durban on the theme “Taking Actions for the Sustainability of Environment and Prosperity in Africa” Full text...
''Earth Hour'' in Bizerte
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - As in all countries of the world, all lights will be turned off, Saturday between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm, in the vicinity of the old port of Bizerte (far north of Tunisia), on the occasion of the global event ''Earth Hour'' Full text...