The EU’s accessibility act came into force in June, ensuring that key products and services – such as phones, computers, TVs, banking and payment services, public transport, e-commerce platforms – are accessible to persons with disabilities. Some 100 million people in the EU live with a disability.
The EU’s accessibility act came into force in June, ensuring that key products and services – such as phones, computers, TVs, banking and payment services, public transport, e-commerce platforms – are accessible to persons with disabilities. Some 100 million people in the EU live with a disability. Source link
The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) has launched a Call for Expression of Interest to recruit three new Programme Managers and to establish a reserve list for future opportunities. This is your chance to contribute directly to Europe’s strategic innovation agenda.
Programme Managers at the EIC lead breakthrough initiatives in emerging deep tech domains, collaborating with Europe’s most talented researchers and innovators. Their work supports the development and implementation of high-risk, high-impact projects that aim to deliver transformative solutions for Europe’s technological and societal challenges.
The current call is open to top-level experts with strong scientific, technological, or innovation experience in the following six thematic areas:
Successful candidates will join a dynamic team of EIC Programme Managers, each overseeing portfolios in strategically important fields. Their role includes setting ambitious technology visions, identifying future trends, and ensuring impactful results from supported projects.
EISMEA is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and welcomes applications from candidates of all backgrounds.
Deadline for applications: 26 September 2025, 12:00 (Brussels time).
Call for expression of interest – EIC Programme Managers
Without fuel, many basic facilities cannot function, from water treatment plants to medical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Gazans now on the brink of famine have been reduced to taking desperate measures in their search for food, scouring the roads taken by aid convoys, UN aid worker Olga Cherevko told UN News.
“While we were driving, I saw an elderly man on the side of the road completely alone, kneeling down, and he was picking up handfuls of lentils that had spilled on the ground from one of the previous convoys that had been passing.” she said.
“He was picking them up with his hands and just putting them into his t-shirt as this is obviously the only option he has right now to find food, because this is how desperate the situation has become.”
Latest reports from Gaza indicate that mothers who are unable to breastfeed because they are not eating enough now feed their babies ground chickpeas, bread and rice, which are not suitable for infants.
In a social media post, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stressed that “this is a condition that we can prevent”, calling for increased humanitarian access.
Separately, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized that “the health needs in Gaza are immense. A continuous flow of medical supplies is critical.”
Meanwhile, health workers on Wednesday reported that at least 50 Gazans were killed and 400 others injured while waiting for food near Zikim crossing in the north.
Ms. Cherevko – who works with the UN aid coordination office, OCHA – explained that her mission to Kerem Shalom on Thursday morning had been delayed at a “holding point” for two hours before being allowed to proceed to the crossing point separating Gaza from Israel.
Although the fuel supplies are welcome, they are far from enough, she insisted.
“We need hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel to be entering every day so that we can power even the most basic of our facilities to power, water, sanitation, healthcare, emergency telecommunications, and other critical facilities that our life effectively,” she said.
The announcement of daytime military pauses by Israel last weekend appears to have slightly reduced the amount of time aid convoys now wait for permission to proceed, the OCHA worker noted.
There has also been a “slight reduction” in security incidents involving Gazans taking food from UN trucks, she said.
In its latest update on the emergency, OCHA said that four days since the start of tactical pauses declared by Israel, “we are still seeing casualties among those seeking aid, and more deaths due to hunger and malnutrition… Unilateral tactical pauses alone do not allow for the continuous flow of supplies required to meet immense needs levels in Gaza.”
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its July 2025 Insurance Risk Dashboard based on Q1 2025 Solvency II data and Q2 2025 market data. The main findings show that risks in the European insurance sector are stable at a medium level. However, some areas have a negative outlook for the next 12 months, marked by geopolitical tensions, uncertain trade dynamics, and market volatility.
The macroeconomic risks remain at medium level, even though lower inflation forecasts have coincided with modest downward revisions in global GDP. A temporary pause in tariff escalation and ongoing trade negotiations have offered partial relief, but uncertainty persists. Declines in long-term interest rates and monetary policy rates, coupled with slight fiscal deterioration across major economies, have done little to improve the overall risk sentiment. The recent conflict escalation in the Middle East and unclear trade outcomes continue to weigh on the outlook.
Credit risks remain stable, with minimal movements in risk premia and largely unchanged insurer investment allocations. Credit quality remains high, and household debt registered a slight drop in the euro area.
Market risks, however, continue to be a cause for concern, particularly due to persistent volatility in fixed income markets and a potential disconnect between equity valuations and underlying fundamentals. Insurers’ asset exposures have remained broadly stable, while commercial real estate values continue to lag behind the recovery seen in residential properties.
Liquidity and funding risks are also stable, but reflect mixed signals. While cash flow sustainability has improved, a deterioration in liquid asset ratios and persistently high lapse rates remain potential vulnerabilities.
Solvency and profitability indicators held up in early 2025, with strong capitalisation across the sector. While returns on assets and premiums improved, other profitability metrics saw slight declines. Non-life underwriting results strengthened, while life investment returns were stable.
Financial interlinkages risks remain largely unchanged. Insurers’ exposures to banks, sovereign debt, and financial markets are steady, though the share of premiums ceded to reinsurers has slightly increased.
Insurance-specific risks are stable at medium level, supported by robust year-on-year premium growth in life and non-life business lines and an improved loss ratio in Q1 2025.
Market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic with the sector being perceived as relatively safe during recent market turbulence. While life insurance stocks underperformed, non-life insurers posted stronger results. Credit Default Swap spreads narrowed, though elevated valuations and geopolitical risks could still trigger repricing in the near term.
ESG risks are stable, though trending upward. Exposure to green bonds increased, while their holdings of broader climate-relevant assets slightly declined. Physical climate risks, particularly windstorms, remained constant.
Cyber and digitalisation risks are gaining prominence, with an increased perceived likelihood of incidents and growing concerns around IT system vulnerabilities.
The insurance sector has shown notable overall resilience, but close monitoring and continued vigilance are necessary as geopolitical, market and operational risks continue to evolve.
Background
This Insurance Risk Dashboard, based on Solvency II data, summarises the main risks and vulnerabilities in the European insurance sector through a set of risk indicators from the first quarter of 2025 and end-2024. The data is based on financial stability and prudential reporting collected from 96 insurance groups and 2116 solo insurance undertakings. The Solvency II information is complemented with market data with cut-off date end-June 2025.
EMSA has published the third, fourth, and fifth parts of its study series on the safety of ammonia as a fuel in shipping. The overall aim of the study – which started in 2023 – is to assess the safety of the use of ammonia in the maritime industry, with the first part of the […]
THE High -level international conference for peaceful regulation of the Palestine issue and the implementation of the two -state solution took place in New York from July 28 to 30.
The United States and Israel have not participated.
Saudi France and Arabia, conference co-presidents, have called on all UN member states to support a declaration of collective action to end the war in Gaza and to carry out a just, peaceful and sustainable settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
THE New York Declaration on the peaceful regulation of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two -state solution Describes political, humanitarian and security measures to take on a temporal and irreversible basis.
The co -chairs urged the countries to approve the declaration by the end of the 79th session of the General Assembly, in early September, if they wanted it.
In his Stark Opening remarks Monday, Secretary General Guterres stressed that the two -state solution is the only viable path To end the longtime conflict and reach lasting peace in the region, warning that there is no alternative.
“A reality to a state where Palestinians are refused equal and forced rights to live under perpetual occupation and inequalities? A reality with a single state where the Palestinians are expelled from their land? It is not peace. It is not justice. And it’s not acceptable, “he said.
He condemned the attack on October 7, 2023 of Hamas and the extent of Israel’s military response, reiterating his appeal to an immediate and permanent cease-fire, the unconditional release of hostages and without hindrance.
“This conflict cannot be managed. It must be resolved, ”concluded Mr. Guterres. “We have to act before it is too late.”
Secretary -General António Guterres addresses the high -level conference on the peaceful regulation of the Palestine issue and the implementation of the two -state solution.
During the three days, more than 125 speakers took the floor during the general debate, including high-level representatives from around the world and the main regional and international organizations such as the Islamic Cooperation Organization (OCI) and the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC).
The delegates underlined the urgency of the concrete stages to carry out a solution to two states, emphasizing the need to empower and reform the Palestinian authority, to rebuild Gaza and to guarantee responsibility for violations of international law.
France, which co -chaired the conference, recalled its support for Israel when it joined the community of nations and said that the Palestinians deserve the same right to a homeland.
“At a time when the two-state solution is more threatened than ever, France is ready to fully recognize the state of Palestine,” said Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs. This recognition, he added, comes in September when the leaders meet for the 80th session of the General Assembly.
The Minister of Saudi Affairs, Coprés, Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, underlined the suffering of thousands of civilians in Gaza under bombing, while Israeli establishments develop in Jerusalem and in the West Bank to modify the demographic nature of the region.
“Peace and security do not take place through the deprivation of rights or strength,” he said, stressing the need for an authentic and irreversible peace process.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Lammy, of the United Kingdom, deals with the high-level conference.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, David Lammy, described recent actions in the United Kingdom-in particular the suspension of arms exports and sanctions against extremist colonists, and the restoration of the funding of the United Nations Agence on Rescue and Works for Palestinian refugees.
“It is with the hand of history on our shoulders that the government of His Majesty therefore intends to recognize the state of Palestine when the General Assembly of the United Nations is gathered in September here in New York,” he said.
“We will do so unless the Israeli government agrees to end the appalling situation in Gaza, ends its military campaign and is committed to long -term lasting peace on the basis of a two -state solution.”
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
The cancellation of most US funding in January means many services to the most vulnerable people have been cut or put on hold.
Multiple political, security and socioeconomic crises have led to 5.7 million people suffering from a lack of food and have forced 1.3 million people to flee their homes.
With a dramatic reduction in funding, Haiti faces a crucial “turning point”.
UN News spoke to OCHA’s country director, Modibo Traore, about the current situation.
Modibo Traore: Humanitarian funding in Haiti is going through a critical phase, marked by a growing gap between the needs and available resources. As of 1 July, only around 8 per cent of the $908 million required had been mobilised.
This partial coverage only allows a fraction of the 3.6 million people targeted to be reached.
UN aid agencies continue to support Haitian people with humanitarian aid.
The sectors most affected are food security, access to drinking water, primary healthcare, education and protection.
This contraction in international support is part of a global context of multiple competing crises – Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan – but also reflects a loss of political interest in the Haitian issue.
Modibo Traore: The growing humanitarian needs observed in Haiti are the result of an accumulation of structural and cyclical factors. On the socioeconomic front, multidimensional poverty affects a large part of the population.
Haiti’s exposure to natural hazards is an aggravating factor.
The country has experienced several major hurricanes that struck the southern region less than a week after an earthquake that severely affected the area, not to mention repeated droughts that have had a major impact on agriculture and livestock farming.
The downtown area of Port-au-Prince remains extremely dangerous due to gang activity.
Since 2019, a new dimension has emerged: chronic insecurity caused by the proliferation of armed groups, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and now in the Centre and Artibonite departments.
In 2024, the multidimensional crisis that has been shaking Haiti for years has become catastrophic.
The level of violence and insecurity remains high, with devastating consequences for the population, including massive displacement of people who were already in vulnerable situations.
Modibo Traore: The rise of armed groups in Haiti and their increasing control of strategic locations, particularly major roads and ports of entry to the capital, is a major obstacle to the safe and efficient delivery of humanitarian aid.
This dynamic has an impact on the risk perception of international donors, who now assess Haiti as a high-threat environment for intervention. Access to beneficiaries has become irregular in many areas.
The deterioration of the security situation represents a major challenge for mobilising and maintaining financial commitments.
Donors have expressed concerns about operational risks, particularly regarding securing supply chains, preventing exploitation and ensuring accountability.
The operational cost of aid has also increased.
Modibo Traore: On 20 January 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14169, which imposed an immediate suspension of all new foreign funding by US federal agencies, including humanitarian programs run by USAID and multilateral partners.
In the case of Haiti, the effects were felt through the sudden halt of approximately 80 per cent of US-funded programmes. NGO partner staff were laid off, payments were suspended and supply chains were disrupted.
US food aid is prepared for delivery following floods in Haiti in 2022.
Beyond the structural effects, this suspension created profound uncertainty in the Haitian humanitarian system. This situation not only weakened the continuity of essential services, but also affected trust between beneficiary communities and humanitarian actors.
Modibo Traore: The year 2025 marks a turning point in humanitarian aid in Haiti. This crisis is not the result of a single or isolated event, but rather a series of deteriorating situations in the context of gradually waning international attention.
The interruption of US programmes has acted as a catalyst for the crisis. USAID’s technical partners, many of whom managed community health programmes in vulnerable neighbourhoods, have ceased operations, depriving hundreds of thousands of people of vital services.
US-co-funded health centres have closed, leaving pregnant women and children without assistance.
The current crisis demonstrates the country’s growing isolation.
While previous crises had prompted rapid international solidarity, the humanitarian response to the situation in 2025 has been slow and partial.
Modibo Traore: The interruption of funding has forced humanitarian organizations to make ethically complex and often painful trade-offs.
In the area of protection, for example, safe spaces for women and girls have been drastically reduced.
The long-term development of Haiti is at risk as funding decreases.
Cash transfer programmes, widely used in urban areas since 2021, have also been suspended. These programmes enabled vulnerable households to maintain a minimum level of food security. Their suspension has led to a resurgence of coping mechanisms such as child labour, less food and children being taken out of school.
Resilience-building activities have also been affected. Programmes combining food security, urban agriculture, and access to water, often co-financed by USAID and UN funds, have been frozen.
This compromises not only the immediate response, but also the development of medium-term solutions.
Modibo Traore: Children are among the hardest hit. UNICEF and its partners have treated more than 4,600 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, representing only 3.6 per cent of the 129,000 children expected to need treatment this year.
The proportion of institutional maternal deaths has also increased from 250 to 350 per 100,000 live births between February 2022 and April 2025.
A survivor of rape rests at a site for internally displaced people in Port-au-Prince.
In terms of security, the effects are equally worrying. Gender-based sexual violence (GBV) has increased in neighbourhoods controlled by armed groups.
In short, the withdrawal of US funding has led to a multidimensional regression in the rights of women and girls in Haiti, with consequences that are likely to last for several years.
Modibo Traore: Beneficiaries expressed a sense of despair at the sudden suspension of the services.
In working-class neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince as well as in remote rural areas, the cessation of food distribution, community healthcare and cash transfers was experienced as a breach of the moral contract between communities and humanitarian institutions.
Humanitarian partners communicate transparently about the reduction of support, so communities are, to some extent, aware of the financial constraints.
Europe is already the fastest-warming continent and temperatures have once again topped 42° this summer. It’s no wonder we’re tempted to switch on the air conditioning — but the hotter we get and the more we crank up the air–con, the more the world heats up.
With the number of room air conditioners (RACs) in the EU predicted to rise from less than 7 million in 1990 to more than 100 million in 2030, conventional space cooling only adds to the problem. That’s especially true in cities, where air conditioning can significantly worsen the urban heat island effect — one study in Paris found it could increase outside temperatures by up to 4°C.
Currently, around 99% of all RACs in Europe use energy-hungry, inefficient vapour compression technology and refrigerants with a global warming potential up to 10 000 times higher than CO2.
The €2.1 million, 3-year CoolLIFE project aims to break this vicious circle by reducing space cooling needs, improving energy efficiency, increasing the use of renewable energy and promoting new cooling technologies.
‘There’s a lack of data, information and awareness among both professionals and householders about natural, passive and free space cooling including nature-based solutions,’ says CoolLIFE project coordinator Simon Pezzutto. ‘Space cooling demand in Europe has been steadily increasing for decades and is expected to accelerate in the future. We urgently need efficient and sustainable cooling solution to meet this demand.’
The project has 2 main strands: the CoolLIFE tool — which maps space cooling demand across the EU, with data on comfort levels, lifestyle and user behaviour in different countries, regions and cities — and the CoolLIFE knowledge hub, a digital gateway to space cooling-related data, resources and financing schemes. The CoolLIFE tool has already been tested in 3 municipalities across northern, central and southern Europe, and this year the project launched the CoolLiving campaign with advice on how Europeans can stay cool this summer, including top 5 tips to deal with heatwaves and growing indoor plants to keep your home cool.
But the biggest challenge remains the construction of new buildings and the renovation of existing ones to ensure they are cool and comfortable without adding to climate change. ‘New buildings can be designed to limit their cooling needs, they can favour alternatives to air conditioning systems,’ says Jean-Sébastien Broc from the Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy (IEECP), one of the project partners. ‘One solution to reduce the cost of implementing measures in existing buildings can be to incorporate actions to reduce cooling needs into planned renovation projects.’
The CoolLIFE project was tested in various EU countries, and the results indicate a significant increase in space cooling demand by 2050, along with rising energy costs and a need for targeted policy measures. For example, in Austria:
CoolLIFE is one of hundreds of LIFE projects dedicated to mitigating the impacts of climate change and helping EU citizens adapt to global heating. The project is aligned with the goals of the European Green Deal, EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, 2050 Long-term Climate Strategy and the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. It also supports the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Fit for 55 package and the Renewable Energy Directive.
The clashes intensified in the city of Mahas in the Hiraan region, in the state of Hirshabelle, on July 26, forcing the whole population – more than 28,000 people – to flee their homes.
38,000 other people were moved to the Gedo region, in the state of Jubaland, between July 23 to 26, some of which crossed Kenya.
Safety problems have forced seven health establishments in the Hiraan region to suspend operations, leaving thousands of people without essential health care and emergency services. Humanitarian access has also been limited, especially in areas that were already difficult to reach.
Ochha note that only a limited number of aid partners is able to operate in these places given insecurity as well as financial constraints. Meanwhile, affected communities need urgent shelter, food, clean water, health care and protection.
The situation takes place while aid agencies struggle with serious financing cuts. A humanitarian plan of $ 1.4 billion for Somalia this year is funded by around 16%, with $ 229 million received to date.
Cholera continues to have an impact on the fragile public health system in Haiti, especially in sites hosting displaced people where there is limited access to water and sanitation in complete safety.
The country of the Caribbean is confronted with several political, security and socio-economic crises, including an activity of creeping gangs mainly in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said that between July 13 and 19, 34 new suspicious cases of cholera had been reported in six of the country’s 10 departments. Most were linked to travel sites.
Five hot shots of active transmission have been identified, notably in Port-au-Prince and in the northern regions.
Since December 2024, more than 2,800 suspicious cases of cholera have been recorded across Haiti, with 91 cases confirmed in the laboratory and 36 deaths.
Despite the financing of deficits, UN humanitarian partners continue to carry out key preventive and response to cholera.
Families from the Artibonite Department have received tables for purification of water and oral rehydration salt, for example, while the partners of the Haiti center installed hand washing stations and increased community awareness.
Secretary General António Guterres has appointed 25 Experts from a United Nations Committee to help countries design tax policies that advance their social, environmental and economic objectives.
THE Committee of United Nations Experts in International Cooperation in Tax Materials supports governments in the navigation of compromise of complex policy. His work offers countries practical options and tools based on real experiences of tax systems around the world.
The 25 experts, who will be used in the quarter 2025-2029, have diversified expertise in the design and administration of tax policy, as well as international tax cooperation.
They represent various geographic regions and tax systems, and the majority are women, reflecting the UN’s commitment to strengthen inclusiveness in fiscal leadership.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
