Press briefing ahead of the Eurogroup meeting will take place on 17 June 2025 at 14.30.
Bulgarian insurance supervisor imposes temporary ban on some of the cross-border activities of ZAD DallBogg: Life and Health
On 10 June 2025, the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), the Bulgarian supervisory authority of the insurance sector, imposed a temporary ban on the provision of new and the extension of the term of existing cross-border products and services of ZAD DallBogg: Life and Health AD (ЗАД „ДаллБогг: Живот и Здраве“ АД) – under the freedom to provide services across the European Economic Area concerning all classes of insurance for an initial period of 3 months as of 1 July 2025.
The insurance business activities of ZAD DallBogg: Life and Health AD will continue as usual in all Member States until 30 June 2025 (incl).
FSC, as the home supervisory authority, is in close contact with ZAD DallBogg: Life and Health AD to ensure effective consumer protection and fair treatment of all policyholders. FSC is also working on defining the conditions that ZAD DallBogg: Life and Health AD would have to meet for therestriction to be lifted. All concerned National Competent Authorities are closely cooperating.
More details will be provided shortly.
This press release is also available in English and Bulgarian on FSC’s website.
Bulgarian insurance supervisor imposes temporary ban on some of the cross-border activities of ZAD DallBogg: Life and Health
On 10 June 2025, the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), the Bulgarian supervisory authority of the insurance sector, imposed a temporary ban on the provision of new and the extension of the term of existing cross-border products and services of ZAD DallBogg: Life and Health AD (ЗАД „ДаллБогг: Живот и Здраве“ АД) – under the freedom […]
EU member states agree to extend temporary protection for refugees from Ukraine
The Council reaches a political agreement about extending the temporary protection for more than 4 million Ukrainians who fled from Russia’s war of aggression. Source link
Israel-Iran crisis
Any military climbing in the Middle East should be censored, said the UN chief in a brief statement published by the office of his spokesperson. “He is particularly concerned about Israeli attacks on nuclear installations in Iran while the talks between Iran and the United States on the status of the Iranian nuclear program […]
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
Displacement doubles while funding shrinks, warns UNHCR
In December last year, the overthrow of the Assad regime by opposition forces reignited hope that most Syrians could see home again soon. As of May, 500,000 refugees and 1.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) returned to their areas of origin.
But that’s not the only reason Syria is no longer the largest displacement crisis in the world.
Sudan sets a grim record
More than two years of civil war in Sudan has seen it pass Syria with 14.3 million people displaced since April 2022, 11.6 million of whom are internally displaced – that’s one-third of the entire Sudanese population, representing the largest internal displacement crisis ever recorded.
The UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) latest report released Wednesday highlights the sheer scale of the problem, noting “untenably high” displacements – but it also contains “rays of hope,” despite the immediate impact of aid cuts in capitals around the world this year.
“We are living at a time of intense volatility in international relations, with modern warfare creating a fragile, harrowing landscape marked by acute human suffering,” said High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
A place to live in peace
By the end of 2024, 123.2 million people worldwide were displaced, representing a decade-high number, largely driven by protracted conflicts in Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine.
73.5 million people worldwide have fled within their own countries, and of the 42.7 million refugees living beyond their borders, 73 per cent are hosted in low and middle-income countries, with 67 per cent are hosted in neighbouring countries.
Sadeqa and her son are refugees who have faced repeated displacement. They fled from Myanmar after Sadeqa’s husband was killed in 2024. In Bangladesh, they lived in a refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims, but the camp was overcrowded, leading them to flee again via boat.
She got on the boat not knowing where it was going. Ultimately, the vessel was rescued after weeks at sea, and now, she and her son live in Indonesia.
“We are searching for a place where we can live in peace,” Sadeqa said.
There are countless stories like hers. However, at the same time, Mr. Grandi said that there were “rays of hope” in the report. This year, 188,800 refugees were permanently resettled into host countries in 2024, the highest number in 40 years.
Moreover, 9.8 million people returned home in 2024, including 1.6 million refugees and 8.2 million internally displaced people mostly in Afghanistan and Syria.
‘Long-lasting solutions’
While 8.2 million IDPs returning home represents the second-largest single year tally on record, the report noted continuing challenges for returnees.
For example, many of the Afghan and Haitian refugees who returned home in the past year were deported from their host countries.
The report emphasized that returns must be voluntary and that the dignity and safety of the returner must be upheld once they reach their area of origin. This requires long-term peace-building and broader sustainable development progress.
“The search for peace must be at the heart of all efforts to find long-lasting solutions for refugees and others forced to flee their homes,” Mr. Grandi said.
‘Brutal’ funding cuts
In the last decade, the number of people who have been forcibly displaced worldwide has doubled but funding levels for UNHCR remain largely unchanged.
The report explained that this lack of increased funding endangers already vulnerable displaced communities and further destabilizes regional peace.
“The situation is untenable, leaving refugees and others fleeing danger even more vulnerable,” UNHCR said.
Schengen: Council approves declaration to commemorate 40th anniversary and renew its commitment for the common travel area
The Council approves a declaration to mark the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Schengen Agreement. Source link
World News in Brief: “ indifference and impunity ‘
Tom Fletcher noted that more than 30 million people need humanitarian assistance. In addition, with the famine declared in several places and more than 14.6 million displaced people, Sudan represents the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.
“On the other hand, the international community has said that we will protect the inhabitants of Sudan. Residents of Sudan should ask us if, when and how we will start to keep this promise, “said the rescue chief.
When will the international community fully finance the efforts to help Sudan?
When will the responsibility for violence in Sudan occur?
He called on the international community to stop acting with “indifference and impunity” towards Sudan,
“Broken” health system “
Since Sudan conflict broke out in April 2022, civil infrastructure across the country have been damaged or destroyed, including health and water and sanitation systems.
The health system in particular has been “broken into pieces”, according to Mr. Fletcher, leading to epidemics of measles and cholera increasingly disastrous.
Cholera epidemicwhich started in July 2024 and is now confirmed in 13 of the 18 states of Sudan, infected more than 74,000 people in total and killed 1,826.
“I saw the devastation caused by the cholera epidemic in Khartoum, where the health system was devastated by the conflict and has trouble facing the formidable request for health establishments,” I saw the trend of health establishments, Dr. Shible Sahbni, WHO representative in Sudan.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with the Sudanese Ministry of Health, launches a vaccination campaign on the 10 -day cholera in the state of Khartoum.
The campaign will aim to reach 2.6 million people in order to contain the cholera epidemic in the state.
“Vaccines will help stop cholera on its traces while we strengthen other response interventions,” said Dr. Sahbni.
CPI judges express support for colleagues sanctioned by us
Judges at International Criminal Court (ICC) expressed his solidarity with their colleagues who were recently sanctioned by the United States government, describing the decision as “coercive measures aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary”.
“The judges are united and will continue to exercise their functions independently, impartial and conscientiously, fulfilling requests from the rule of law,” they said in a statement on Thursday.
The United States announced sanctions on June 6 against four judges from Benin, Peru, Slovenia and Uganda. The judges are currently overseeing a 2020 case which alleys war crimes in Afghanistan committed by the American and Afghan armies and the CPI arrest warrants in 2024 issued for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
The International Court of Justice
The UN Human Rights Head, Volter Türk, had previously declared that he was “deeply disturbed” by these sanctions, arguing that they corroded international governance and justice.
No inappropriate influence
The ICC is an independent judicial organization established under the status of Rome, adopted in 1998. Although it is not part of the United Nations, the CPI Works in close collaboration with her in a cooperative framework.
In the press release, the judges said that they decided and will continue to decide on affairs based on facts and regardless of threats, restrictions or incorrect influence “of any quarter or for any reason”.
“The judges reaffirm that they are equal in the execution of their functions and that they will always support the principle of equality before the law.”
More than 80 million Europeans suffering from neglected chronic respiratory diseases
Chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma are largely underestimated, sub-diagnosed and poorly managed in Europe-affecting 80 million people and costing $ 21 billion per year, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHOsaid Thursday.
A new WHO report in Europe and European respiratory society underlines how smoking and air pollution stimulate the growing crisis.
“We take 22,000 breaths per day, but respiratory health remains one of the most neglected areas of global health,” said Professor Silke Ryan, president of the European Respiratory Society.
6th Cause of death
Data analysis shows that chronic respiratory diseases are the sixth cause of death in Europe. They are often poorly diagnosed due to low diagnostic systems, limited training and inadequate health data.
Although effective treatments are available, deaths related to asthma remain high in young people, while chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is responsible for eight deaths by respiratory disease.
While preparations begin for the high -level meeting of 2025 on non -transmitted diseases, that Europe has urged governments to prioritize chronic respiratory diseases, to fix measurable targets and to fight against deep causes such as tobacco and air pollution.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
Famine stalks two counties in South Sudan as fragile peace is threatened
The warning comes amidst increased violence and a worsening food security condition which has 11 out of 13 counties in the state facing emergency levels of hunger and 32,000 of these inhabitants facing catastrophic level hunger conditions, almost three times previous estimates.
“We are seeing the devastating impact conflict has on food security in South Sudan,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, Country Director for the World Food Programme (WFP) in South Sudan.
“Conflict doesn’t just destroy homes and livelihoods, it tears communities apart, cuts off access to markets, and sends food prices spiralling upward,” Ms. McGroarty said.
Country-wide hunger
In total, 7.7 million people across South Sudan will face acute food insecurity, accounting for over half of the entire population. Additionally, 2.3 million children in South Sudan face malnutrition, a rise from 2.1 million at the beginning of the year.
FAO expects these numbers to increase as the country prepares to enter the lean and wet season which will further diminish food supplies and potentially worsen displacement.
The agency did note that counties in which violence has been largely absent have seen improvements in food insecurity as a result of increased crop production and humanitarian efforts. However, hunger continues.
Despite such ongoing challenges, Meshack Malo, the country representative of FAO in South Sudan, said that these results are proof of the “dividends of peace.”
Descent into conflict
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, gained independence in 2011 and immediately fell into a brutal and devastating civil war which ultimately ended in 2018 thanks to a peace agreement between political rivals which has largely held.
However, recent political tensions and increased violent attacks, especially in the Upper Nile State, threaten to unravel the peace agreement and plunge the nation back into conflict.
“South Sudan cannot afford to sink into conflict at this point in time. It will plunge already vulnerable communities into severe food insecurity, leading to widespread hunger,” said Meshack Malo, Country Representative of FAO in South Sudan.
Humanitarian difficulties
FAO said that humanitarian access must be improved in order to address the worsening hunger situation.
The FAO report also emphasized that peace and capacity building is the only sustainable solution for food insecurity in South Sudan.
“Long-term peace is essential, but right now, it is critical our teams are able to access and safely distribute food to families caught in conflict in Upper Nile, to bring them back from the brink and prevent famine,” said Ms. McGroarty.
