“AI capabilities are outpacing both scientific understanding and governments’ ability to adapt,” Mr. Bengio said. “With growing evidence of deceptive AI behaviour, science currently cannot guarantee that as capabilities continue to increase, AI will not cause catastrophic harm, either on its own or due to malicious users...”

Unsplash/Aidin Geranrekab AI is currently revolutionising multiple industries, including smartphones.

‘The science is here’: UN chief welcomes first global AI assessment

1 July 2026 Culture and Education

Fresh scientific evidence and options for harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) were unveiled Wednesday following the launch of the first global, independent scientific assessment of opportunities, risks and impacts by a pioneering UN expert panel.

Key takeaways

The report outlines findings across seven key domains:

• AI science, advances and trajectories
• Societal applications in science, health, education and agriculture
• Economic implications
• Security, systems and environmental implications
• Human rights, information and democracy
• Cultural benefits, autonomy and child safety
• Management, governance and reliability

“The science is here,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the report launch. “We can no longer say we did not know. What we do with it is now up to all of us.”

The more AI advances without shared rules, the less say governments and people will have in the outcome, the UN chief said, adding “my message to governments is simple: do not wait.”

Aiming to build a shared understanding and evidence at this critical juncture, the Preliminary Report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI: Evidence-based assessment of opportunities, risks and impacts of AI was penned by the first global, fully independent scientific body dedicated to assessing its real impacts across economies and societies.

Read the full report here.

Why it matters   .... READ MORE  https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/07/1167853 

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Here are some of the panel’s warnings:

• There are no scientific guarantees that AI agent systems will not violate instructions, and evidence is accumulating of cases where they already are
• AI agent systems will soon complete tasks that currently take human programmers days or weeks, but their deployment raises urgent questions for labour markets, cybersecurity and the controllability of future AI systems
• Sycophantic AI behaviour, where responses reinforce users’ existing beliefs regardless of accuracy, has been linked to several severe mental health incidents, including documented deaths
• Criminals and bad actors have been documented using AI systems to assist in cyberattacks
• Advanced technical abilities may allow novice private actors to use AI in malicious ways across a range of applications such as fraud and disinformation
• Reliable methods for retaining control over highly autonomous AI systems are lacking

Many of these harms fall disproportionately on already disadvantaged populations, the report stated.

United Nations HumanRights: I condemn disinformation campaigns & attempts to undermine the credibility of the UN human rights system, including United Nations Special Procedure Experts mandate holders. Criticism & debate are legitimate & necessary; efforts to intimidate, discredit, or even sanction, are not. They are unacceptable. - UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk

@UNHumanRights

I condemn disinformation campaigns & attempts to undermine the credibility of the UN human rights system, including @UN_SPExperts mandate holders. 

 

Criticism & debate are legitimate & necessary; efforts to intimidate, discredit, or even sanction, are not. They are unacceptable. - UN Human Rights Chief @volker_turk

 

https://x.com/UNHumanRights/status/2066558393678999873 

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UN Special Procedures

@UN_SPExperts

The Special Procedures of @UN_HRC are human rights experts independent from any govt or organisation, serving in their individual capacity. #StandUp4HumanRights

Geneva, Switzerland

Dear America, A barbaric new era has already begun as Americans are duped into being wage slaves for billionaires who have no respect for basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

letter I just sent to my elected leaders 

Dear America,

A barbaric new era has already begun as Americans are duped into being wage slaves for billionaires who have no respect for basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

Twice in recent weeks ICE agents have murdered American witnesses and lied to cover up the truth.  Rather than being held accountable the Trump administration double downs on lies to blame and vilify the victims of ICE violence.

So what happens to our rights & freedoms, to our jobs & our economy, to our future when all news and opinion is pushed online to be stored, sorted, tweaked, and restyled by data centers and hyperscalers owned by billionaires and tyrants who have a vested interest in deceiving We the People. 

This past year the USA has myopically withdrawn funding from UNESCO and other such crucial good works including most recently the World Health Organization.

The United Nations & international law were formed after the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust: Holocaust Museums world wide should have been teaching generations of children that racist hate, state sponsored bigotry, injustice and terrorism are all evil and wrong, but instead right now here in America the Holocaust is being exploited to raise funds to help Israel trap, target and kill Palestinian men, women and children.

Global billionaires have formed a 'Board of Peace' that nefariously reinforces Israeli disinformation campaigns and Zionism's cruel policies with the ongoing impoverishment and further displacement of Palestinian refugees.  Orwellian doublespeak obscures the wicked quest to undermine and destroy both Palestine AND the United Nations & international law.  

'Board of Piece' spelled with an 'i' would be a more accurate name for it as a massive real estate swindle is being shaped by people who really should know better.   

Crippling UNRWA [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency of Palestine Refugees] and destroying United Nations aid centers and operations cannot and will not ever erase the fact that every Palestinian refugee has an inalienable and natural right to return to original homes and lands- no matter how you want to spell it.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/

The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties.  https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441

NOTES https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States: As a founding member of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States of America has contributed significantly to many of WHO’s greatest achievements, including the eradication of smallpox, and progress against many other public health threats including polio, HIV, Ebola, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and more. WHO therefore regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal from WHO – a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe.

"A lost moral compass opens a barbaric new era after Israeli officials compete to take credit for the storming and destruction of a United Nations compound in occupied East Jerusalem, others call for the annihilation of an entire community of UNRWA staff..." Philippe Lazzarini 20 January 2026

1940s, Bethlehem, Palestine 🇵🇸 Palestinian Christian newlyweds in Beit Sahour. In Palestine, the tradition of sticking green leaves and yeast dough to the newlyweds’ home is a folk blessing symbolizing life, growth, and abundance.

‘Impunity won’t last forever’: What gives Francesca Albanese hope

"This is not the first atrocity to have happened in world history, but it is the first to be fully televised. I would like to ask the people in Israel: Do you see what is being done in your name? There have been reports from B’Tselem and other human rights groups, there are soldiers who have broken the silence, and some have even committed suicide. Israelis know what is happening to the Palestinian people, but they seem not to care...."

Israel EXPANDS- erasing Palestine

Kairos Palestine – The Palestinian Christian Initiative
A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide

"Leave Gaza alone. If the goal is truly peace, then the path is simple: end the occupation and help restore the rights that have been taken from Palestinians since 1948. We, the Palestinian people, are the ones who must determine our own future. Peace cannot be imposed while our land is occupied, our lives controlled, and our voices ignored. It cannot be imposed by those who have been contributing to our suffering. You know who I’m talking about! Stop supporting those who oppress us and murder our people." Mosab Abu Toha

Three journalists among 11 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Reporters had been in car on way to new camp, says media group, as two 13-year-old boys killed in separate incidents ... Israeli forces have killed at least 466 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in October, according to health authorities.

Israeli prisons continue to function as a network of torture camps for Palestinians, with the systematic abuse even more extensive than before. This includes physical and psychological abuse, inhuman conditions, deliberate starvation and denial of medical care, all of which has led to numerous deaths. Some witnesses also described undergoing or witnessing sexual violence and abuse. The transformation of prisons into a network of torture camps is part of the Israeli regime’s coordinated onslaught on Palestinian society

The demolition of buildings inside the UNRWA Headquarters, a United Nations site, in East Jerusalem that started on Tuesday was unprecedented. Yet it is part of a pattern of deliberate disregard for international law and the United Nations. UN Member States must uphold international law, without delay. This UNRWA compound is a UN facility, and therefore inviolable under the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. It was first leased by UNRWA from Jordan in 1952.

"The Holocaust, like all genocides, was not inevitable. Warning signs abounded long before the mass killing, and began with the process of “othering”. The Holocaust cautions us to heed these warning signs and to challenge hatred, bigotry, racism, and prejudice. We can draw on our knowledge of the past to counter the fear and suspicion spread today through the manipulation of information, hate speech and the distortion of history."

"It was not Hitler or Himmler who abducted me, beat me, and shot my family... It was the shoemaker, the milkman, the neighbor- who recieved uniform and then believed they were the master race." Karl Stojka, Auschwitz survivor

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/id-card/karl-stojka

#ProtectTheFacts

Forbidden Plants of Palestine: Each tatreez [embroidery] motif documents a “Forbidden Plant of Palestine,” carrying a story of connection and resilience, offering a reminder of the enduring bond between the people and the land that nurtures them.

1936, Jerusalem, Palestine 🇵🇸 A Palestinian shepherd.

“A lost moral compass opens a barbaric new era: after Israeli officials compete to take credit for the storming & destruction of a United Nations compound in occupied East Jerusalem, others call for the annihilation of an entire community of UNRWA staff. These statements from officials of a Member State cannot be tolerated by the Member States sworn to the UN Charter. These actions must be referred to the highest level & fought against.” Philippe Lazzarini

These are not just concrete blocks, they are people’s homes. Since the ceasefire, the IDF has destroyed more than 2,500 buildings along the Yellow Line. Far more buildings were damaged beyond repair. “Total loss” is how one of you testifiers describes what they saw in Gaza:

"Then there’s the latest Israeli innovation: the humanitarian gag order. Thirty-seven aid organizations suspended. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) — the very name a promise of medical care for the wounded and dying - expelled from Gaza because they had the audacity to call this what it is: genocide."

Wild flowers of Palestine. Bethlehem-star

Paperback of the week: Righting Wrongs by Kenneth Roth -Roth spent three decades as head of Human Rights Watch. His record of past victories is also a warning for the future

Senior clergy say outside agendas are fracturing Christian unity in the Holy Land and undermining their authority

Jerusalem Patriarch, churches say Christian Zionism threatens Christianity

The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have issued a statement rejecting Christian Zionism and warning against unauthorized "representation" of Christians in the Holy Land.

"These shameful tactics are part of the relentless campaign by Israeli authorities to unilaterally prevent UNRWA from executing its #UNGA mandate in occupied East Jerusalem, which does not fall under Israeli sovereignty. The application of Israeli law therein is illegal. In October 2025, the @CIJ_ICJ ruled that Israel is obliged to facilitate relief provided by UNRWA. And yet, the present actions represent the very opposite." Roland Friedrich

Philippe Lazzarini @UNLazzarini: It was an honour to have a private audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV... I sought the Holy Father’s support to preserve UNRWA’s critical services, primarily in the area of education, public health & safety nets for Palestine Refugees in #Gaza & across the region until a just & fair political solution is in place.

‘The [ISRAELI] settlers brought the violence’: the ethnic cleansing of a West Bank village... Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja is a small community of about 135 families – and the only one remaining in this part of the Jordan valley

"Almost all of those killed or who die from the cold are forcibly displaced Palestinians whose homes were destroyed by Israeli bombardment, as the Israeli occupation continues to block the entry of caravans and reconstruction materials." Maha Hussaini

Israel poised to start construction of bypass through heart of West Bank: Road project, part of blueprint for new illegal settlement in E1 area east of Jerusalem, is considered a tool of annexation

“Since the start of the cease-fire” ... GAZA. The so called peace plan is allowing Israel to "finish the job": 450 killed; 2,500 structures destroyed; lifesaving aid blocked.

“From tourism to education to business, Americans have profited enormously from the open global order that international law has enabled. Trump’s return to a world of power politics would mean a more circumscribed and impoverished America.” What would happen if every state acted like Donald Trump’s America? by Kenneth Roth

"As Washington tramples norms, alliances might give way to grudging partnerships, with allies slow-walking their commitments" 

In a might-makes-right world, US allies, not to mention the emerging powers of the global south, would begin to hedge their bets in dangerous ways

USA: International Withdrawals Are a Vindictive Effort to Tear Apart a Global System for Cooperation

As the Israeli bombs fell, my family committed an act of rebellion: we planted a garden in Gaza: Amid constant danger, each planted seed was a tiny act of resistance. As they grew, they offered us food – and a sense of achievement amid the devastation- Taqwa Ahmed al-Wawi of Palestine [In The Guardian]

Growing Gardens for Palestine 

Dear America- Golden Rule Thinking IS GOOD

Dear America, Our land and resources are being gobbled up for AI data centers for what purpose? Is it for the greater good of tax paying citizens- or is it to feed the greed of corporations and companies that already use our data to charge us as much as they can at every turn.

Real freedom, justice, and democracy are being embezzled by corporate greed and political corruption to empower Israel and war.

"ISRAEL SAYS" is not God talking.

Israel has a right to exist, but Israel has no right to starve and displace the men, women and children of historic Palestine.

The vast majority of Americans are not wealthy & the taxes that We The People pay are being diverted into funding religious bigotry and terror via Israel's cruel war on the native non-Jewish men, women, and children of historic Palestine. HAMAS cruelty and stupidity echoes Zionist cruelty and stupidity and on and on it goes. Neither approach will build peace or security.

The weapons industry and a global war machine- AND INJUSTICE- burgeon with American tax payer funds.

Violence is a problem- not the answer.

STOP THE SIEGE- stop funding crazy cruel Israeli schemes & the forced displacement, imprisonment, starvation, torture, and killing of human beings in Gaza and Palestine

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

"The Holocaust, like all genocides, was not inevitable. Warning signs abounded long before the mass killing, and began with the process of “othering”. The Holocaust cautions us to heed these warning signs and to challenge hatred, bigotry, racism, and prejudice. We can draw on our knowledge of the past to counter the fear and suspicion spread today through the manipulation of information, hate speech and the distortion of history."

From 1933 to 1945, the Nazi regime and its allies created approximately 44,000 sites to confine Jews, political prisoners, POWs, Roma and Sinti, and many others. 

Over 1,100 ghettos existed across Europe, with the largest in Poland. Most ghettos were situated on rail lines that facilitated later mass deportations to killing centers...

A reminder of our common humanity

To remember the victims of the Holocaust is to remember their humanity, and to defend the rights of all to live in peace and with dignity.

To remember is everyone’s responsibility.

Rounding up the children from the Lodz ghetto, Poland, for deportation to the Chelmno death camp, Poland, September 1942. None of the children survived.

Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archives #50328. Courtesy of Instytut Pamieci Narodowej. Copyright of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

https://www.un.org/en/exhibits/exhibit/holocaust-remembrance 

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The Global Impact of the Holocaust

A warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism, and prejudice."

- United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/76/250

The United Nations was established in response to the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust. The Holocaust has had a profound impact on International Human Rights Law, resulting in the United Nations’ adoption of foundational documents in 1948: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights represents the universal recognition that basic rights and fundamental freedoms are inherent to all human beings, inalienable and equally applicable to everyone, and that every one of us is born free and equal in dignity and rights. Whatever our nationality, place of residence, gender, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status, the international community on 10 December 1948 made a commitment to upholding dignity and justice for all of us. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, or Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to enforce its prohibition. It was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1948.

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

“A lost moral compass opens a barbaric new era: after Israeli officials compete to take credit for the storming & destruction of a United Nations compound in occupied East Jerusalem, others call for the annihilation of an entire community of UNRWA staff. These statements from officials of a Member State cannot be tolerated by the Member States sworn to the UN Charter. These actions must be referred to the highest level & fought against.” Philippe Lazzarini

 UNRWA

@UNRWA

 

“A lost moral compass opens a barbaric new era: after Israeli officials compete to take credit for the storming & destruction of a United Nations compound in occupied East Jerusalem, others call for the annihilation of an entire community of UNRWA staff. 

 

These statements from officials of a Member State cannot be tolerated by the Member States sworn to the UN Charter. 

 

These actions must be referred to the highest level & fought against.” —

@UNLazzarini 

 

https://x.com/UNRWA/status/2013658117469278599 

  

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https://x.com/UNRWA/status/2013552403476267037 

 

 

@UNLazzarini

 

UNRWA

@UNRWA

@UN

Agency for #PalestineRefugees

 

https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/unrwa-commissioner-general-unprecedented-violation-un-premises 

UNRWA Commissioner-General: Unprecedented Violation of UN Premises and International Law in East Jerusalem

UNRWA B-Roll of the demolition can be  downloaded here.

•             For media use of video, mandatory on-screen credit “UNRWA”

•             For media use of photos, mandatory copyright “© 2026 UNRWA”

From Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General as posted on his official X account (previously known as Twitter) 

---

A new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law, including of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel.

Early this morning, Israeli forces stormed the UNRWA Headquarters, a United Nations site, in East Jerusalem. 

Bulldozers entered the compound and began demolishing buildings inside it under the watch of lawmakers and a member of the government.

This constitutes an unprecedented attack against a United Nations agency and its premises.  

Like all UN Member States and countries committed to the international rule-based order, Israel is obliged to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises. 

This comes in the wake of other steps taken by Israeli authorities to erase the Palestine Refugee identity.

On January 12, Israeli forces stormed into an UNRWA health centre in East Jerusalem and ordered it to close. 

Water, power supplies to UNRWA facilities - including health and education buildings - are also scheduled to be cut in the coming weeks. 

This is a direct result of legislation passed by the Israeli parliament in December, which stepped up existing anti-UNRWA laws adopted in 2024. 

These actions, together with previous arson attacks and a large-scale disinformation campaign, fly in the face of the ruling in October by the International Court of Justice, which restated that Israel is obliged under international law to facilitate UNRWA’s operations, not hinder or prevent them. The court also stressed that Israel has no jurisdiction over East Jerusalem. 

There can be no exceptions.

This must be a wake-up call. 

What happens today to UNRWA will happen tomorrow to any other international organisation or diplomatic mission, whether in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or anywhere around the world. 

International law has come under increasing attack for too long and is risking irrelevancy in the absence of response by Member States.

 https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/unrwa-commissioner-general-unprecedented-violation-un-premises

 

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“For over two years, a coordinated campaign to dismantle UNRWA has reached unseen levels, using disinformation as a weapon...” Philippe Lazzarini

 https://x.com/UNRWA

 UNRWA

@UNRWA

 

“Disinformation is an affliction around the globe. 

 

For over two years, a coordinated campaign to dismantle UNRWA has reached unseen levels, using disinformation as a weapon. 

 

One major myth is that UNRWA maintains #Palestine Refugees in a refugee limbo. 

 

The truth is that, wherever they are, refugees remain refugees in the absence of just and lasting political solutions to their plight. 

 

Dismantling UNRWA will not end the refugee status of Palestinians in the absence of a political solution. 

 

Those who would pay the price are the most destitute among the Palestine Refugees: those refugees living in the camps and having no alternative but UNRWA for basic services such as education and healthcare. 

 

Their only alternative is a genuine investment in peace and in future empowered and capacitated Palestinian institutions. 

 

Meanwhile fueling disinformation will be a distraction causing real harm to one of the most vulnerable populations across the Middle East.” – @‌UNLazzarini

 

https://x.com/UNRWA/status/2002982550864556519 

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 UNRWA Works  https://x.com/UNRWA

https://bsky.app/profile/unrwa.org

https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/unrwa-commissioner-general-over-two-years-coordinated-campaign

Philippe Lazzarini

@UNLazzarini

·

Dec 15

The ability of humanitarians to provide lifesaving assistance depends on strict adherence to the principles of humanity, independence, impartiality & neutrality. 

 

We cannot, under any circumstances, be part of efforts that violate these principles by discriminating against people in need of assistance or politicizing human suffering. 

 

This principle has always guided  @UNRWA’s work.

 

https://www.unrwa.org/