Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
MPs on the Education Committee and the Work and Pensions Committee continue their work scrutinising the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy.
Witnesses:
Sahar Khan – Parent at Changing Realities
Rachel Luke – Parent at Changing Realities
Ella-Mae Michalski – Parent at Changing Realities
Samantha Richards – Parent at Changing Realities
Jonathan Paul Roberts – Parent at Changing Realities
Tayyaba Siddiqui – Parent at Changing Realities
Caroline Rice – Parent at Changing Realities
Source: United Kingdom UK House of Lords (video statements)
Behind the scenes at the House of Lords, staff in every corner of the Palace of Westminster are working to keep the chamber running and bring the work of the Lords to the public.
Meet the teams that broadcast the House of Lords to the world, look after all the historical objects from the Sovereign’s Throne to the despatch boxes, and document everything said in the chamber to make the historical records of tomorrow.
Catch-up on House of Lords business:
Watch live events: https://parliamentlive.tv/Lords
Read the latest news: https://www.parliament.uk/lords/
Stay up to date with the House of Lords on social media:
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa officiates the Google Cloud Summit and Investment Announcement at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg.
The ECB Forum on Central Banking – the Sintra Forum – is an annual event organised by the European Central Bank and is held in Sintra, Portugal.
It brings together central bank governors, academics, financial market representatives, journalists and others to exchange views on current policy issues and discuss the Forum’s key topic from a longer-term perspective.
Full programme can be found here: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/html/20260629_ecb_forum_on_central_banking.en.html
– Welcome and introduction
– Session 3
"Migration: implications for productivity and growth in Europe"
Chair: Boris Vujčić, Vice-President, European Central Bank
Paper: "The immigration impact on population, labor productivity, investments and TFP in OECD countries"
Author: Giovanni Peri, Professor, University of California, Davis
(together with Gaetano Basso, Economist, Banca d’Italia, and Mitali R. Mathur, University of California, Davis)
Discussant: Hillel Rapoport, Professor, Paris School of Economics
– Session 4
"Tokenisation: challenges and opportunities when money, payments and financial transactions become digital"
Chair: Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
Paper: "A unified ledger in practice: lessons from Project Hangang"
Author: Hyun Song Shin, Governor, Bank of Korea
(together with Jaemin Ryu, Joonyi Sung, and Sung Guan Yun, all Bank of Korea)
Discussant: Catherine Casamatta, Toulouse School of Economics
– Panel 2
"Europe’s role in the new global trade landscape"
Chair: Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
Laura Alfaro Maykall, Chief Economist and Economic Counselor, Inter-American Development Bank
Marion Jansen, Director of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD
Ralph Ossa, Professor, University of Zurich
Denis Redonnet, Deputy Director-General for Trade and Economic Security, European Commission
– Policy panel
Andrew Bailey, Governor, Bank of England
Christine Lagarde, President, European Central Bank
Tiff Macklem, Governor, Bank of Canada
Kevin Warsh, Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Moderator: Sara Eisen, Anchor, CNBC
– Award ceremony for the Young Economist Prize
– Closing remarks
Christine Lagarde, President, European Central Bank
Closed captions are generated automatically by speech-recognition software. As a result, the transcript may contain errors, misspellings, or omissions. The broadcaster is not responsible for any inaccuracies. For the most accurate information, please refer to the original audio track.
Comments to the media by Ambassador Leonor Zalabata, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of June, following informal dialogues between Council members and the candidates for Secretary-General, Ms. Michelle Bachelet and Ms. Rebeca Grynspan.
After devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela, thousands of families have been left without homes, food and access to basic services.
Speaking from one of the hardest-hit areas, the World Food Programme (WFP) describes the growing humanitarian response as search and rescue operations transition to emergency relief.
WFP has already reached 1,200 people with emergency food assistance and plans to support up to 500,000 people over the next three months, while scaling up logistics and humanitarian operations alongside the Government of Venezuela and UN partners.
As immediate rescue efforts give way to longer-term recovery, sustained humanitarian support will be critical to helping affected communities rebuild.
Source: International Monetary Fund – IMF (video statements)
Inflation pressures were already brewing when Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas stepped in as IMF Chief Economist in January 2022, but rising geopolitical tensions soon added fuel to the fire, and inflation remained a challenge throughout his tenure. In this podcast, outgoing Chief Gourinchas reflects on four + years marked by trade tensions, geopolitical shocks, and rapid technological change. And how the value of forecasting lies less in precise point estimates and more in articulating the underlying forces and policy implications.
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Briefings Tomorrow
– UN Relief and Works Agency
– occupied Palestinian territory
– World Congress Against the Death Penalty
– Deputy Secretary-General/Travels
– Venezuela
– South Sudan
– Central African Republic
– Climate/Transport
– Ebola
– AI and Children
– Special Political Missions 1945–2025: an Overview
– International Days
– Financial Contribution
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BRIEFINGS TOMORROW
Tomorrow, at 11:00 a.m., there will be a briefing here by the UN Secretary-General to introduce the preliminary report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence. He will be joined by Panel co-chairs Yoshua Bengio of Canada and Maria Ressa of the Philippines to present the findings ahead of the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance, to be held in Geneva on 6–7 July.
We also expect a briefing here tomorrow by Ambassador Zénon Mukongo Ngay, Permanent Representative of the of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations and Security Council President for the month of July.
We expected a briefing by the controller Chandramouli "Chandru" Ramanathan on the budget.
UN RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY
The Secretary-General told Member States at a meeting this morning for voluntary contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, that today’s event is happening while the safety and welfare of millions of Palestine refugees hang in the balance. In Gaza, he noted, Israeli attacks have killed more than a thousand Palestinians since, and despite, the ceasefire announced last October.
Mr. Guterres warned that, despite all the services it provides to Palestinians throughout the Middle East, the Agency’s situation is increasingly precarious. It faces sweeping restrictions throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory. And a cash shortfall that imperils its work across the region.
The Secretary-General said he is deeply concerned about UNRWA’s liquidity crisis, which jeopardizes its ability to implement its mandate.
Earlier this year, UNRWA was compelled to reduce its service delivery hours by 20 per cent. That meant reducing salaries for most local personnel and keeping 15 per cent of international posts vacant.
He added that he is appalled by continuing efforts to marginalize and undermine UNRWA – through disinformation, smear campaigns, legislative actions, operational restrictions, diplomatic roadblocks and more.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, OCHA says humanitarian teams in the Gaza Strip are assessing the needs of those affected by yesterday’s airstrike on Al Muwasi area of Khan Younis.
Initial information suggests that – in addition to the killing of a mother and her baby girl – more than 150 families have had their tents destroyed. The tents of 250 other families were also damaged.
Full Highlight: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-30
