Rebeca Grynspan, Unctad’s secretary general, at the Palais des Nations, 8 April 2025. (Le Temps/Karine Bauzin)

👑Rebeca Grynspan – the UN’s future first female leader? As the UN trade and development agency’s secretary general, the Costa Rican economist warns about the harm tariffs can have on the world's most vulnerable economies. Viewed as one of the top contenders to succeed António Guterres, she can hardly shy away from the ambition.

✂️Exclusive: WHO poised to halve divisions and directors at Geneva headquarters in response to budget emergency. A plan, due to be presented this week to member states, also suggests relocating certain programmes to the health agency’s regional offices to avoid Geneva’s high costs.

🌽UN food agency caught in Trump administration’s crosshairs. The US’s determination to scrap diversity, equity and inclusion policies as well as climate action spilled onto discussions in Rome as the Food and Agriculture Organization figures out how to contend with the loss of significant US funding.

🎤Spain public broadcaster calls for 'debate' over Israel's Eurovision participation. RTVE has sent a letter to the European Broadcasting Union, pointing to concerns raised by civil society over the participation of Israeli public television KAN amid Israel's brutal war against Hamas in Gaza. The music contest is set to be held in Basel next month.

🔍Israeli tank fire behind strike in Gaza that killed UN worker, photos suggest. The strike on 19 March on a UN guesthouse that killed a European aid worker and injured five others had prompted the UN to scale back its operations.