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Vatican City, Jun 30 (Prensa Latina) Pope Leo XIV referred to the worsening of the problem of world food security, and asked to move from words to deeds in the fight against this scourge.

In his message to the participants in the 44th edition of the Ministerial Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which is in session in Rome until July 4, the Pontiff said that it is increasingly unlikely that the goal of “Zero Hunger” of the UN 2030 Agenda will be achieved.

“This means that we are far from the fulfillment of the mandate that gave birth in 1945 to this intergovernmental institution,” he said, referring to the FAO, adding that “despite international commitments to food security, it is regrettable that so many of the world's poor continue to lack our daily bread.”

“Political crises, armed conflicts and economic shocks play a central role in worsening the food crisis, hampering humanitarian aid and compromising agricultural production,” he said.

He also alluded to the “great influence on climate change, and vice versa” and considered that “the social injustice caused by natural disasters and the loss of biodiversity must be reversed to achieve a just ecological transition, which puts the environment and people at the center”.

The earth is capable of producing enough food for all human beings, so it is all the more sad and shameful “the continuing tragedy of widespread hunger and malnutrition, which persists in many countries today”, when we even “witness in desolation the iniquitous use of hunger as a weapon of war”.

“Financial resources and innovative technologies are diverted for the sake of eradicating poverty and hunger in the world, to devote them to the manufacture and trade of weapons” so that “never before has it been more urgent than now that we become artisans of peace, working for it for the common good.”

“We must not forget that sooner or later we will have to explain ourselves to future generations, who will receive an inheritance of injustices and inequalities if we do not act wisely now,” he said.

Leo XIV referred to the need to “leave aside sterile rhetoric” and quoted Pope Francis, who tirelessly insisted on the need to smooth out "differences in order to foster a climate of collaboration and mutual trust for the satisfaction of common needs.

It is urgent to move from words to deeds, putting at the center effective measures that allow people to look at their present and their future with confidence and serenity, and not only with resignation, “thus putting an end to the era of slogans and deceitful promises,” the Bishop of Rome said.

Santiago de Chile, Jun 30 (Prensa Latina) Francesca Muñoz, candidate for the presidency of Chile for the Social Christian party, announced today her declination and pledged the support of her political party to the extreme right-wing candidate José Antonio Kast.

The decision was taken following the landslide victory the day before of Jeannette Jara, nominated by the Communist Party of Chile, in the governing coalition's primaries.

Jara won more than 60 percent of the votes, slightly more than double the second place candidate, Carolina Tohá, of the Party for Democracy and supported by Socialists, Radicals and Christian Democrats.

In view of this result, Muñoz, who is a congresswoman and evangelical preacher, announced her support to the Republican with whom, she said, she shares many ideas, among them the radical opposition to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, whatever the reasons may be.

In declarations to the press, the former presidential aspirant said that she will present her candidacy for reelection to the National Congress for a district in the city of Concepción, capital of Biobío.

Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón has not been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, following her headline-making 2025 Oscar campaign controversy.

The 53-year-old Spanish actor, who made history as the first-ever openly trans individual to be nominated for an Academy Award in any acting category, was notably left off this year’s list of 534 artists and executives to receive the prestigious invitation.

It’s typical of first-time nominees to receive an invite. In fact, Wicked star Ariana Grande, Anora’s Oscar-winning actor Mikey Madison, Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), and Best Supporting Actor winner Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), all of whom landed their first Oscar nomination at the March ceremony, were among the names on the invitation released Thursday.

“We are thrilled to invite this esteemed class of artists, technologists, and professionals to join the Academy,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang. “Through their commitment to filmmaking and to the greater movie industry, these exceptionally talented individuals have made indelible contributions to our global filmmaking community.”

Gascón’s Emilia Pérez co-star Zoe Saldaña, who won Best Supporting Actress at the latest ceremony, was also not on the list as she is already a member.

According to the organization’s rules, an Oscar nomination gives a person automatic consideration for Academy membership. For the Acting Branch, it exempts them from having to meet the rules of “a minimum of three theatrical feature film credits, in all of which the roles played were scripted roles, one of which was released in the past five years, and all of which are of a caliber that reflect the high standardsof the Academy.”

Gascón’s absence from the list makes her the second first-time Best Actress nominee from the past 10 years to not be invited immediately following their nomination, according to TheWrap. Roma’s Yalitza Aparicio, 31, who earned a Best Actress nomination in 2019, was not offered AMPAS membership until 2020.

While the Academy has not given a public statement about Gascón’s exclusion from the invitees, it comes months after her Oscar campaign fell apart.

A week after her historic Oscar nomination, the actor faced accusations of racism and Islamophobia when old social media posts resurfaced.

She later deleted the tweets, issuing an apology “to those I have caused pain.”

“I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” Gascón said in a statement at the time. “As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain. All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”

The controversy didn’t stop there. The next month, she gave a tearful, hour-long interview with CNN en Español, insisting that she was “not a racist.”

Still, Netflix distanced itself from Gascón, removing her from promotional emails and editing the film’s posters to give Saldaña more prominence.

While it remained uncertain if she would even attend the 2025 Oscars, she did make a surprise appearance after skipping the red carpet.

In the months since, Gascón has landed her first role post-scandal in a 19th-century-set Spanish western titledTrinidad, directed by Laura Alvea and José Ortuño.

The summit reflected NATO’s shift toward U.S.-centric theatrics, with Europe’s core concerns largely pushed aside. The two-day NATO summit that concluded Wednesday in the Netherlands will be remembered less for its policy outcomes than for a flippant moment that dominated headlines: the now-infamous “Daddy” joke.

During the summit, U.S. President Donald Trump likened Israel and Iran to unruly children, while NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, in a display of flattery, compared Trump to a “dad” stepping in to discipline them. “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop,” Rutte said.

Trump appeared quite pleased with Rutte’s “Daddy” nickname, telling reporters at a later press conference Wednesday that the remark was meant “very affectionately.” “Daddy, you’re my Daddy,” Trump mimicked.

Rutte later defended the comment, but only doubled down on the flattery, calling Trump a “good friend” and insisting that his military strike on Iran “deserves all the praise.”

While the “Daddy” joke went viral, the actual summit yielded little of substance. Media outlets noted that the fawning “Daddy” joke ended up stealing the spotlight, underscoring a sobering reality: The summit reflected NATO’s shift toward U.S.-centric theatrics, with Europe’s core concerns largely pushed aside.

The final communique, just five paragraphs long, was the shortest in NATO’s history and focused heavily on military spending, at Washington’s insistence. Britain and the Netherlands indeed announced new military aid packages for Ukraine.

However, these commitments were made bilaterally rather than through NATO’s collective framework. Notably, the summit’s final communique omitted the 2024 declaration that Ukraine’s path to NATO membership was “irreversible,” signaling a potential shift in the alliance’s stance.

In their place came a symbolic commitment to boost defense spending, largely intended to appease Trump. NATO members agreed to raise military spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, more than doubling the previous 2-percent guideline.

Yet even as Trump made clear that the United States would not be bound by the new target, he insisted that others must comply. Spain, Slovakia, and Belgium openly questioned the feasibility of such increases, citing domestic constraints and economic priorities.

Amid chuckles and laughters prompted by the “Daddy” jest, a fact about NATO is evident: Europe has to give in from time to time while Washington never forgets to take advantage of the situation.

Moscow, Jun 30 (Prensa Latina) Russia is concerned about the situation surrounding its journalists who are in the capital of Azerbaijan, said today the spokeswoman for the Eurasian nation's Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

“We are concerned that for more than two hours Russian diplomats in Baku have been unable to establish contact with journalists, citizens of Russia,” the spokeswoman told Sputnik news agency.

According to Zakharova, “the staff of the consular department of the Russian embassy is not allowed access to Russian journalists,” nor “has any information been provided about the reasons for these actions.”

The diplomat added that the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan were informed about this, but Moscow has not yet received any response.

Earlier on Monday, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry reported an ongoing raid on Sputnik's Baku office, without specifying the reason for the intervention.

According to one of Sputnik Azerbaijan's employees, the police summoned all media employees who were not at work in Baku to come to the office. At the same time, security forces cordoned off the perimeter of the building.

On June 28, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires in Baku, Petr Volkov, due to the arrest in the city of Yekaterinburg of Russian citizens of Azerbaijani origin within the framework of a murder investigation. Zakharova stated that the diplomat offered relevant explanations and that the case was under control of the competent authorities.

Santiago de Chile, Jun 30 (Prensa Latina) After winning the primary elections of the Unity for Chile pact, Jeannette Jara called for the unity of progressivism to continue working today for the country and offer it an alternative in the next elections.

Jara, who competed for the Communist Party (CCP), was elected this Sunday as the ruling party's candidate for the November presidential elections, with 60.20 percent of the votes.

"This is a collective project in which everyone has played a fundamental role. I have said it several times, I do not come to sell empty promises, nor easy solutions. I do not come with miracles, but with the guarantee that we will work tirelessly for our country," she said.

The representative of the PCCh, supported by Acción Humanista and the Christian Left, won widely against Carolina Tohá, of the Partido por la Democracia, who obtained 28.07 points, despite having the support of the Socialists, Radicals, Liberals and Christian Democrats.

Gonzalo Winter, of the Frente Amplio (9.02) and Jaime Mulet, of the Federación Regionalista Verde Social (2.74) also participated in the race.

"This road has been traveled together by two men and two women who accepted the challenge of building a common path from our positions. Without them none of this would be possible and it is with them that we are going to continue walking," he said.

Before a crowd gathered at Ricardo Cumming Avenue, in this capital city, Jara especially greeted the Communist Party of Chile, of which he is a member, as well as the other left-wing, progressive and social-democratic groups that make up Unity for Chile.

She also thanked former President Michelle Bachelet for charting the way forward for the women of this country.

The also former Minister of Labor considered among the main tasks of her program to advance economic growth, achieve a living wage for all workers, strengthen and modernize the health system, emphasize mental health and continue with housing programs. Public safety will also be among his priorities, in order to ensure that people live in peace in neighborhoods, towns and workplaces.

Jara will face Evelyn Matthei of the conservative Chile Vamos alliance, José Antonio Kast of the far-right Republican party, Francesca Muñoz of the Social Christian party and Johannes Kaiser of the National Libertarian party at the polls next November.

In his speech, he called "not to let go of our hands, but to keep them together to face the far right from the widest possible political and social unity and stop it. That is our task for what is to come," he said.

Tokyo, Jun 30 (Prensa Latina) The Japanese government headed by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba faces a complex situation today when half of the voters indicated that they plan to back other options in next month's parliamentary elections.

This is reflected in a national survey conducted by the Kyodo News Agency on voting intentions for the elections to the Upper House of the Japanese Parliament, which will take place on July 20.

According to the survey, 50.2 percent of those polled want the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Ishiba, and its coalition partner, Komeito, to lose their majority in the Upper House of the National Assembly, while 38.1 percent maintain their support for the LDP.

The ruling party obtained the worst result in the last 15 years in the legislative elections of the Lower House (House of Representatives), held in October.

According to Kyodo, when voters were asked which key election issue matters most in deciding which party or candidate to vote for, 31.9 percent of respondents cited measures against price hikes, while 16.9 percent chose pensions and other social welfare measures.

On the other hand, Ishiba's cabinet approval rating stood at 32.4 percent, while the disapproval rating was 57.8 percent.

In July 2025, the six-year term of office of half of the current deputies comes to an end, and if the LDP also loses its majority in the Upper House, pressures for the prime minister to resign could increase in a particularly complex context.

Japan is facing an economic crisis aggravated by harsh tariff policies imposed in recent months by US President Donald Trump.

The results of the Tokyo regional assembly elections earlier this month dealt another blow to the LDP, which won a record low number of seats.

In view of the tough economic situation, the electoral campaign - scheduled to begin on July 3 - is expected to focus on measures to alleviate and overcome the crisis, as well as to support the people in the face of so many difficulties.