World | WPN World People News

About one in five people in the United States who bought a gun in any setting in the past two years did so without a background check, new research finds.

The survey of more than 1,600 gun owners nationwide also found that half of guns bought privately in the past two years were obtained without a background check. The rate was higher in states without laws governing such purchases -- 57 percent vs. 26 percent in states with laws in place.

In a region where school enrolment rates are very low, and early marriages a major cause of dropout among young girls, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has set up school canteens to help reduce malnutrition rates and to keep children in school. For better results, the organization has partnered with a women’s group that specializes in milk processing.

The Government of Japan has contributed US$500,000 to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to empower rural women and benefit more than 2,500 households in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Secretary-General António Guterres with Nicos Anastasiades, President of the Republic of Cyprus (left) and Mustafa Akinci, Leader of the Turkish Cypriot Community (right) in Geneva.

Women displaced from the Jebel Marra area in Darfur standing next to their temporary shelter in Tawilla, North Darfur.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a €1 million contribution from Belgium to support 180,000 of the most vulnerable non-refugee Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank on Jan 11.

Conférence épiscopale nationale du Congo (CENCO) leads mediation at the signing on 31 December 2016 of a political agreement on the holding of elections in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Migrant and asylum-seeker camp on the Greek island of Lesvos covered in snow as icy temperatures and heavy snowstorms affect region.

Families flee their homes in Mosul, Iraq, heading for an army outpost in the Samah neighbourhood where they will be taken away from the heavy fighting engulfing the city.

Before the New Year, some of the most vulnerable refugees in Turkey received EU cash assistance to help cover their basic needs. WFP is working with the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) to reach one million people through the Emergency Social Safety Net programme, helping refugees to recover a sense of normality.