Background: The two sides have warred on and off since the militant group Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007 and Israel imposed a blockade of the territory and its roughly two million residents. In November, Israel agreed to loosen the restrictions, and today’s cease-fire reportedly includes measures to ease the acute economic crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Extinction risk is accelerating, report warns

As many as one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people depend on, according to a sweeping United Nations assessment.

The 1,500-page report, a summary of which was released today, is the most exhaustive look yet at the decline in biodiversity around the world. As a result of global warming, biodiversity loss is projected to accelerate through 2050, particularly in the tropics, without drastic increases in conservation.

Quotable: “For a long time, people just thought of biodiversity as saving nature for its own sake,” said Robert Watson, chairman of the group that conducted the assessment at the request of national governments. “But this report makes clear the links between biodiversity and nature and things like food security and clean water in both rich and poor countries.”