Tag Archives: United Nations

More than a dozen Ethiopian staffers working for the United Nations have been arrested in Addis Ababa in raids targeting ethnic Tigrayans under a state of emergency, UN and humanitarian sources told AFP Tuesday. “Some of them were taken from their homes,” one of the sources said, while a UN …

With national leaders gone from the UN climate conference in Scotland, attention turned on Wednesday to the state treasuries and the businesses and financiers responsible for carrying out the pledges to cut emissions and build infrastructure. A main aim of the COP26 talks is to secure enough national promises to …

Denmark, the United States, and 12 other countries on Monday backed a goal to reduce emissions by the global maritime sector to zero by 2050, a target to be fleshed out in negotiations at the United Nations shipping agency. The initiative, led by Denmark and announced on the sidelines of …

The Huqooq Movement affiliated with the Shiite Coordination Framework rejected on Friday the UN Security Council’s statement, which praised the efforts of the caretaker government and its success in holding the parliamentary elections “The statement of the UN Security Council regarding the elections and its praise of the efforts of …

The United Nations Middle East envoy has censured Israel’s unlawful demolitions and settlement expansion in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as well as the crippling siege the regime has imposed on Gaza, complaining of a lack of progress in efforts to achieve a so-called two‑state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. …

A Southeast Asia summit this month will invite a non-political representative from Myanmar, Brunei said on Saturday, sidelining the leader of the military junta in an unprecedented move for the group. The decision by foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at an emergency meeting on Friday …

A deal for the United Nations to start work on a remote Bangladeshi island where the government has sent thousands of Rohingya refugees offers no guarantee they will be allowed to move freely to the mainland, according to a copy of the agreement. The Bangladesh government has moved nearly 19,000 …

The United Nations says Mozambique has rescued a number of children who had been abducted by the al-Shabab terrorist group to be forcefully recruited as child soldiers. Last week, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said al-Shabab had kidnapped hundreds of boys in the northeast of Mozambique and forced them to …

The UN agency helping Palestinian refugees is facing an “existential” budget crisis and appealing for urgent funding of $120 million to keep essential education, healthcare, and other services running, the agency’s chief said Friday. “We keep struggling, running after cash,” Philippe Lazzarini told a small group of reporters. “The financial …

The United Nations chief called on Friday for the world to redouble its renewable energy efforts to avert a climate emergency and address global energy poverty. “Today, we face a moment of truth,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the mandate as a “double imperative — to end energy …

The Saudi-led coalition has rejected the findings of a report by the UN Human Rights Council that strongly condemns the egregious violations committed by the foreign forces in Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Abdul Aziz Al-Wasel, said the coalition “does not accept the report,” calling …

Donors have pledged more than a billion dollars to help Afghanistan, where poverty and hunger have spiraled since the Taliban took power, and foreign aid has dried up, raising the specter of a mass exodus. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was impossible to say how much of the money …

US President Joe Biden will announce new steps to slow the spread of COVID-19 before the UN General Assembly meets, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Sunday. Murthy did not specify what those steps would be. The next session of the General Assembly opens Tuesday; the first day of the …

Germany’s foreign minister has responded skeptically to the Taliban’s announcement of an interim government line-up for Afghanistan. Heiko Maas released a statement on Wednesday, a day after the Taliban announced an all-male interim government. The Cabinet is stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year …

The United Nations on Tuesday rejected a call by a global non-government network to postpone the upcoming COP26 climate summit in Britain on the grounds that a lack of COVID vaccines risked sidelining developing countries. “For now, no changes are planned, but we understand the concerns,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan …

Key air pollutants temporarily plunged by unprecedented levels during coronavirus lockdowns last year, with fine particle pollution falling by more than a third across parts of Asia, a U.N. agency said on Friday. Particulate matter (PM 2.5) fell by up to 40% across Africa, South America, and Southern Asia and …

The number of disasters, such as floods and heatwaves, driven by climate change have increased fivefold over the past 50 years, killing more than 2 million people and costing $3.64 trillion in total losses, a UN agency said on Wednesday. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says its “Atlas” is the …

The Taliban stopped an Afghan United Nations staff member as he tried to reach Kabul airport on Sunday. They searched his vehicle and found his U.N. identification. Then they beat him. On Monday, three unknown men visited the home of another U.N. staff member who was at work at the …

Greece has erected a 25-mile (40 KM) fence and installed a new surveillance system on its border with Turkey as fears mount a surge in Afghan refugees trying to reach Europe. Greece has faced recurring refugee crises since 2015 when more than a million mainly Syrian refugees swarmed through its …

Lebanon has lodged a complaint with the United Nations after Israeli warplanes violated the country’s airspace to carry out separate airstrikes against positions near the Syrian capital city of Damascus and the western city of Homs. Caretaker Lebanese Defense Minister Zeina Akar, in a statement, condemned the Israeli violation of …