Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders ready for talks with UN chief on improved relations
Aug 10, 2019, at 10:30 am
New York, Aug 10 (IBNS): Leaders of the Greek and Turkish parts of the divided island of Cyprus have agreed to meet with the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in order to “plan the way forward”, and improve the daily lives of all Cypriots, a statement from the UN Mission in Cyprus, declared on Friday.
More than half a million Rohingya in Bangladesh get ID cards for first time: UN refugee agency
Aug 10, 2019, at 10:26 am
New York, Aug 10 (IBNS): More than 500,000 Rohingya refugees who fled a brutal crackdown in Myanmar two years ago, have received identification cards that the UN insisted on Friday were critical to safeguarding their right to return home.
UN food aid to Yemen will fully resume after two-month break, as Houthis ‘guarantee’ delivery
Aug 10, 2019, at 10:22 am
New York, Aug 10 (IBNS): Life-saving food aid distribution is set to resume to 850,000 people in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, following guarantees by Houthi opposition forces that the supplies will reach those who need them most, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
Top Sri Lankan Buddhist monks praise India for making Buddhist-majority Ladakh a Union Territory
Aug 09, 2019, at 09:15 pm
Colombo: The creation of Buddhist-majority Ladakh as a Union Territory after bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir state has been welcomed by Sri Lanka’s high-ranking monks, the Mahanayake Theras of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters of the Siyam Nikaya.
Drugs, weapons seized in Myanmar's western state
Aug 09, 2019, at 05:22 pm
Yangon, Aug 9 (Xinhua/UNI) Drugs and weapons were seized from a village administrator's house in Myanmar's Rakhine state, a statement from the Myanmar Police Force said on Friday.
Afghan army frees seven from Taliban custody, arrests three militants
Aug 09, 2019, at 04:59 pm
Ghazni, Afghanistan, Aug 9 (Xinhua/UNI) The Afghan army has waged an operation and freed seven people from a Taliban prison in the country's eastern Ghazni province, the provincial government saido on Friday.
Myanmar parliament approves constitution amendment report
Aug 09, 2019, at 04:57 pm
Naypyitaw, Aug 9 (Xinhua/UNI) Myanmar parliament on Friday approved a report submitted by the Constitution Amendment Joint Committee.
Bangladesh: Five suspected terrorists arrested from Dhaka
Aug 09, 2019, at 03:28 pm
Dhaka, Aug 9 (IBNS): The Bangladesh police have claimed they have arrested five suspected “self-radicalised” members of what they said a “wolf-pack of Neo-JMB” group from country's capital Dhaka city, media reports said on Friday.
UN rights chief bemoans unilateral sanctions on Venezuela, fearing ‘far-reaching implications’
Aug 09, 2019, at 10:26 am
New York, Aug 9 (IBNS): A new set of unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela this week prompted the concern of the United Nations’ top rights official on Thursday, who said in a statement that she feared they would have a “potentially severe impact” on the human rights of the South American nation’s “long-suffering” people.
In wake of ‘collapsed’ agreement, new wave of violence threatens millions in Syria’s Idlib
Aug 09, 2019, at 10:17 am
New York, Aug 9 (IBNS): Following the collapse of the latest truce in Idlib at the start of this week, the Senior Humanitarian Adviser to the UN’s Syria Envoy urged Member States on Thursday to increase their support for “critical humanitarian needs” in the country’s last opposition-held enclave.
Steps taken to end Saudi ‘guardianship’ system for women, ‘encouraging’ start
Aug 09, 2019, at 10:10 am
New York, Aug 9 (IBNS): Allowing Saudi women to apply for passports and travel without their guardians’ permission is “an encouraging move” towards the “complete abolition of the ‘guardianship’ system,” independent United Nations rights experts said on Thursday, but more action is needed to fully dismantle these restrictions.
Aug 09, 2019, at 10:06 am
New York, Aug 9 (IBNS): More than 500 million people today live in areas affected by erosion linked to climate change, the UN warned on Thursday, before urging all countries to commit to sustainable land use to help limit greenhouse gas emissions before it is too late.
Canada's electric car sales climb due to new $5,000 federal rebate program
Aug 08, 2019, at 11:01 pm
Ottawa, Aug 8 (IBNS): Canada’s new rebate program to help make electric cars cheaper had resulted in the boost of 30 percent more sales of electric cars in Canada between January and June, compared to the year before, media reports said.
Bigotry makes politicians ‘complicit in the violence that follows’ : UN independent experts
Aug 08, 2019, at 10:02 am
New York, Aug 8 (IBNS): Responding to the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio on Saturday, a group of independent UN experts has called out the “increased use of divisive language”, as well as attempts to marginalise racial, ethnic and religious minorities”, by some politicians and leaders.
Aug 08, 2019, at 09:54 am
New York, Aug 8 (IBNS): The Security Council has “utterly failed Syrian detainees and their families”, Amina Khoulani, Co-founder of Families for Freedom, told the Security Council on Wednesday, during a meeting focussed on those who have been jailed or gone missing across Syria, during years of brutal conflict.
Four in 10 indigenous languages at risk of disappearing, warn UN human rights experts
Aug 08, 2019, at 09:28 am
New York, Aug 8 (IBNS): Of 7,000 indigenous languages spoken today, four in 10 are in danger of disappearing, rights experts said on Wednesday, in a call for a decade of action to reverse the “historic destruction” of age-old dialects.
UN boosts humanitarian appeal to help tackle Zimbabwe’s ‘worst-ever’ hunger crisis
Aug 08, 2019, at 09:17 am
New York, Aug 8 (IBNS): With Zimbabwe now experiencing its “worst-ever hunger crisis”, the UN food relief agency has revised its humanitarian appeal to step up food assistance to people most affected by drought, flooding, and economic stagnation.
Aug 08, 2019, at 09:11 am
New York, Aug 8 (IBNS): The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has expressed outrage at a Taliban attack in Kabul, that led to “scores” of civilians casualties on Wednesday. In a Tweet, the Mission said that such “indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks in heavily populated civilian areas must stop”.
Myanmar jails Australian publisher on drug charges – Reports
Aug 07, 2019, at 08:41 pm
Yangon, Aug 7 (Sputnik) The Australian publisher who founded The Myanmar Times newspaper was sentenced to 13 years in jail by a Myanmar court over illegal drug possession on Wednesday, local media reported.
Car bomb explosion rocks Afghanistan capital Kabul, 18 killed
Aug 07, 2019, at 04:58 pm
Kabul, Aug 7 (IBNS): At least 18 people were killed and 108 others were injured as a massive car bombing incident hit Afghanistan capital Kabul city on Wednesday, media reports said.
Intensified Al Qaeda and ISIL activity in Yemen ‘deeply worrying’, says UN Human Rights Office
Aug 07, 2019, at 10:22 am
New York, Aug 7 (IBNS): Armed groups affiliated with the Al Qaeda and ISIL terror groups, appear to have intensified their activities in Yemen, Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) declared on Tuesday, describing the situation as an example of “deeply worrying developments” that have seriously impacted civilians over the past ten days.
All States have ‘primary responsibility’ to protect against hate attacks
Aug 07, 2019, at 10:22 am
New York, Aug 7 (IBNS): The UN’s top rights official has added her voice to condemnation of the weekend mass-shootings in the cities of El Paso and Dayton, insisting on Tuesday that “not just the US, but all States” should do more to stop discrimination.
Aug 07, 2019, at 10:16 am
New York, Aug 7 (IBNS): Paying homage to those who perished as the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, as well as the many others whose lives were devastated in the years that followed, UN chief António Guterres on Tuesday underscored their “courage and moral leadership” in reminding the world of “the human cost of nuclear war”.
Aug 07, 2019, at 10:11 am
New York, Aug 7 (IBNS): The UN migration agency, IOM, has welcomed Colombia’s decision on Monday to grant nationality status to more than 24,000 Venezuelan babies born inside the country after their parents fled across the border.
Help African farmers cope with climate change threats, UN food agency urges
Aug 07, 2019, at 10:08 am
New York, Aug 7 (IBNS): African farmers need help to cope with the threats of climate change, with national policies that protect them and make them resilient, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, has declared, following a major conference on food security in the continent.
‘€1 million’ fines for rescue boats prompts UN concern for future sea operations
Aug 07, 2019, at 10:07 am
New York, Aug 7 (IBNS): A move by Italian lawmakers to impose fines of up to €1 million on vessels and organizations carrying out search and rescue operations off the country’s coastline, sparked a new warning on Tuesday from the UN that the measure risks deterring future lifesaving efforts in the Mediterranean.
Aug 07, 2019, at 09:57 am
Kabul, Aug 7 (IBNS): An explosion rocked Afghanistan capital city Kabul on Tuesday and left five Counter-Narcotics Department of the Interior Ministry killed, emdia reports said.
Pakistan Army backs Imran Khan's government on Kashmir
Aug 06, 2019, at 05:59 pm
Islamabad, Aug 6 (UNI) Pakistan Army on Tuesday backed PM Imran Khan government's rejection of India's decisions regarding Jammu and Kashmir and said it is ready to "go to any extent" in support of the Kashmiri people.
Officer killed, 2 civilians injured as blast targets police van in E Afghan city
Aug 06, 2019, at 05:27 pm
Khost, Afghanistan, Aug 6 (Xinhua/UNI) One police officer was killed and two civilians were injured as a blast targeted a police vehicle in eastern Afghanistan's Khost city on Tuesday, provincial police spokesman Haider Adil said.
Over 50 climate change protesters arrested in Australia's Brisbane - Police
Aug 06, 2019, at 05:03 pm
Moscow, Aug 6 (Sputnik/UNI) Australian police said on Tuesday that they had arrested and charged 56 protesters against climate change during an ongoing demonstration in the city of Brisbane.