-1541733991.jpg "Civilians suffering due to sanctions must be spared ‘collective punishment’ urges UN rights expert")
Nov 09, 2018, at 08:57 am
New York, Nov 9 (IBNS): Innocent civilians must not be exposed to “collective punishment” in disputes between two States, a United Nations human rights expert has said, calling for greater protection for ordinary people affected by punitive sanctions imposed by one country on another.
Nov 08, 2018, at 09:15 am
Harare, Nov 8 (IBNS): At least 47 people were killed as two buses collided in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, media reports said.
Halt ‘rushed plans’ to return Rohingyas to Myanmar, pleads UN expert fearing repeated abuses
Nov 08, 2018, at 08:47 am
New York, Nov 8 (IBNS): A United Nations human rights expert has implored Bangladesh to shelve “rushed plans” to repatriate Rohingya refugees back across the border into Myanmar’s Rakhine State for fear that without safety guarantees from the Burmese Government, persecution and horrific violence could begin all over again.
Nov 08, 2018, at 08:44 am
New York, Nov 8 (IBNS): During a Tuesday briefing to the Security Council, Tuesday Reitano, Deputy Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, described the problem as a “global and accelerating phenomenon, and a threat to international peace and security,” that, in conflict areas alone, is generating around $31.5 billion in illicit profits.
Mexico urged to continue progress on enforced disappearances, women’s rights and press freedom
Nov 08, 2018, at 08:41 am
New York, Nov 8 (IBNS): Mexico faces “considerable challenges” in guaranteeing people’s human rights, its ambassador in Geneva told UN Member States on Wednesday, before being urged to continue tackling corruption and impunity relating to a range of violations including enforced disappearances and torture.
Hunger and obesity in Latin America and the Caribbean compounded by inequality: UN report
Nov 08, 2018, at 08:38 am
New York, Nov 7 (IBNS): For the third consecutive year, the number of those chronically hungry has increased in Latin America and the Caribbean, while 250 million – 60 percent of the regional population - are obese or overweight, representing the biggest threat to nutritional health, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday.
UK: 21 people, including children, found in a refrigerated lorry
Nov 07, 2018, at 05:57 pm
London, Nov 7 (IBNS): At least 21 people, including children, were found stowed inside a refrigerated lorry carrying sparkling water at a British port, media reports said on Wednesday.
Six held in 'attack' plot against French President Emmanuel Macron
Nov 07, 2018, at 09:24 am
Paris, Nov 7 (IBNS): France has arrested six people over suspicion of planning to attack country's President Emmanuel Macron, media reports said on Wednesday.
-1541562758.jpg "UN must bring more women police officers into the fold to be effective – UN peacekeeping official")
UN must bring more women police officers into the fold to be effective – UN peacekeeping official
Nov 07, 2018, at 09:22 am
New York, Nov 7 (IBNS): More women officers are needed at UN Police, to make the work of the Organization more efficient and reach the whole population they are meant to serve, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council on Tuesday, adding that, “to reach our full potential, we must bring more women police officers into the fold.”
UN chief condemns student abductions in north-west Cameroon
Nov 07, 2018, at 09:19 am
New York, Nov 7 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned Monday’s reported kidnapping of students and staff from a secondary school in Bamenda, North-West region of Cameroon.
Dozens of children at risk as clashes in Hudaydah near hospital – UNICEF
Nov 07, 2018, at 09:16 am
New York, Nov 7 (IBNS): Intense fighting near a major hospital in the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah has put scores of children at “imminent risk of death”, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday, calling on the warring parties to stop hostilities near the medical centre and allow those in need to safely access treatment.
China hails human rights progress amid calls to close detention camps
Nov 07, 2018, at 09:13 am
New York, Nov 7 (IBNS): China has pledged to eradicate poverty in rural areas by 2020 during a scheduled United Nations review of the country’s human rights record, amid concerns over the alleged arbitrary detention of religious and ethnic minorities there.
Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants kick off a global migration search movement
Nov 07, 2018, at 09:10 am
As mothers searching for the whereabouts of their migrant children amassed last weekend in Mexico City, a historic nine countries were represented, as well as the United Nations International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project.
‘Time is of the essence’ for refugees on Greek islands – UN agency
Nov 07, 2018, at 09:05 am
New York, Nov 7 (IBNS): in Greece must take urgent steps to address the “abhorrent” humanitarian situation for around 11,000 asylum-seekers on the islands of Samos and Lesvos, the UN refugee agency warned on Tuesday.
ISIL’s ‘legacy of terror’ in Iraq: UN verifies over 200 mass graves
Nov 07, 2018, at 08:57 am
New York, Nov 7 (IBNS): Investigators have uncovered more than 200 mass graves containing thousands of bodies in areas of Iraq formerly controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), according to a United Nations human rights report out on Tuesday.
‘Warp speed’ technology must be ‘force for good’ UN chief tells web leaders
Nov 06, 2018, at 08:33 am
New York, Nov 6 (IBNS): Technological advances are happening “at a warp speed,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday in Lisbon, Portugal, as a major three-day Web Summit got underway.
UN recorded 64 new allegations of sexual exploitation or abuse in the past three months
Nov 06, 2018, at 08:30 am
New York, Nov 6 (IBNS): Across its various offices, agencies, and partner organisations implementing its programmes, the United Nations received 64 new allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), involving 77 victims, between July and September, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.
Nov 06, 2018, at 08:28 am
New York, Nov 6 (IBNS): The planned prosecution of Supreme Court judges who acquitted 11 peasant farmers jailed over the death of police officers during a violent land eviction in 2012, known as the Curuguaty Massacre”, could undermine the rule of law, a UN expert said on Monday.
Ending use of chemical weapons in Syria: ‘still work to be done’, says UN disarmament chief
Nov 06, 2018, at 08:25 am
New York, Nov 6 (IBNS): As inspections and investigations continue into several reported instances of chemical weapons use against civilians in Syria, the United Nations High Representative on Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, told the Security Council on Monday that much remains to be done to end their use, and called for international unity.
Saudi Arabia expresses ‘regret and pain’ over Khashoggi killing, during UN rights review
Nov 06, 2018, at 08:22 am
New York, Nov 6 (IBNS): Saudi Arabia expressed “regret and pain” for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, during a scheduled review session at the UN in Geneva on Monday, while asserting its commitment to achieving the “highest possible standards” in human rights in the country, including for women and migrants
Nov 06, 2018, at 08:17 am
New York, Nov 6 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for greater preparedness to offset the disastrous impact of tsunamis, which are causing increasing human, economic and development losses, illustrated most recently by the destruction across the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Saudi Arabia, China, among 14 nations under UN human rights spotlight: what you need to know
Nov 06, 2018, at 08:11 am
New York, Nov 6 (IBNS): The United Nation’s highest human rights body, the Human Rights Council (HRC), will start reviewing on Monday the track records of 14 countries, including Saudi Arabia and China. Here’s our UN News guide to how it works and why it matters.
Apple iPhones to get 5G in 2020: Reports
Nov 04, 2018, at 07:56 pm
New York, Nov 4 (IBNS): Tech giant Apple might launch 5G iPhone in the market in 2020, media reports said.
UN agency assists Central American caravan migrants, voices concern for receiving countries
Nov 04, 2018, at 05:47 pm
New York, Nov 4 (IBNS): The United Nations Migration Agency, IOM, is providing support and assistance to migrants on caravans crossing Central America while expressing concern over “the stress and demands” they are placing on host countries.
Nov 04, 2018, at 05:21 pm
New York, Nov 4 (IBNS): The United Nations and Syrian Arabic Red Crescent (SARC) kicked off a joint aid operation on Saturday, delivering vital humanitarian assistance to 50,000 people in south-east Syria’s Rukban camp, near the Jordanian border.
International court rejects Saif Gaddafi call to drop arrest warrant
Nov 03, 2018, at 08:29 am
New York, Nov 3 (IBNS): A call by Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi – son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and de facto Prime Minister of the country during the time of his father’s rule – for an international arrest warrant against him to be ruled inadmissible, was rejected by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), on Friday.
Yemen: UN chief hails ‘signs of hope’ in world’s worst man-made humanitarian disaster
Nov 03, 2018, at 08:26 am
New York, Nov 3 (IBNS): Welcoming recent indications that peace talks could resume soon to end Yemen’s brutal civil conflict, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday there is “no room for complacency,” and called on the warring parties and the international community to “halt the senseless cycle of violence” and “reach a political settlement”.
More countries partner to target ‘zero hunger’ in global south
Nov 03, 2018, at 08:24 am
New York, Nov 3 (IBNS): More than 20 countries committed to a new declaration on agricultural and rural development on Friday, in a bid to stamp out poverty and hunger. The commitment came at the end of a forum on international development cooperation in Changsha, China.
Nov 03, 2018, at 08:21 am
New York, Nov 3 (IBNS): The United Nations human rights chief has warned that an official campaign in and around the capital of Tanzania to identify and detain anyone suspected of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) “could turn into a witch-hunt.”
‘Colossal human loss’ threatens Asia, Pacific as hunger fight stalls – UN agencies
Nov 03, 2018, at 08:18 am
New York, Nov 3 (IBNS): Well over half the world’s undernourished people live in the Asia-Pacific region, making it a critical part of the global push to end extreme hunger and malnutrition in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs), cautioned a new United Nations report on Friday.