Over one new COVID-19 case reported, New Zealand to enforce national lockdown
Aug 18, 2021, at 12:39 am
Wellington/UNI/Xinhua: New Zealand will move from the current level one alert directly to the top-level four lockdown from midnight after a positive COVID-19 case was identified in the Auckland community, which is likely to be the Delta variant, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced at a press conference Tuesday.
Russia is not rushing to recognize Taliban rule in Afghanistan: Lavrov
Aug 17, 2021, at 11:54 pm
Moscow: Russia is not rushing to recognize the Taliban movement as the legitimate Afghan authorities, similar to other countries, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
UK unemployment moves down to 4.7pc amid rise in vacancies: Statistics Service
Aug 17, 2021, at 10:42 pm
London/UNI/Sputnik: Unemployment in the United Kingdom has dropped to 4.7per cent from April to June amid a record surge in vacancies, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Tuesday.
Palestine refugees face ‘dire’ humanitarian conditions amid ongoing clashes in southern Syria: UNRWA
Aug 17, 2021, at 10:38 pm
New York: Some 30,000 Palestine refugees registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in south Syria have become increasingly vulnerable, following recent clashes in and around the Dera’a Governorate, the UN agency warned on Sunday.
Explosion heard at hotel in Barcelona, police rule out terrorist attack
Aug 17, 2021, at 01:45 am
Madrid/UNI/Sputnik: A blast occurred on Monday at a hotel in Barcelona, though the Catalonian police have ruled out a terrorist attack.
Allow people to leave Afghanistan: 60 nations urge Taliban
Aug 16, 2021, at 02:25 pm
Washington: More than 60 countries, including the US, UK, and Australia, have issued a joint statement where they have urged the Taliban insurgents to allow safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country.
We don't want anybody bilaterally recognise Taliban govt in Afghanistan: Boris Johnson
Aug 16, 2021, at 05:56 am
Kabul/London: British PM Boris Johnson gave a strong message to Taliban insurgents as they take control of Afghanistan after capturing capital city Kabul on Sunday, saying that nobody should bilaterally recognise the government in the war-torn nation that might soon be formed.
Russian Defense Ministry confirms crew of firefighting plane crashed in Turkey died
Aug 15, 2021, at 04:18 am
Moscow/Sputnik: Five crew members from the Russian military and three Turkish specialists who were on board of the Russian Be-200 aircraft died in a crash in Turkey, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday.
UN experts urge Israel to ‘protect and encourage’ Palestine rights defenders
Aug 14, 2021, at 11:39 pm
New York: UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts expressed deep concern on Friday over Israeli military interference in the work of a well-known, independent Palestinian child rights organization, in the occupied West Bank.
End ‘rampant’ police brutality, promote tolerance: UN human rights experts
Aug 14, 2021, at 11:09 pm
New York: Expressing alarm over “rampant police brutality against peaceful protesters worldwide”, more than 40 UN-appointed human rights experts on Friday called for an end to the violence, urging Governments to promote dialogue, tolerance and diversity.
DR Congo: ‘Widespread and systematic’ violence linked to clashes over gold
Aug 14, 2021, at 11:01 pm
New York: Rival armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are carrying out horrific sexual attacks against women and girls, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Friday.
Spyware: Rights experts push for surveillance technology moratorium
Aug 13, 2021, at 07:28 pm
New York: A group of UN-appointed experts on Thursday called for a moratorium on the sale of surveillance technology, warning against the danger of allowing the sector to operate as “a human rights-free zone.”
UK: Plymouth shooting leaves six people, including suspect, dead
Aug 13, 2021, at 03:54 pm
Plymouth: Plymouth police have confirmed that six people died during a shooting incident in Keyham area of Plymouth city of the UK on Thursday, officials said.
Covid: Thousands to revaccinate in Germany after investigations reveal nurse injected saline
Aug 13, 2021, at 04:27 am
The administration in north Germany has asked more than 8,000 people to get Covid vaccine again as a nurse is suspected to have administered saline instead of vaccines in many cases, according to media reports.
UK plan thwarts access to truth over Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’
Aug 12, 2021, at 12:12 am
Two independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday expressed serious concern over a United Kingdom plan to end prosecutions for grave violations committed during the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland, long known as “the Troubles”.
UN Libya mission ‘deeply concerned’ over abduction of top Government staffer
Aug 11, 2021, at 11:45 pm
New York; The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said on Tuesday that it is “deeply concerned” over the abduction of a senior Government staff member, who disappeared last week after being taken away by unidentified armed men.
Access restored to Tigray camps sheltering Eritrean refugees
Aug 11, 2021, at 07:31 pm
New York: In Ethiopia’s wartorn Tigray region, UN aid workers said on Tuesday that they have reached two refugee camps for Eritrean nationals for the first time since being cut off by fighting last month.
Biden thanks Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for hosting Summer Olympics
Aug 10, 2021, at 09:52 pm
Washington/UNI/Sputnik/IBNS: US President Joe Biden thanked Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for hosting the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Tigray: Intensified fighting across borders ‘disastrous’ for children
Aug 10, 2021, at 05:50 pm
New York: UN agencies continue to sound the alarm over the growing “humanitarian catastrophe” in northern Ethiopia, sparked by the conflict in the Tigray region, now in its ninth month.
Tory MP warns UK, US and EU of a 'very miserable century' unless they deal with China now
Aug 10, 2021, at 05:20 pm
London: Tory MP and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, Tobias Ellwood, has said the UK, US, and European Union should work together to resolve issues with China.
Italian police seize envelope with bullets addressed to Pope
Aug 09, 2021, at 10:23 pm
Rome/UNI/Sputnik: An envelope with three bullets, addressed to Pope Francis, was seized by Italian carabinieri at a sorting office near Milan overnight, Italian media reported on Monday.
Escalating Lebanon-Israel aggressions provoking ‘very dangerous situation’
Aug 07, 2021, at 09:19 pm
New York: The UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said on Friday that escalating hostilities over the past two days involving Lebanese and Israeli forces have created “a very dangerous situation” in the volatile border region.
Ceasefire in Tigray more urgent than ever: UN relief chief
Aug 07, 2021, at 09:00 pm
New York: A ceasefire in Tigray on humanitarian grounds is needed now more than ever if a massive aid operation across frontlines is to succeed, the UN’s emergency relief chief said on Friday.
Mali violence threatens country’s survival, warns UN human rights expert
Aug 07, 2021, at 08:53 pm
New York: Rapidly spreading violence in Mali is threatening the State’s very survival, the UN independent expert on the human rights situation in the country said on Friday.
COVID-19 vaccine equality, ‘most pressing issue of our times’ – UN chief
Aug 07, 2021, at 12:07 am
New York: The remarkable and rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines offers “great hope” that the devastating pandemic can be overcome, the UN chief told the first International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation on Thursday, but everyone must be reached everywhere, “as quickly as possible”.
Civilians in southern Syria ‘under siege’ – UN human rights chief
Aug 07, 2021, at 12:02 am
New York: The top UN rights official once more sounded the alarm on Thursday over the plight of civilians in Syria, as intense fighting and indiscriminate shelling by Government forces and armed opposition groups paralyze neighbourhoods in and around the southern city of Daraa.
Somalia: Call for urgent action following ‘alarming’ 80 per cent rise in sexual violence
Aug 06, 2021, at 11:55 pm
New York: An “alarming” 80 per cent increase in sexual violence in Somalia, as documented in two recent reports by the Secretary-General, has been described as “appalling” by two UN Special Representatives.
Refugee resettlement numbers yet to recover amid pandemic
Aug 06, 2021, at 11:47 pm
New York: The number of refugees given shelter in safe host countries plunged last year because of pandemic border restrictions, which continue to hamper the resettlement of vulnerable people.
Work still remains on destruction of Syria chemical weapons
Aug 06, 2021, at 10:50 pm
New York: Identifying perpetrators of chemical weapon attacks, and holding them accountable, must remain a priority, a senior UN official said on Wednesday during the latest Security Council meeting on Syria.
Ethiopia: ‘Heartbreaking’ devastation in Tigray, says UN humanitarian chief
Aug 06, 2021, at 10:19 pm
New York: The new UN Emergency Relief Coordinator ended a six-day mission to Ethiopia with a fresh push to get badly needed food and other supplies into the embattled Tigray region.