Women still struggle to find a job, let alone reach the top: new UN report calls for 'quantum leap'
Mar 08, 2019, at 08:52 am
New York, Mar 8 (IBNS): Women’s job opportunities have barely improved since the early 1990s, UN labour experts said on Thursday, warning that female workers are still penalized for having children and looking after them.
Security Council discusses chemical weapons use in Syria following latest global watchdog report
Mar 07, 2019, at 09:58 am
New York, Mar 7 (IBNS): The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday, to discuss the latest findings of the global chemical weapons watchdog in Syria, which concluded that there were “reasonable grounds” that a chemical attack took place during the crucial battle for control of Eastern Ghouta, last April.
Education remains an impossible dream for many refugees and migrants
Mar 07, 2019, at 09:33 am
New York, Mar 7 (IBNS): The older refugee and migrant children get, the less likely it is that they will get a quality education: less than a quarter of the world’s refugees make it to secondary school, and just one per cent progress to higher education. Even for migrants who settle in wealthy, developed host countries, accessing university is an uphill struggle.
Nearly four million North Koreans in urgent need, as food production slumps by almost 10 per cent
Mar 07, 2019, at 09:27 am
New York, Mar 7 (IBNS): The UN is calling for some $120 million to provide life-saving humanitarian aid, desperately needed by 3.8 million North Koreans, as it releases its 2019 Needs and Priorities Plan for the country.
Ramped-up emergency preparedness, part of ‘changing the DNA’ of the UN’s health agency
Mar 07, 2019, at 09:22 am
New York, Mar 7 (IBNS): Better preparing itself to respond to emergency situations is just one of a sweeping range of changes the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday to further improve its role as the world’s leading authority on public health.
Mar 07, 2019, at 09:18 am
New York, Mar 7 (IBNS): Inequality continues to drive rights violations everywhere, but some countries have made significant progress in tackling the problem, not least in women’s rights, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday.
3,500 surrender to US backed anti-IS Kurdish forces in eastern Syria: TV report
Mar 06, 2019, at 04:40 pm
Damascus, Mar 6 (Xinhua) As many as 3,500 people, including Islamic State (IS) militants, have surrendered to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over the past two days in eastern Syria, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported Wednesday.
Hillary Clinton says not running for 2020 presidency
Mar 06, 2019, at 04:37 pm
Washington, Mar 6 (Xinhua/UNI): "I'm not running" in the 2020 presidential election, declared US Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday, defying rumors that she might go for a 2016 rematch against President Donald Trump.
Ex-Nissan chief Ghosn released on bail after 108 days in detention
Mar 06, 2019, at 04:29 pm
Tokyo, Mar 6 (UNI) Ex-Nissan Motor Co Chairman Carlos Ghosn was released Wednesday from a Tokyo detention facility where he had been held for 108 days, after bail of 1 billion yen (9 million US dollars) was posted.
Mar 06, 2019, at 09:41 am
New York, Mar 6 (IBNS): The landlocked West African country of Burkina Faso is facing “unprecedented” displacement, triggered by armed groups and intercommunal clashes, and exacerbated by long-term food insecurity, UN aid officials said on Tuesday.
Break taboo around menstruation, act to end ‘disempowering’ discrimination, say UN experts
Mar 06, 2019, at 09:38 am
New York, Mar 6 (IBNS): A group of seven United Nations rights experts issued a clarion call on Tuesday to break the taboo around menstrual health for women and girls that persists in many parts of the world and take concrete action to end “disempowering” discrimination.
Mar 06, 2019, at 09:32 am
New York, Mar 6 (IBNS): Since the beginning of the year, Israeli security forces have responded to protests along Gaza’s border fence with tear gas, rubber coated bullets and live ammunition that have caused death, injury and fear, which the UN’s independent human rights expert on the region described on Tuesday as “a recipe for more bloodshed”.
UN human rights chief regrets closure of Burundi office following Government pressure
Mar 06, 2019, at 09:23 am
New York, Mar 6 (IBNS): In a statement released on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, announced her regret at the closure of the UN Human Rights Office in Burundi – which was set up more than two decades ago – at the insistence of the country’s government.
Recreational cannabis poses ‘significant’ health challenges to youth: drugs control body
Mar 06, 2019, at 09:20 am
New York, Mar 6 (IBNS): The UN-backed International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) warned on Tuesday that poorly regulated medical cannabis programmes could step-up the “recreational” use of the drug while diminishing public concern over its harmful effects.
UK may scrap 80-90 pc of import duties in case of no-deal Brexit
Mar 06, 2019, at 09:12 am
Moscow, Mar 6 (Sputnik) The United Kingdom may scrap 80-90 percent of all import tariffs in the event of the country's withdrawal from the European Union without an agreement, the Sky News broadcaster reported on Tuesday, citing government sources.
Israeli air force attacked base of Palestinian movement Hamas in Gaza
Mar 06, 2019, at 09:08 am
Gaza, Mar 6 (Sputnik/UNI): Israeli Air Force attacked the base of the militarized formations of the ruling Palestinian movement Hamas, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday.
Police storm prison in west France after inmate stabs guards
Mar 06, 2019, at 09:02 am
Paris, Mar 5 (Sputnik/UNI): French special police forces on Tuesday stormed a visiting room in a prison after a possibly radicalized inmate stabbed two guards and barricaded inside, local media said.
Three small bombs received at London airports, train station, police on alert
Mar 05, 2019, at 11:17 pm
London, Mar 5 (IBNS): London Met Police Counter Terrorism Command has launched an investigation after three suspicious packages were received at buildings in London today.
‘Huge data gaps’ hampering ‘evidence-based’ national migration policies
Mar 05, 2019, at 10:37 am
New York, Mar 5 (IBNS): There are still “huge gaps at country level,” to be overcome in order to develop an effective global migration data programme, said the head of the Demographic and Social Statistics Branch of UN Statistics, on Monday.
UN atomic watchdog chief updates governing body on key North Korean reactor
Mar 05, 2019, at 10:28 am
New York, Mar 5 (IBNS): IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said that the agency was continuing to monitor activities around North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Centre, which according to news reports is believed to have supplied plutonium for DPRK’s nuclear weapons programme, and was a central issue in talks that broke up without agreement last week in Vietnam, between United States President, Donald Trump, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
93 million children with disabilities ‘among the most likely to be left behind’: UN rights chief
Mar 05, 2019, at 10:16 am
New York, Mar 5 (IBNS): States should do more for an estimated 93 million children with disabilities who are “among the most likely to be left behind and the least likely to be heard”, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said on Monday.
London increases police activity after 2 teens stabbed to death over weekend
Mar 05, 2019, at 09:45 am
Moscow, Mar 5 (Sputnik/UNI) London's police is enhancing citywide presence and search activities following the increase of unrelated knife-stabbing incidents throughout the city, London Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Graham McNulty said in a statement on Monday.
Russia may deploy missiles with range across Europe if US puts such arms in area - Antonov
Mar 05, 2019, at 09:38 am
Washington, Mar 5 (Sputnik/UNI) Russia may be forced to deploy missiles capable of striking the entire European continent if the United States deploys such weapons in the region, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said during remarks at the Stimson Center.
US, Japan computer-based exercise focuses on joint missile defence
Mar 05, 2019, at 09:34 am
Washington, Mar 5 (Sputnik/UNI) US and Japanese military forces conducted a computerized joint exercise to integrate air and missile defense systems, US Pacific Command said in a press release.
China's GDP growth to slow down to 6-6.5 pc in 2019 from 6.6 pc in 2018
Mar 05, 2019, at 09:29 am
Beijing, Mar 5 (Sputnik) China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to decelerate to 6-6.5 percent this year from 6.6 percent in 2018, according to the country's social and economic development plan released on Tuesday.
DPRK's key reactor seems idle for months: IAEA chief
Mar 05, 2019, at 09:19 am
Vienna, March 5 (Xinhua/UNI) The reactor that has produced the bulk of the plutonium for the nuclear programs in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has seemed idle for a few months, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Monday.
Google plans to ban political ads before Canadian elections
Mar 05, 2019, at 09:06 am
Ottawa, Mar 5 (UNI) In the wake of Canadian federal election, Alphabet Inc’s Google has planned to ban political advertising on its platform as the nation's new transparency rules would be very difficult to comply with.
Kim Jong Un returns to North Korea
Mar 05, 2019, at 09:03 am
Pyongyang, Mar 5 (IBNS): Competing his visit to Vietnam, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has returned to his country, media reports said.
British PM May calls Imran, urges to take action against terror groups
Mar 04, 2019, at 12:54 pm
New Delhi/London, Mar 4 (UNI) Mounting further pressure on Pakistan, British Prime Minister Theresa May has urged her counterpart Imran Khan in Islamabad to take action against all terrorist groups.
5.2-magnitude quake hits Zirandaro in Mexico
Mar 03, 2019, at 10:21 pm
New York, Mar 3 (Xinhua/UNI): An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 jolted 34 km WNW of Zirandaro in Mexico at 15:25:57 GMT on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.