Despite falling attacks, ISIL terrorists remain ‘global threat’: UN report
Feb 12, 2019, at 09:56 am
New York, Feb 12 (IBNS): Though attacks were down last year, a new United Nations report to the Security Council on Monday shows that ISIL is still a global threat, despite evolving into a “covert” terrorism network, with countries continuing to face challenges from the growing scourge of violent extremism.
Judicial independence under threat in Nigeria, warns UN rights expert
Feb 12, 2019, at 09:44 am
New York, Feb 12 (IBNS): The dismissal of Nigeria’s Chief Justice may constitute a grave attack on judicial independence from the State, a UN-appointed independent rights expert said on Monday, warning of “threats, pressures and interferences” made against the lawyers defending him.
Food for millions in Yemen at risk of rotting in key Red Sea port, warns UN
Feb 12, 2019, at 09:38 am
New York, Feb 12 (IBNS): Desperately needed food aid for millions of Yemenis “is at risk of rotting” in a key Red Sea storage facility because conditions are too unsafe to reach it, UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and UN Emergency relief chief Mark Lowcock said on Monday
Service and sacrifice of African peacekeepers ‘at the forefront of our minds’: UN chief
Feb 11, 2019, at 08:56 am
New York, Feb 11 (IBNS): UN Secretary-General António Guterres has thanked African Member States and the African Union Commission for supporting peace operations in Africa, saying that the service and sacrifice of African peacekeepers is “at the forefront of our minds.”
Hindi to be official court language in Abu Dhabi
Feb 10, 2019, at 08:32 pm
Abu Dhabi, Feb 10 (IBNS): Hindi will be the third official court language in Abu Dhabi after Arabic and English, The Times of India said.
Uyghur Turks: Turkey demands China to close camps
Feb 10, 2019, at 07:23 pm
Ankara, Feb 10 (IBNS): The Turkey government on Sunday described Beijing's controversial mass "re-education" camps of Uyghur Turks in China's western region of Xinjiang as 'a great shame for humanity'.
Feb 10, 2019, at 06:12 pm
London, Feb 10 (IBNS): Teenagers accounted for more than 1,000 admissions to hospital as a result of assaults with a knife or sharp object last year, NHS figures show.
Earthquake hits Iran, tremors felt in UAE
Feb 10, 2019, at 06:01 pm
Tehran, Feb 10 (IBNS): An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter Scale hit Iran on Sunday as tremors of it were felt in the UAE, as per USGS website.
Feb 10, 2019, at 04:19 pm
New York, Feb 10 (IBNS): Young female African coders are “on the front-line” of the battle to change traditionally male power relations and bring about a more equitable balance between men and women, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said during his visit to Ethiopia to attend the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.
African continent ‘an example of solidarity’ towards migrants and refugees: UN chief
Feb 10, 2019, at 03:44 pm
New York, Feb 10 (IBNS): African nations are setting an example for richer countries when it comes to the treatment of refugees, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a press conference on Saturday, following a meeting with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Scale of displacement across Myanmar ‘very difficult to gauge’, says UN refugee agency
Feb 09, 2019, at 09:52 am
New York, Feb 9 (IBNS): Concern over escalating violence in Myanmar’s Chin and Rakhine states continues to grow, with civilians reportedly forced to flee both internally, and across the border into Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have already sought shelter.
Feb 09, 2019, at 09:49 am
New York, Feb 9 (IBNS): The head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has praised Tanzania for the long-standing welcome it offers hundreds of thousands of refugees, describing it as a “regional peacemaker” in an unstable part of Africa, that deserves more international support.
UN ready to rise above political fray and help Venezuelans based ‘on need, and need alone’
Feb 09, 2019, at 09:41 am
New York, Feb 9 (IBNS): The situation for ordinary Venezuelans is increasingly critical but the United Nations remains committed to providing humanitarian support, based on “need, and need alone”, said a senior aid official on Friday.
As inequality grows, the UN fights for a fairer world
Feb 09, 2019, at 09:36 am
New York, Feb 9 (IBNS): The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the UN’s blueprint for a better and more sustainable future for all – calls for a reduction in inequality between and within countries. Nevertheless, global inequality is increasing. So what can be done?
Second meeting between Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un to take place in Hanoi
Feb 09, 2019, at 08:46 am
Washington, Feb 9 (IBNS): The second meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place in Hanoi city of Vietnam on Feb 27-28, officials said.
Brazil: Fire at training ground of football club Flamengo leaves 10 dead
Feb 08, 2019, at 06:07 pm
Brasília, Feb 8 (IBNS): At least 10 people were killed as a fire broke out at a dormitory at the youth team training centre of one of Brazil's biggest football clubs, media reports said on Friday.
Feb 08, 2019, at 09:10 am
New York, Feb 8 (IBNS): Evidence collected in Turkey shows on initial examination, that former dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi was the victim of “a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia,” according to the United Nations expert conducting an independent human rights inquiry into his death.
Million across Yemen ‘just a step away from famine’, with food available but inaccessible
Feb 08, 2019, at 09:01 am
New York, Feb 8 (IBNS): While nearly 10 million people across Yemen remain “just a step away from famine”, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator has spoken of his deep concern that a large food storage depot on the outskirts of the crucial port city of Hudaydah, has been out of bounds since last September.
Mosul’s ‘3D contamination’ adds to challenges of deadly mine clearance work
Feb 08, 2019, at 08:56 am
New York, Feb 8 (IBNS): Demining and other explosives clearance operations are ongoing in former ISIL-held areas of Iraq, but the work is painstaking and even more dangerous because of “3D contamination”, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said on Thursday.
UN rights chief ‘deeply concerned’ over Jehovah’s Witness sentencing in Russia
Feb 08, 2019, at 08:46 am
New York, Feb 8 (IBNS): The sentencing in Russia of a Danish Jehovah’s Witness on Thursday to six years in prison on charges of “organising the activity of a banned extremist organisation” has been described as a “dangerous precedent” by the UN human rights chief.
Feb 08, 2019, at 08:42 am
New York, Feb 8 (IBNS): A newly formed parliamentary committee to amend Myanmar’s problematic constitution was welcomed as a positive move on Thursday by Yanghee Lee, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the country.
Rising landmine blast toll in Afghanistan highlights long-term care needs of survivors
Feb 07, 2019, at 01:56 pm
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): The number of casualties in Afghanistan from landmines and other explosives has more than tripled since 2012, the UN said on Wednesday, in support of a call to provide more long-term support for survivors.
Guterres underlines climate action urgency, as UN weather agency confirms record global warming
Feb 07, 2019, at 01:54 pm
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): In the wake of data released by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), showing the past four years were officially the ‘four warmest on record,’ UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent climate action and increased ambition, ahead of his climate summit in September.
Central African Republic: UN chief hails signing of new peace agreement
Feb 07, 2019, at 10:22 am
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): Following the signing of a peace agreement between the Government of the Central African Republic (CAR) and 14 non-state armed groups active in the country on Wednesday, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, congratulated all stakeholders and encouraged them to now “live up to their commitments”.
Largest joint UN humanitarian convoy of the war, reaches remote Syrian settlement
Feb 07, 2019, at 10:09 am
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): The largest UN humanitarian convoy of the Syrian civil war reached the remote settlement of Rukban, on the border with Jordan on Wednesday, where it is delivering life-saving assistance to more than 40,000 displaced people, some of whom have been trapped there for years as the eight-year conflict grinds on.
With millions of girls ‘at risk’ today of genital mutilation, UN chief calls for zero tolerance
Feb 07, 2019, at 09:58 am
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): Female genital mutilation, is “an abhorrent human rights violation” still affecting women and girls around the globe, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated in his message for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, marked on Wednesday.
Feb 07, 2019, at 09:54 am
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): More than six in 10 children globally lack access to social protection, leaving them particularly vulnerable to falling into chronic poverty, the UN said on Wednesday, warning also that some governments are cutting State cash entitlements, amid continuing economic uncertainty.
Priests, bishops sexually abused nuns, admits Pope
Feb 06, 2019, at 01:06 pm
Vatican City, Feb 6 (IBNS): Pope Francis has admitted that Catholic priests and bishops had sexually abused nuns in a latest scandal which has been alleged, media reports said.
Dramatic drop in South Sudan political violence since peace agreement signing
Feb 06, 2019, at 10:21 am
New York, Feb 6 (IBNS): Since the signing of a September 2018 deal between the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his political rival and former deputy Riek Machar to end conflict in the country, political violence has “dropped dramatically,” David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan told reporters on Tuesday.
Feb 06, 2019, at 10:18 am
New York, Feb 6 (IBNS): Online violence, cyberbullying and digital harassment affect over 70 per cent of young people globally, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday, calling for concerted action to tackle and prevent this form of violence.