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.
UN urges more protection for Nigeria’s most vulnerable after deadly attack on camp
Nov 03, 2018, at 08:15 am
New York, Nov 3 (IBNS): Hundreds of people already forced to flee their homes by violence in Nigeria’s troubled north-east have been uprooted once again after deadly attacks in and around a camp where they were sheltering, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said on Friday.
Sony Music stabbing: Two injured
Nov 02, 2018, at 07:39 pm
London, Nov 2 (IBNS): Two people were stabbed at Sony Music's headquarters in London city on Friday, officials said.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev says export a priority area of country's foreign economic policy
Nov 02, 2018, at 11:59 am
Tashkent, Nov 2 (IBNS): Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has said that export will be a priority area in his country's economic policy.
Death penalty concerns highlighted in Sudan, Belarus, by UN Human Rights Committee
Nov 02, 2018, at 09:05 am
New York, Nov 2 (IBNS): Countries should heed the “clear pro-abolitionist spirit” towards the death penalty of one of the world’s most important treaties, a key UN independent human rights panel said on Thursday, while highlighting concerns about right-to-life violations in Belarus and Sudan.
As South Sudan celebrates, UN envoy cites trust as future ‘key ingredient’
Nov 02, 2018, at 09:02 am
New York, Nov 2 (IBNS): Thousands of elated citizens gathered in South Sudan’s capital of Juba on Wednesday to celebrate an agreement signed in September between the President and his former deputy, which it is hoped will finally end years of brutal conflict across the world’s youngest country.
Killing of journalists ‘outrageous’ and should not be ‘new normal’
Nov 02, 2018, at 09:00 am
New York, Nov 2 (IBNS): The killing of journalists around the world for doing their job is “outrageous” and should not become the “new normal” according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
UN General Assembly renews long-standing call for end to US embargo against Cuba
Nov 02, 2018, at 08:51 am
New York, Nov 2 (IBNS): The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted in favour of condemning the United States economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba - a call it has made every year since 1992.
Looming famine in Yemen could put two million mothers at risk of death – UN agency
Nov 02, 2018, at 08:47 am
New York, Nov 2 (IBNS): The critical difficulties in accessing food in Yemen, and other hardships caused by the ongoing conflict, could lead to the world’s worst famine ever, and place up to two million malnourished, pregnant and lactating women at risk of death, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, said on Thursday.
Fighting ‘existential crisis’ of encroaching desert sands
Nov 02, 2018, at 08:45 am
New York, Nov 2 (IBNS): In a move described as a landmark decision, the Group of Earth Observations (GEO) – a UN-backed partnership set up to improve Earth observation data-sharing and availability, to benefit all life – has launched a global initiative to reverse the “existential crisis” created by desertification and land degradation.
Nov 02, 2018, at 08:38 am
New York, Nov 2 (IBNS): Ongoing tensions between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the country’s state authorities were centre stage, as the United Nations top envoy for the country visited the country’s South West State on Wednesday.
Guinean peacekeepers walk a fine line in Mali
Nov 01, 2018, at 12:28 pm
New York, Nov 1 (IBNS): A team of Guinean peacekeepers deployed to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, (MINUSMA) is playing a key role in removing explosives from areas in which the mission is operating.
Political incitement to violence against journalists is ‘toxic’: UN experts
Nov 01, 2018, at 12:26 pm
New York, Nov 1 (IBNS): A group of independent, UN-appointed human rights experts have called on world leaders to stop inciting hatred and violence against the media, citing the hundreds of journalists killed or forcibly detained because of their work, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
Security Council extends mandate of UN peace mission in Western Sahara by six months
Nov 01, 2018, at 12:24 pm
New York, Nov 1 (IBNS): The United Nations Security Council, on Wednesday, extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), until 30 April next year.
UN chief appoints Norwegian diplomat as his new envoy for Syria
Nov 01, 2018, at 12:21 pm
New York, Nov 1 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed veteran Norwegian diplomat Geir O. Pedersen as his next Special Envoy for Syria.
Nov 01, 2018, at 12:19 pm
New York, Nov 1 (IBNS): Calling for solidarity against anti-Semitism, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, addressed an inter-faith tribute held on Wednesday in New York’s historic Park East Synagogue, to honour victims of Saturday’s mass-shooting in Pittsburgh.
‘No cure’ for HIV in Zimbabwe says UN, following claims from local preacher
Nov 01, 2018, at 12:16 pm
New York, Nov 1 (IBNS): The United Nations in Zimbabwe is reaffirming that people living with HIV and AIDS need to continue with antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to manage their infections, after a local preacher reportedly claimed that he had received divine revelation of an herbal cure.
Explosion at security service building in Russia kills 1
Oct 31, 2018, at 04:27 pm
Moscow, Oct 31 (IBNS): At least one person was killed and three others were hurt when an explosion rocked the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) building in the northwestern city of Arkhangelsk, media reports said on Wednesday.
Oct 31, 2018, at 08:20 am
New York, Oct 31 (IBNS): After a lull in fighting in Ukraine over the summer, the last few weeks have seen a sharp rise in civilian deaths, more than half of which are due to landmines and explosive remnants of war, the United Nations top political official said on Tuesday.
Oct 31, 2018, at 08:17 am
New York, Oct 31 (IBNS): A radio series was launched on Tuesday in Nigeria by the UN migration agency (IOM) to sensitize vulnerable people seeking to pursue economic opportunities abroad on the perils of irregular migration – migration done outside the regulated frameworks – and provide information on pathways to migrate legally and safely.
Weekly migration of 1.4m to cities can contribute to ‘disasters’
Oct 31, 2018, at 08:15 am
New York, Oct 31 (IBNS): The migration of some 1.4 million people every week to cities around the world “can strain local capacities, contributing to increased risk from natural and human made disasters’” according to the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
UN rights chief says ‘bar must be set very high’ for investigation of murdered Saudi journalist
Oct 31, 2018, at 08:12 am
New York, Oct 31 (IBNS): The United Nations human rights chief pressed on Tuesday for an impartial, investigation into the “shockingly brazen” murder of Saudi Arabian journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.