‘Legally binding’ nuclear-test ban essential to prevent ‘catastrophic impact’ says UN chief
Sep 07, 2018, at 08:52 am
New York, Sept 7 (IBNS): On the annual observance of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, Secretary-General António Guterres has highlighted the “inextricable connection” between testing and eliminating nuclear weapons across the world.
UN hails ‘ground-breaking’ Supreme Court ruling to decriminalize gay sex in India
Sep 07, 2018, at 08:48 am
New York, Sept 7 (IBNS): A landmark ruling in India that decriminalizes gay sex has been welcomed as a “ground-breaking decision” by the UN agency leading the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Libya has ‘lurched from one emergency to another,’ high-level UN official tells Security Council
Sep 06, 2018, at 09:38 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): The status quo in Libya is “untenable,” Ghassan Salamé, Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Peace must be built ‘block after block’ UN General Assembly President tells key forum
Sep 06, 2018, at 09:35 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): Under the theme of charting “A Credible Pathway to Sustaining Peace,” Miroslav LajÄák, President of the 72nd General Assembly, convened this year’s one-day High-level Forum for Member States and others on Wednesday, to further promote a global culture of peace.
UN media seminar on peace in the Middle East, highlights ‘power of words over weapons’
Sep 06, 2018, at 09:29 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): Engaging in debate over how best to advance peace in the Middle East and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “a welcome reminder of the power of words over weapons,” said United Nations chief António Guterres on Wednesday.
Major UN push for peace to end Yemen’s ‘hot war’ begins in Geneva
Sep 06, 2018, at 09:26 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): Efforts are under way to bring a “flickering signal of hope” to war-weary civilians in Yemen with UN-organised consultations between the Government and the Houthi opposition in Geneva set to begin, the UN’s Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, said on Wednesday.
Security Council takes up Nicaragua crisis, with some reservations
Sep 06, 2018, at 09:23 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): Political turmoil in Nicaragua could pose a threat to the security of countries across Central America, the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday.
In the eye of the Caribbean storm: one year on from Irma and Maria
Sep 06, 2018, at 09:20 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): “It was angry. That's what it sounded like to me. When the roof came off, there were these horrible screeches, this horrible noise. It was devastating, and we all had to run”.
Burundi: ‘They’re hiding the bodies’ after summary executions, say UN investigators
Sep 06, 2018, at 09:16 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): Serious rights violations are continuing in Burundi, including summary executions and hate speech at the highest level of government, UN-appointed investigators said on Wednesday.
-1536205394.jpg "Guatemala bars UN anti-corruption investigator from re-entering country")
Guatemala bars UN anti-corruption investigator from re-entering country
Sep 06, 2018, at 09:13 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): Guatemalan authorities informed United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday that they have barred Commissioner Ivan Velasquez, of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), from re-entering the country.
Iraq milestone: Some four million people return home, displacement drops to four-year low
Sep 06, 2018, at 08:44 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): For the first time in nearly four years, the number of displaced Iraqis has fallen below two million, according to a new report released on Tuesday by the United Nations migration agency.
UN Chief commends Mauritania for peaceful election process
Sep 06, 2018, at 08:41 am
New York, Sept 6 (IBNS): UN Secretary-General Antonió Gutteres has welcomed the “peaceful conduct” of the Mauritanian elections that took place on 1 September.
Africa’s Lake Chad Basin: Over $2.1 billion pledged, to provide comprehensive crisis response
Sep 05, 2018, at 09:15 am
New York, Sept 5 (IBNS): A United Nations-backed humanitarian conference to raise much needed resources for relief, development and peacebuilding programmes in Africa’s Lake Chad Basin concluded on Tuesday, raising some $2.17 billion in support and about $467 million in concessional loans for the crisis-ridden region.
Major increase in Europe’s refugee and migrant death rate: UNHCR
Sep 05, 2018, at 09:12 am
New York, Sept 5(IBNS): The number of refugees and migrants reaching the European continent is going down, but the rate of fatalities has gone up dramatically, according to a new report from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR
It’s time to apply maximum ‘moral pressure’ to save lives in Syria’s Idlib: UN negotiator
Sep 05, 2018, at 09:09 am
New York,Sept 5 (IBNS): All countries with influence over the grinding conflict in Syria should use all the “moral pressure” they can to avoid a full-scale military attack on Idlib, particularly Russia and Turkey, the United Nations top negotiator Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday.
New home for scores of South Sudan's displaced
Sep 05, 2018, at 09:07 am
New York, Sept 5 (IBNS): Nearly 3,500 people displaced by violence in South Sudan have been relocated from a UN-run camp in the capital, Juba, to temporary housing, the organization’s mission in the country, UNMISS, reported on Tuesday.
Tobacco control, a ‘major component’ of environmental protection efforts – UN health official
Sep 05, 2018, at 09:01 am
New York, Sept 5 (IBNS): From deforestation to soil degradation and pollution, tobacco production and its use by consumers, is “tremendously destructive” for the environment, although control measures can help curb its negative environmental effects, including the damaging impact of climate change, the head of the UN tobacco control treaty watchdog – formally known as the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC - has told UN News.
Ceasefire agreement reached in Libyan capital, announces UN mission
Sep 05, 2018, at 08:58 am
New York, Sept 5 (IBNS): An agreement on a ceasefire in Tripoli has been reached under the auspices of Ghassan Salame, the top United Nations official in Libya, the Organization’s Support Mission in the country, UNSMIL, has announced.
With AI, jobs are changing but no mass unemployment expected – UN labour experts
Sep 05, 2018, at 08:56 am
New York, Sept 5 (IBNS): The rise of frontier technologies like Artificial Intelligence has caused fears of robots taking over blue-collar jobs, but a United Nations expert says humans still have the upper hand given their creativity and ability to form relationships.
Iraq milestone: Some four million people return home, displacement drops to four-year low
Sep 05, 2018, at 08:53 am
New York, Sept 5 (IBNS): For the first time in nearly four years, the number of displaced Iraqis has fallen below two million, according to a new report released on Tuesday by the United Nations migration agency.
UNHCR calls for action against xenophobic attacks in South Africa
Sep 05, 2018, at 08:48 am
New York, Sept 5 (IBNS): Authorities in South Africa are being urged by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, to act in the wake of recent violence against foreigners in the country, some of which has been deadly.
Funding cuts blamed behind Brazil National Museum fire
Sep 04, 2018, at 09:46 am
Rio De Janeiro, Sept 4 (IBNS): Brazilian officials have blamed lack of funding as the cause behind the major fire which damaged National Museum on Sunday.
China: 5.5 earthquake hits Xinjiang, no casualty
Sep 04, 2018, at 09:08 am
Beijing, Sept 4 (IBNS): An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter Scale hit northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday.
Sep 04, 2018, at 08:51 am
New York, Sept 4 (IBNS): Despite improvements in the humanitarian situation in the Lake Chad region, millions continue to remain dependent on lifesaving assistance, the top United Nations relief official said on Monday, urging greater international support for the region to safeguard the progress achieved.
In Beijing, UN chief urges China, Africa for a win-win collaboration for ‘the future we want’
Sep 04, 2018, at 08:48 am
New York, Sept 4 (IBNS): Highlighting the economic and development progress made in China and Africa, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged them to unite their combined potential for peaceful, sustainable and equitable progress to the benefit of all humankind.
Sep 04, 2018, at 08:39 am
New York, Sept 4 (IBNS): Stressing that the legal process that led to the conviction of two Reuters journalists in Myanmar “clearly breached” international standards, the United Nations top human rights official called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Sep 03, 2018, at 12:24 pm
Naypyidaw, Sep 3 (IBNS): Two Reuters journalists, who covered the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, were found guilty of defying state secrets act and handed a seven-year-jail-term, by a country court.
UN chief urges calm as violence erupts in Libyan capital
Sep 03, 2018, at 09:21 am
New York, Sept 3 (IBNS): Condemning the escalation of violence in and around the Libyan capital, Tripoli, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all parties to immediately cease hostilities and grant humanitarian relief to those in need.
Brazil: Massive fire destroys National Museum
Sep 03, 2018, at 09:10 am
Rio de Janeiro, Sept 3 (IBNS): A fire broke out at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro which left the 200-year-old structure destroyed, media reports said on Monday.
Mauritania: UN chief urges peaceful, credible elections
Sep 02, 2018, at 04:28 pm
New York, Sept 2 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all parties in Mauritania to ensure peaceful and credible elections as the country holds legislative, regional and municipal polls on Saturday.