UN marks 75-year milestone anniversary of founding Charter

Jun 27, 2020, at 04:42 pm

New York/IBNS: The UN Charter “brought rules and hope to a world in ruins”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a virtual ceremony on Friday, commemorating 75 years since the Organization’s foundational text was signed.

Speak out against torture, an ‘abhorrent denial of human dignity’, urges UN chief

Jun 27, 2020, at 04:38 pm

New York: Torture is an “egregious abuse of human rights”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture. 

Chinese Embassy calls on US to lift visa restrictions imposed over situation in Hong Kong

Jun 27, 2020, at 04:20 pm

Moscow/Sputnik:  The Chinese Embassy in the United States called on Washington on Saturday to lift the newly introduced visa restrictions for Chinese officials over the situation in Hong Kong.

Facebook to ban hateful content in ads, label newsworthy posts over rules breaches – CEO

Jun 27, 2020, at 04:15 pm

Moscow/Sputnik: Facebook will ban hateful content in ads published in the social network as well as label newsworthy posts that are violating the rules company's rules, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.

France's security law significant measure to counter terrorism, safeguard national safety

Jun 27, 2020, at 03:34 pm

Paris/Xinhua: France's security law has been "implemented in a balanced way" and fulfilled its due role in fighting terrorism and maintaining internal security, according to a government report.

COVID-19’s far reaching impact on global drug abuse

Jun 26, 2020, at 10:04 am

New York/IBNS: More than 35 million people around the world now suffer from drug addiction, according to the latest annual report on the scourge, from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released on Thursday, which also analyzes the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global drug markets.

DR Congo: eastern Ebola outbreak defeated, ‘mission impossible’ now a ‘sign of hope’

Jun 26, 2020, at 10:01 am

New York/IBNS: After nearly two years and 2,280 deaths, the world’s second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is finally over, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

US sanctions against international court staff a ‘direct attack’ on judicial independence

Jun 26, 2020, at 10:00 am

New York/IBNS: The decision by the United States to authorize sanctions targeting staff at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is “a direct attack to the institution’s judicial independence”, UN human rights experts said on Thursday.

$1.8 billion pledged to assist Sudan’s people on the road to peace and democracy

Jun 26, 2020, at 09:55 am

New York/IBNS: A High-Level Sudan Partnership Conference took place on Thursday gathering some 50 countries and international organizations together in Berlin, generating pledges to bolster the African nation’s economic and political transformation to the tune of $1.8 billion, and discuss the challenges that lie ahead.

Yemen: millions of children facing deadly hunger, amidst aid shortages and COVID-19

Jun 26, 2020, at 09:52 am

New York/IBNS: Millions of children in the heart of the world’s worst humanitarian disaster could be pushed to the brink of starvation, due to huge shortfalls in humanitarian aid funding amid the coronavirus pandemic, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

Speak out against torture, an ‘abhorrent denial of human dignity’, urges UN chief

Jun 26, 2020, at 09:50 am

New York/IBNS: Torture is an “egregious abuse of human rights”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture.

Hong Kong new law: Beijing targeting schools to impose its policies

Jun 25, 2020, at 10:38 pm

Beijing: It seems that China is apparently trying to target school students to silence them as the system has emerged as a battleground over Beijing's move to impose  national security legislation in the city.

Female minor student protester accuses Hong Kong Police officer of sexual assault

Jun 25, 2020, at 10:30 pm

Hong Kong: A minor girl in Hong Kong has claimed that one police officer sexually assaulted her during her arrest at a protest in the city last September, media reports said.

Security law puts Hong Kong pastors at risk of being extradited to China, warns Watch Dog

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:27 pm

Beijing: China is pushing to implement the national security law on Hong Kong and in such a scenario pro-democracy activists and religious leaders face a risk of being extradited to mainland China for trial, as per a US-based Christian watchdog.

Pakistan continues to serve as a safe haven for terror groups: US State Dept

Jun 25, 2020, at 12:07 pm

Washignton/IBNS: Pakistan continued to serve as a safe haven for certain regionally focused terrorist groups, observed the US State Department in its 2019 Country report on terrorism released on Wednesday.

UN chief urges Israel to abandon annexation plans

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:58 am

New York/IBNS: The UN Secretary-General has called on Israel to scrap plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, a move that could occur as early as next week.

170 signatories endorse UN ceasefire appeal during COVID crisis

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:55 am

New York/IBNS: UN Member States, Observers and others, sent a strong political message this week, with the announcement that 170 signatories have now endorsed the UN’s call to silence the guns, and stand united against the global threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Countries should find strategy that ceases to empower China: IPAC

Jun 24, 2020, at 06:55 pm

Washington: Stating that the Galwan standoff between Chinese and Indian Army officials has shown the return of 'major power violence' in the world, a global organisation of parliamentarians from democracies has said countries should work together to find a strategy that ceases to empower President Xi Jinping’s country.

Six killed in light aircraft crash in Mexico

Jun 24, 2020, at 04:33 pm

Mexico City/UNI: The Prosecutor's Office of Mexico's Chihuahua State said a Cessna light aircraft had crashed killing the pilot and five passengers.

Kyrgyzstan reports 207 new COVID-19 cases

Jun 24, 2020, at 04:33 pm

Bishkek/Xinhua: Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday reported 207 new COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide tally to 3,726.

Amid COVID-19 outbreak, China's dog meat festival begins

Jun 24, 2020, at 11:01 am

Despite the government's recent classification of the animals as pets rather than livestock, the dog meat festival has opened in China which is believed to be the country from where the deadly COVID-19 disease originated.

Sexual violence against children during armed conflict, vastly under-reported

Jun 24, 2020, at 10:18 am

New York/IBNS: While warring parties agreed to more than 30 action plans, road maps, command orders and other measures to better protect children in 2019 – the highest number in any one year – rape and other forms of sexual violence remain vastly under-reported, including against boys, the leading UN advocate on the issue told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Universal, inclusive education ‘non-negotiable’

Jun 24, 2020, at 10:17 am

New York/IBNS: Inclusive education should be a “non-negotiable” right for all children, the head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a new report launched on Tuesday.

UN agency assisting Palestinians working at ‘full capacity with inadequate resources’

Jun 24, 2020, at 10:15 am

New York/IBNS: Some 75 countries and non-governmental organizations have  pledged  $130 million in financial commitments to the UN agency that assists Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, UNRWA, following a  virtual conference on Tuesday.

Frontline public servants lauded for ‘remarkable acts of service to humankind’

Jun 24, 2020, at 10:14 am

New York/IBNS: As the world continues to grapple with the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday paid tribute to frontline public sector workers for their “remarkable acts of service to humankind”, marking Public Service Day.

Widows must not be left out of efforts to build back better after COVID-19

Jun 24, 2020, at 10:13 am

New York/IBNS: When countries begin building back from the COVID-19 pandemic they must also work towards dismantling laws that discriminate against women, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for International Widow’s Day on Tuesday.

UN condemns killing of Indonesian peacekeeper in DR Congo

Jun 24, 2020, at 10:11 am

New York/IBNS: The United Nations has strongly condemned an attack believed to be carried out by rebel militia on peacekeepers serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), which left one Indonesian ‘blue helmet’ dead, and another injured.

COVID-19 upends ‘entire generation’ of 600 million South Asian children

Jun 24, 2020, at 10:08 am

New York/IBNS: Without urgent action, COVID-19 will continue to unravel decades of progress across South Asia, destroying the “hopes and futures of an entire generation”, warns a new report released on Tuesday by the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

Vote in Japan to change status of disputed islands, may escalate tension with China

Jun 23, 2020, at 11:01 pm

Tokyo: The dispute between Japan and China might reach another point of tension as a Japanese city passed a bill to change the administrative name of a group of islands under its authority to officially include the name "Senkaku" for the first time.

Japan-China may engage in bitter standoff over claim on group of islands on East China Sea

Jun 23, 2020, at 10:53 pm

Beijing/Tokyo: Away from Ladakh, a group of islands on the East China Sea can be the next hotspot for a bigger dispute between India and China as both the countries claim the region to be their own.