United Nations

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2-Year Drought 'a Human Tragedy That's Only Growing'

Widespread drought conditions affect nearly 1 out of every 4 people on the planet

(Newser) - The last two years have been brutal in terms of drought. Nearly 25% of the world's population, some 1.84 billion people, were living under drought in 2022 and 2023, according to a UN report shared last month. The Horn of Africa experienced its worst drought in four decades,...

UN Experts Call to Stop Alabama Inmate's Execution

Independent monitors with group are 'alarmed' nitrogen gas will be used to execute Kenneth Smith

(Newser) - An Alabama inmate's scheduled execution by nitrogen gas later this month, which would be the first-ever execution by this method in the US, is now receiving pushback from the United Nations. The Guardian reports that four independent UN monitors have issued a joint statement on the plan for Jan....

Gaza Resolution Passes With US Abstention

UN resolution doesn't call for ceasefire but calls to speed up aid

(Newser) - After many delays, the UN Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution Friday calling for immediately speeding up aid deliveries to desperate civilians in Gaza, but without the original call for an "urgent suspension of hostilities" between Israel and Hamas. The vote in the 15-member council was 13-0, with the...

UN Calls Food Crisis in Africa Unprecedented

Most people can't afford a healthy diet, report says

(Newser) - At least three-fourths of Africans can't afford a healthy diet, and a fifth are undernourished due to an "unprecedented food crisis," United Nations agencies said in a report released Thursday with the African Union Commission. The continent's 1.4 billion people are confronting high levels of...

Climate 'Whisper' Now Will Soon Be a 'Roar'

So says lead author of new UN report on how we're closing in on blowing past global climate threshold

(Newser) - The globe is speeding toward 2.5 degrees Celsius to 2.9 degrees Celsius (4.5-5.2 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming since preindustrial times, set to blow well past the agreed-upon international climate threshold, a United Nations report has calculated. To have an even-money shot at keeping warming to...

UN Warns of Chaos in Gaza After Crowds Loot Warehouses
Thousands Loot Gaza Supplies
Oct 29, 2023 1:05 PM CDT

Thousands Loot Gaza Supplies

'Civil order is starting to break down,' UN relief official says

(Newser) - Thousands of people broke into a UN agency's warehouses in central and southern Gaza, taking "wheat, flour and other basic survival items," officials said. Humanitarian supplies brought in convoys from Egypt are stored in one of the warehouses, Reuters reports. "This is a worrying sign that...

UN Calls for Truce Over US Objections

Resolution doesn't condemn Oct. 7 Hamas attack

(Newser) - The UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution Friday calling for a humanitarian truce in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, the first United Nations response to the ongoing war. The 193-member world body adopted the Arab-drafted resolution by a vote of...

An Enraged Israel Calls for UN Chief's Resignation

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Hamas attack 'did not happen in a vacuum'

(Newser) - Israel is calling on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to resign and says it won't grant visas to UN representatives in the wake of what it calls "shocking" comments made by Guterres. In a Tuesday speech before the UN Security Council, Guterres "condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented...

US Blocks Resolution on Israel-Hamas War

Russia charges hypocrisy while Thomas-Greenfield urges waiting

(Newser) - The US vetoed a United Nations resolution Wednesday to condemn all violence against civilians in the Israel-Hamas war and to urge humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, saying it was too early to craft an appropriate Security Council response to the crisis. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the council needs...

Kenya to Lead UN Force to Battle Gangs in Haiti

US drafted resolution to have Kenya lead the mission against gangs

(Newser) - The UN Security Council voted Monday to send a multinational force to Haiti led by Kenya to help combat violent gangs in the troubled Caribbean country. The resolution drafted by the US was approved with 13 votes in favor and two abstentions from Russia and China. The resolution authorizes the...

At UN, Russia Calls West 'Empire of Lies'

Sergey Lavrov dismisses proposals for peace in Ukraine, restarting grain deal

(Newser) - Russia's foreign minister denounced Western nations generally and Ukrainian peace proposals and attempts to revive the Black Sea grain initiative specifically at the United Nations on Saturday. Sergey Lavrov called the Kyiv government's 10-point peace plan "completely not feasible," Reuters reports. If Ukraine and its Western...

Foundation Donates $200M for Reproductive Health Care

Melinda Gates announces pledge on UN sidelines, honoring the Carters and Bono

(Newser) - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $200 million to help save the lives of mothers and children during childbirth, as the largest American philanthropic donor throws its weight behind the issue during the nonprofit's annual Goalkeepers conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Melinda French...

'When Hatred Is Weaponized Against One Nation, It Never Stops There'

Zelensky addresses UN General Assembly

(Newser) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Russia is "weaponizing" everything from food and energy to abducted children in its war against Ukraine—and he warned world leaders that the same could happen to them, the AP reports. "When hatred is weaponized against one nation, it never stops there,...

New York Protests Pressure Biden, UN on Fossil Fuels

Climate summit this week will not hear from the US

(Newser) - Frustration over inaction on the harm to the planet being done by fossil fuels brought tens of thousands of protesters to the streets of Manhattan on Sunday. The demonstration was held in anticipation of UN meetings this week on addressing global warming, but the message was aimed most directly at...

US, UNESCO Get Back Together
US Is Officially
Back in UNESCO
Jul 12, 2023 1:00 AM CDT

US Is Officially Back in UNESCO

US rejoins UN's education, science and culture agency

(Newser) - After leaving UNESCO in 2019 due to what it saw as anti-Israel bias and other issues, the US has now officially rejoined the United Nation's education, science and culture agency. After the Trump administration withdrew membership, the Biden administration proposed a plan to rejoin, and in June, UNESCO's...

UN Watchdog to Japan: OK to Dump Wastewater in Sea

Critics aren't happy about release of radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear power plant

(Newser) - A little radioactive water in the Pacific? Not that big a deal, at least according to the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, which gave the OK Tuesday for Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to dump more than a million tons of treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. NPR notes...

She Made a First-of-Its-Kind Visit to Guantanamo
She Made a
First-of-Its-Kind
Visit to Guantanamo
the rundown
Jun 28, 2023 9:55 AM CDT

She Made a First-of-Its-Kind Visit to Guantanamo

Independent UN monitor was permitted to visit the detention center

(Newser) - Since its 2002 opening, no UN human rights investigators had been permitted to visit Guantanamo Bay. That changed in February, when Irish law professor Fionnuala Ni Aolain was granted access—and what she found was "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment." The UN special rapporteur spent four days at...

UN Chief Says New Treaty Gives Oceans a 'Fighting Chance'

Members adopt first treaty to protect high seas marine life

(Newser) - Members of the United Nations adopted the first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas on Monday, with the UN's chief hailing the historic agreement as giving the ocean "a fighting chance." Delegates from the 193 member nations burst into applause and then stood up...

At This Rate, Child Marriage Will Continue for Centuries: UN

Progress is being made, but not fast enough, according to new report

(Newser) - The world isn't moving fast enough to combat child marriage as, at current rates, it will be another 300 years before the practice is eliminated. That's according to a UN report , which finds 12 million girls are married as minors each year. The report does highlight progress made...

UN: 26% of People Don't Have Safe Drinking Water

'10% of the global population lives in countries with high or critical water stress'

(Newser) - A new UN report says 26% of the world’s population doesn’t have access to safe drinking water and 46% lacks access to basic sanitation. The World Water Development Report 2023, released Tuesday, painted a stark picture of the huge gap that needs to be filled to meet UN...

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