Page 10 - United Nations

Have no personal feelings about who manages Twitter: UN chief Guterres

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said he has no personal feelings about who manages Twitter, but he is very interested in how the platform is managed, underlining the importance of combating hate speech and ensuring freedom of expression, especially of journalists, on social media platforms. I have no personal feelings in relation to who manages a platform. I am very interested in about how the platform is managed, he said here on Monday. Guterres was responding to a question during his end of the year press conference on whether he thinks Twitter's owner Elon Musk was a threat to free speech and would he be relieved if the billionaire stepped down as head of the social media platform. Twitter users had voted on Monday for Musk to quit as head of the social media giant in a poll the technology tycoon ran on his future and promised to abide by its results. A total of 57.5 per cent of people voted "yes" after the 51-year-old billionaire asked his 122 million followers whethe

US clashes over Russia using Iran drones in Ukraine war; accuses UN

The United States and its allies clashed with Iran and its ally Russia over Western claims that Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been attacking Ukraine and the US accused the UN secretary-general of yielding to Russian threats and failing to launch an investigation. At a contentious Security Council meeting Monday on the resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers, the United States and Iran also accused each other of responsibility for stalled negotiations on the Biden administration rejoining the agreement that former President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018. Iran's U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani insisted Iran's negotiating team exercised maximum flexibility in trying to reach agreement and even introduced an innovative solution to the remaining issues to break the impasse. But he claimed the unrealistic and rigid approach of the United States led to the current stalled talks on the 2015 agreement, known as the JCPOA. Let's

UN chief to convene 'no-nonsense' climate ambition summit in Sept next year

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday announced that he will convene a no-nonsense climate ambition summit in September next year where countries will have to come with credible and new action plans, with no room for back-sliders, blame-shifters or repackaging of announcements of previous years. Addressing journalists at his end of year press conference here, Guterres said climate change is an area where good news can be hard to find. We are still moving in the wrong direction. The global emissions gap is growing. The 1.5-degree goal is gasping for breath. National climate plans are falling woefully short, he said. Guterres said that going forward, he will keep pushing for a Climate Solidarity Pact, in which all big emitters make an extra effort to reduce emissions this decade in line with the 1.5-degree goal and ensure support for those who need it. There is no doubt that without it, the 1.5-degree goal will soon disappear. I have pulled no punches on the imperative for a

UN chief Antonio Guterres strongly hopes for Ukraine war to end in 2023

The United Nations chief expressed strong hopes that the Ukraine war will end in 2023 and on other global hotspots condemned the Iranian government's crackdown on demonstrators, urged all countries to fight terrorist threats from the extreme right and called on the international community to tell Israel's new right-wing government that there is no alternative to the two-state solution. In a wide-ranging end-of-year news conference on Monday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he sees no prospect of talks to end the war in Ukraine in the immediate future and expects the already escalating military conflict to continue. But he called for everything possible to be done to halt the most devastating conflict in Europe since World War II by the end of 2023 -- which he strongly hopes will happen. On other issues, Guterres urged Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to include all ethnic groups in the government, restore girls' rights to education at all levels and women's rights to work, and to

Pakistan at UN pleads for help with floods after 'cameras have gone'

Pakistan's unprecedented floods in the summer killed more than 1,700 people, inundated third of the nation and cut the nation's growth by half

Nobel Prize-winning UN World Food Program head to step down

The executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, which won the Nobel Peace Prize two years ago, says he will step down at the end of a six-year term heading the world's largest humanitarian organization. David Beasley, a Republican, served one term as South Carolina's governor from 1995 to 1999. In a statement Saturday, Beasley said he will exit his role at the conclusion of his term in April 2023. Serving in this capacity has been the greatest joy and deepest heartache of my life, Beasley said. Thanks to the generosity of governments and individuals, we have fed so many millions of people. But the reality is we have not been able to feed them all and the tragedy of extreme hunger in a wealthy world persists. Beasley was appointed to the U.N. post in 2017 by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, and was recommended for the job by Nikki Haley, another former South Carolina governor. Haley also served as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. during the Trump administration. ...

COP15 Montreal: India urges dedicated fund for biodiversity conservation

Says developing countries bear most of the burden of implementing targets; call comes as 196 parties to Convention on Biological Diversity finalise talks for a post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Pakistan could reconsider strategy for Afghanistan under Taliban: FM Bhutto

Pakistan could reconsider its strategy for dealing with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said, as he expressed disappointment over their failure to prevent the banned TTP from conducting cross-border terrorist attacks in his country. Addressing a UN event in New York Bilawal said: "Pakistan will not tolerate cross-border terrorism by the TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan) or other terrorist groups, like the BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army). He said that Pakistan could reconsider its strategy for dealing with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, but it could not afford to disengage with Kabul, the Dawn newspaper reported. Separately, in his address to a commemoration event to honour the victims of the December 16, 2014, terrorist attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, Bilawal said that Kabul's Taliban rulers had failed Pakistan's hope and expectation of constraining the TTP from conducting cross-border terrorist attacks. The TTP militant

Thousands in West, Central Africa could face starvation, warns UN

More than 25,000 people could face starvation in conflict-plagued parts of West Africa next year, a United Nations official warned Friday. Federico Doehnert of the World Food Program said violence and the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are largely driving the threat to people in Nigeria, Mali and Burkina Faso. "One of the most striking things is that where we already had issues with severe food insecurity last year, this year we're seeing a further deterioration Doehnert said in Dakar while presenting findings from the latest food security report by regional governments, the U.N. and aid groups. The cross-border region between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger is the epicenter of West Africa's escalating humanitarian crisis, which is compounded by climate change, severe floods and droughts placing more than 10 million people in need of assistance, the U.N. said in a statement this week. Doehnert said nearly 80% of people facing catastrophic hunger - som

Signs of Libya's partition grow, election needed, warns UN special envoy

The U.N. special envoy for Libya warned Friday that signs of partition are already evident in the troubled North African nation and urged influential nations to pressure Libya's rival leaders to urgently finalize the constitutional basis for elections. The first anniversary of the vote's postponement is coming up later in December, said Abdoulaye Bathily, who stressed that if there is no resolution, an alternative way should be found to hold elections. Oil-rich Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the county split into two rival administrations, each backed by different rogue militias and foreign governments. Bathily told the U.N. Security Council that the continuing disagreement between the two rivals specifically, the speaker of Libya's east-based parliament, Aguila Saleh, and Khaled al-Mashri, the president of the High Council of State based in the country's west, in the .

Two peacekeepers from Nigeria killed, 4 wounded in attack in Mali, says UN

Two UN peacekeepers from Nigeria were killed and four others wounded in an attack Friday on a peace patrol in the town of Timbuktu in northern Mali, the United Nations said. The UN Security Council said a member of Mali's security forces was also killed in the attack. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said one of the peacekeepers killed was a woman. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council strongly condemned the attack. The council stressed that involvement in planning, directing, sponsoring or conducting attacks targeting UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes. Mali has been in turmoil since a 2012 uprising when mutinous soldiers overthrew the president. The power vacuum that resulted ultimately led to a jihadist insurgency and a French-led war that ousted the jihadists from power in 2013. Insurgents remain active in Mali and extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have moved from the arid north to more populated central Mali s

Call for nations amid concerns over breakdown of UN biodiversity talks

International development finance is critical to further unlock further domestic public finance, as well as private and philanthropic finance

Angelina Jolie leaves role as UN refugee agency envoy

Angelina Jolie and the United Nations' refugee agency are parting ways after more than two decades. In a joint statement issued on Friday, the actress and the agency announced she was moving on from her role as the agency's special envoy to engage on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues. I will continue to do everything in my power in the years to come to support refugees and other displaced people, Jolie was quoted as saying in the joint statement, adding that she felt it was time to work differently by directly engaging with refugees and local organisations. Jolie first started working with the UN refugee agency in 2001 and was appointed its special envoy in 2012. The release described her as carrying out more than 60 field missions to bear witness to stories of suffering as well as hope and resilience, most recently travelling to Burkina Faso. After a long and successful time with UNHCR, I appreciate her desire to shift her engagement and support her decision,

Media should not be silenced: UN slams Twitter's 'arbitrary' suspension

The spokesperson said this move sets a dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats, and even worse

BJP to hold nationwide protests today over Bhutto's 'derogatory' remarks

Describing Bhutto's remark as "highly derogatory", BJP said the remarks were given to divert global attention from Pakistan's collapsing economy, lawlessness and anarchy in Pakistan

UN may run out of food for Pakistan flood victims due to lack of funds

The UN World Food Programme will run out of funds to feed 2.7 million people by Jan. 15, Chris Kaye, the agency's representative in Pakistan said

COP15: Over 3 mn sign petition for protection of 50% of world biodiversity

As countries iron out a deal to protect nature at the COP15 biodiversity conference here, a petition backed by 3.2 million citizens worldwide has called for a more ambitious target of at least 50 per cent conservation and protection of lands and oceans by 2030. Most of the 196 countries meeting in Montreal, including India, have backed a 30 per cent figure for protecting lands and oceans. However, a final agreement is due to be completed on December 19. "We are already well beyond 30 per cent conservation of the planet, if only our governments recognise the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities over their territories, lands and waters, Oscar Soria, Campaign Director, Avaaz said in a press briefing here. They are de facto the ones conserving biodiversity. Now's the time to strive for a higher target, of half the Earth. Any other number will put vital forests in jeopardy, and are clearly not enough to kickstart the necessary revolution to rebuild our relationship with ...

Pakistan seeks more int'l aid as it fails to deal with devastating floods

The environmental disaster has brought Pakistan to its knees, as millions continue to suffer in a country entirely unequipped to manage a calamity of this magnitude

Every Indian proud to see Mahatma Gandhi's bust at UN, says PM Modi

Every Indian is proud to see the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday. His tweet came after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar jointly unveiled Gandhi's bust at a sombre ceremony at the North Lawns of the United Nations with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of the 77th session of the General Assembly Csaba Korosi. Antonio Guterres described Gandhi as an uncompromising advocate for peaceful co-existence, non-discrimination and pluralism. He said, "The new installation located at @UN Headquarters will serve as a reminder of the values Gandhi upheld, and to which we must remain committed." Responding to him, Modi tweeted, "It makes every Indian proud to see the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the @UN HQ. May the Gandhian thoughts and ideals make our planet more prosperous and further sustainable development.

NITI Aayog, UNDP launch fifth 'Youth Co:Lab' for social entrepreneurs

NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and UNDP India on Thursday launched the fifth edition of 'Youth Co:Lab' to support young social entrepreneurs. According to an official statement, the applications for this edition were launched by AIM mission director Chintan Vaishnav and UNDP India Resident Representative Dennis Curry. Launched in partnership with AIM in 2019, Youth Co:Lab is an UNDP India initiative that aims to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to invest in and empower youth to accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship. The Youth Co:Lab initiative, till date, has been implemented in 28 countries and territories, reaching over 2,00,000 participants, benefitting more than 11,000 young social entrepreneurs and supporting over 1,240 social enterprises, it said.