Category Archives: United Nations

Global leaders try to dissuade Israel from increasing attacks on Lebanon

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US backed Israel in blaming Hezbollah for strike on Golan Heights but is ‘working on a diplomatic solution’

Global leaders were engaged in intensive diplomacy on Sunday to dissuade Israel from increasing attacks on Lebanon, amid fears that a wider regional war could erupt in response to a rocket strike that killed 12 children playing football in the occupied Golan Heights.

As the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened a meeting of his national security cabinet, the White House backed Israeli statements that blamed Saturday’s attack on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, saying: “It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”

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Man dies after trying to drive truck on to NSW ferry; global sea ice levels hit record low – as it happened

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Q: Why target the individuals when it’s state policy?

Penny Wong said the Australian government has been “clear in terms of state-to-state relations about our view on settlements”.

They are unlawful under international law. We’ve been clear about that … We have also said that we want to continue to take steps towards a two-state solution.

That may not be the view of some people in the Israeli government, but that is the view of the Australian government.

These individuals have been involved in violent attacks on Palestinians, including things such as beating, sexual assault and torture, resulting in serious injury and in some cases death.

We have imposed these after careful consideration and we would expect that all Australians would recognise the weight of these.

Settlements are unlawful under international law. We are continuing to act in ways that we can to look to how we protect a pathway to a two-state solution, and part of that is to ensure we also impose penalties who perpetrate violence against Palestinians.

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At least 26 killed in Papua New Guinea village attacks, including 16 children

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Police say gang of more than 30 youths also raped women and girls before massacres in remote villages

At least 26 people were killed, including 16 children, during attacks by a gang of young men on three Papua New Guinea villages last week, police have said, adding that their houses were torched and other villagers were still missing.

Angoram police station commander Inspector Peter Mandi told reporters on Thursday an unconfirmed number of women and girls were also raped before being killed in the Sepik River villages of Tamara, Tambari, and Angrumara in East Sepik’s Angoram district.

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Discovery of poliovirus in Gaza ‘incredibly alarming’, Unicef executive director says

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Exclusive: Territory is ‘one of the most, if not the most dangerous place to be a child right now’, Catherine Russell says, and ‘we desperately need this conflict to end’

The “incredibly alarming” discovery of the poliovirus in Gaza only adds to the besieged territory’s status as one of “the most dangerous places to be a child right now”, the head of the UN children’s agency has warned.

The executive director of Unicef, Catherine Russell, said during a visit to Australia that Gaza was increasingly lawless.

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Africa to overtake Asia with highest number of hungry people by 2030, says UN

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Annual report says climate crisis, conflict and economic shocks leave the global food system ‘disastrously vulnerable’

Africa will overtake Asia as the continent with the highest number of people experiencing hunger in the world by 2030, the UN has predicted.

In its annual state of food security and nutrition report, five UN agencies said there was a “clear trend” of rising prevalence of undernourishment in Africa.

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Most new HIV infections occurred outside sub-Saharan Africa for first time – UN report

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African countries hailed for achievements, but UNAids says cases on the rise in other areas of the world

The majority of new HIV infections last year occurred in countries outside sub-Saharan Africa for the first time.

African countries have made swift progress in tackling the virus, with the number of infections in sub-Saharan Africa 56% lower than in 2010, a new report from UNAids said. Globally, infections have fallen by 39% over the same period.

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Israel-Gaza war: ceasefire ‘close to the goalline’, says US – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

Sven Koopmans, the EU’s special representative for the Middle East peace process, has said he still believes a two-state solution – a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza alongside Israel - is achievable despite opposition to it from Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), he said Netanyahu’s government cannot indefinitely disregard European views on resolving the conflict, with Israel needing international support amid its war in Gaza.

I think that recently he was very explicit about rejecting the two-state solution.

Now, that means that he has a different point of view from much of the rest of the world.

It is important that we have that discussion. I am sure that in such a meeting, there will be very substantive discussions about what we expect from our partner Israel. And that relates to things that we do not see at present.

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Gaza conflict could fuel IS and al-Qaida revival, security experts warn

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Officials and analysts warn of evidence of increased Islamic State and al-Qaida militant activity across Middle East

Security services across the Middle East fear the conflict in Gaza will allow Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaida to rebuild across the region, leading to a wave of terrorist plots in coming months and years.

Officials and analysts say there is already evidence of increased Islamic militant extremism in many places, although multiple factors are combining to cause the surge.

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Colombia gives assurances over UN biodiversity summit after rebels’ threat

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Organisers working to ensure safe environment for attenders in October after guerrillas’ warning of disruption

Colombian authorities have insisted it will be safe to attend a UN biodiversity summit in Cali later this year, after a dissident rebel group threatened to disrupt the event.

This week Central General Staff (EMC), a guerrilla faction that rejected the country’s 2016 peace agreement, said the UN nature summit Cop16 would “fail”, in a post on X addressed to the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro.

Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features.

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Clearing Gaza of almost 40m tonnes of war rubble will take years, says UN

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Assessment puts cost at $500m-$600m and underlines immense challenge of rebuilding after months of Israeli offensive

A fleet of more than one hundred lorries would take 15 years to clear Gaza of almost 40m tonnes of rubble in an operation costing between $500m (£394m) and $600m, a UN assessment has found.

The conclusions will underline the immense challenge of rebuilding the Palestinian territory after months of a grinding Israeli offensive that has led to massive destruction of homes and infrastructure.

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Fresh scrutiny of free speech in Saudi Arabia after brothers’ convictions over tweets

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Crown prince criticised ‘bad laws’ for Mohammed al-Ghamdi’s death sentence months before second conviction

Fresh questions have been raised about the suppression of free speech in Saudi Arabia after the brother of a man facing the death penalty for tweeting to 10 followers was handed a 20-year sentence for largely innocuous tweets.

The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had said Mohammed al-Ghamdi was a victim of “bad laws” after being sentenced to death, yet the crown prince permitted the same laws to be used to sentence Ghamdi’s younger brother, Asaad al-Ghamdi.

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Documents reveal why Australia voted yes in key UN motion on Palestinian membership

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Exclusive: Internal advice shows Australia never seriously considered voting against resolution to boost status of Palestinian mission, despite positions of US and Israel

It’s an issue that has sparked domestic and international debate and helped fuel the defection of Fatima Payman from the Labor party.

Now, newly obtained internal documents shed light on the Australian government’s conditions for recognising the state of Palestine – and the factors it weighed up before voting “yes” in a highly anticipated UN vote on 10 May.

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Sudan’s warring factions using starvation as weapon, experts say

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Special rapporteurs working for UN warn famine is imminent and over 25 million people need urgent help

Human rights experts working for the United Nations have accused Sudan’s warring parties of using starvation as a war weapon, amid mounting warnings of imminent famine in the African country.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the country’s military and a notorious paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

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Stonehenge likely to be put on world heritage danger list over tunnel plan

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Unesco officials recommend adding Wiltshire stone circle amid fears road scheme would compromise its integrity

Stonehenge is likely to be put on a list of world heritage sites that are in danger because of the plan to build a tunnel under the precious landscape.

Unesco officials have recommended adding the Wiltshire stone circle and the area around it to the list because of concerns that the tunnel would “compromise the integrity” of one of the Earth’s great prehistoric sites.

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Protecting just 1.2% of Earth’s land could save most-threatened species, says study

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Study identifies 16,825 sites around the world where prioritising conservation would prevent extinction of thousands of unique species

Protecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.

Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on land would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of the mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are closest to disappearing.

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Shutting Afghan women out of key UN conference to appease Taliban ‘a betrayal’

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Group allegedly demanding Afghan participation in Doha meeting this month be limited to men and that women’s rights be excluded from the agenda

Excluding Afghan women from an upcoming UN conference on Afghanistan would be a “betrayal” of women and girls in the country, say human rights groups and former politicians.

The Taliban are reportedly demanding that no Afghan women be allowed to participate in the UN meeting in Doha starting 30 June, set up to discuss the international community’s approach to Afghanistan, and that women’s rights are not on the agenda.

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US envoy visits Israel for talks aimed at averting deeper conflict with Hezbollah

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Negotiator Amos Hochstein dispatched by Washington amid anxiety that deepening conflict could trigger war

A senior envoy from the Biden administration has met Benjamin Netanyahu for talks aimed at averting a deepening conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, after Israel warned over the weekend that it was on the brink of a “wider escalation”.

Amos Hochstein has spent months in largely behind-the-scenes diplomacy in an attempt to quieten tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Since the war in Gaza began in October, there have been worsening daily exchanges of fire, and tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced on both sides of the “Blue Line” between Israel and Lebanon.

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‘We need the world to wake up’: Sudan facing world’s deadliest famine in 40 years

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Millions face disaster as Sudanese army and RSF accused of using food access as a weapon in on-going war

Sudan is facing a famine that could become worse than any the world has seen since Ethiopia 40 years ago, US officials have warned, as aid deliveries continue to be blocked by the warring armies but arms supplies to both sides continue to flow in.

With much of the world’s attention focused on Gaza, the scene of another human-made famine, Sudan is already the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and is slipping towards a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions, with far less media coverage and global concern. A UN humanitarian appeal for the country has received only 16% of the funds it needs.

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Unrwa accuses Israel of frequently preventing aid deliveries to Gaza

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UN relief agency says authorities are hampering operations by failing to grant requests for access permits

The UN’s relief agency for Palestinians, the largest aid organisation operating in Gaza, has said Israeli authorities are frequently preventing it from delivering aid and hampering its operations in the territory.

“We are getting very few positive responses to our requests for aid delivery and permits to move around Gaza,” said Tamara Alrifai, the director of external relations for Unrwa.

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Conflicts drive number of forcibly displaced people to record high

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Sharp rise, equivalent to population of London, means nearly 120 million have been driven from their homes

The number of people forced out of their homes around the world last year was the equivalent of the population of London, according to the UN’s refugee agency.

The latest annual assessment from the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) said a sharp rise in the number of people forcibly displaced during 2023 had brought the total to a record high of more than 117 million. Conflicts were largely to blame with many, such as those in Ukraine and Sudan, showing little sign of ending.

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