Category Archives: United Nations

Row over definition of ‘gender’ hangs over Cop30 plans to support women

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Advocates say conservative states’ push to define gender as ‘biological sex’ would backslide on decade-old language within the UN

A row over the definition of the term “gender” threatens to bog down pivotal talks at the Cop30 climate summit.

Before the UN talks in Brazil, hardline conservative states have pushed to define gender as “biological sex” over their concerns trans and non-binary people could be included in a major plan to ensure climate action addresses gender inequality and empowers women.

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Dire warnings over aid and hunger following RSF’s capture of Sudanese city

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Fears rise for displaced civilians as UN reports deteriorating situation and MSF warns of ‘staggering’ malnutrition

There are grave fears for civilians who survived the capture of El Fasher by a Sudanese paramilitary group last month, as the UN warned relief operations were on the brink of collapse and an aid group said malnutrition in displacement camps had reached “staggering” levels.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured El Fasher – the capital of North Darfur state and the last urban centre outside of its grasp in the wider Darfur region – on 26 October. Survivor accounts and video and satellite evidence suggest more than 1,500 people were killed in ethnically targeted massacres in the immediate aftermath.

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UAE refuses to join Gaza stabilisation force without clear legal framework

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Decision reflects wider regional doubts about terms of US-drafted plan to disarm Hamas

Plans for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force charged with disarming Hamas inside Gaza face growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates said it would not participate because it did not yet see a clear legal framework for the force.

Israel has already ruled out Turkey joining the force, and King Abdullah of Jordan has said Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey last week and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

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Over 100 US leaders to attend Cop30 climate summit as Trump stays away

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Dozens of US state and local leaders will be at talks in Brazil with president’s team expected to send no representatives

The Trump administration appears to be sitting out this month’s United Nations climate talks known as Cop30, telling the Guardian it will not deploy any high-level representatives to the negotiations.

But dozens of US subnational leaders attend to promote their climate efforts.

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UK rejected atrocity prevention plans for Sudan despite warning of possible genocide

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Exclusive: British government adopted ‘least ambitious’ option months before RSF’s massacres in El Fasher

Britain rejected atrocity prevention plans for Sudan despite intelligence warnings that the city of El Fasher would fall amid a wave of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide, according to a report seen by the Guardian.

Government officials turned down the plans six months into the 18-month siege of El Fasher in favour of the “least ambitious” option of four presented.

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Sudan civil war spiralling out of control, UN secretary general says

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António Guterres calls for the violence to end but there appears little appetite for ceasefire proposed by US

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said the war in Sudan is spiralling out of control as he called for a halt to the fighting and an end to the violence.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are reportedly backed by the United Arab Emirates, seized El Fasher in Darfur last week after a near 18-month siege. Some of its soldiers have posted videos of civilians being shot, including in the town’s maternity hospital.

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UN expert urged to investigate Lebanon over alleged torture of Egyptian-Turkish poet

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Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi has been imprisoned in the UAE for almost a year for criticising Emirati, Egyptian and Saudi governments

The UN special rapporteur on torture is being urged to investigate Lebanon’s role in the treatment of the Egyptian-Turkish poet and activist Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi, a dissident who has been imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates for more than 10 months over a post he made on social media.

Legal counsel representing Qaradawi filed a complaint to the UN rapporteur on Thursday, asking it to examine the situation.

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UN approves resolution supporting Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara

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Move is strongest endorsement yet for retained rule over disputed territory, despite fierce opposition from Algeria

The UN security council has approved a US-backed resolution supporting Morocco’s claim to the disputed Western Sahara, despite fierce opposition from Algeria.

Although Friday’s vote was divided, the resolution offers the strongest endorsement yet for Morocco’s plan to keep sovereignty over the territory, which also has backing from most European Union members and a growing number of African allies.

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UN leaders condemn ‘horrifying’ mass killings in Sudan

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Emergency security council session criticises killings of civilians in El Fasher and external supply of arms to RSF

Diplomats and senior UN figures speaking at the UN security council have condemned mass killings by the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher after the Sudanese city “descended into an even darker hell” following the paramilitary group’s takeover at the weekend.

Widespread reports of ethnically targeted killings in recent days prompted the UK, as the UN penholder on Sudan, to call an emergency session of the security council in New York on Thursday.

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Russian drone attacks on civilians in Ukraine are war crimes, UN report concludes

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Rights commission inquiry focused on south-east of country found drones targeted gathering points and critical infrastructure

A UN rights commission has concluded that Russia’s drone attacks on civilians in south-eastern Ukraine constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In a report published this week, the commission said Russian forces, operating under a centralised command, had systematically used drones to “intentionally target civilians and civilian objects and cause harm and destruction”.

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World’s climate plans fall drastically short of action needed, analysis shows

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Recent plans submitted to UN by more than 60 countries would cut carbon by only 10%, a sixth of what is needed

Recently drafted climate plans from scores of countries fall drastically short of what is needed to stave off the worst effects of climate breakdown, analysis has shown.

More than 60 countries have so far submitted national plans on greenhouse gas emissions to the UN, setting out how they will curb carbon for the next decade.

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UK military equipment used by militia accused of genocide found in Sudan, UN told

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Exclusive: two dossiers of material seen by the security council raise questions over export of British arms to the UAE, which has been accused of supplying weapons to paramilitary RSF group

British military equipment has been found on battlefields in Sudan, used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group accused of genocide, according to documents seen by the UN security council.

UK-manufactured small-arms target systems and British-made engines for armoured personnel carriers have been recovered from combat sites in a conflict that has now caused the world’s biggest humanitarian catastrophe.

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Turkey likely to be excluded from Gaza stabilisation force after Israeli objection

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Doubts over whether Ankara will be part of 5,000-strong force to be deployed to prevent postwar power vacuum

Turkey will probably be excluded from the 5,000-strong stabilisation force that is to be set up inside Gaza after Israel made clear it did not want Turkish troops taking part.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said it was a requirement that Israel is comfortable with the nationality of the multinational force, set up to prevent a security vacuum when the massive task of reconstruction in Gaza starts. Turkey has said it is willing to offer troops, but Israel has let it be known that it disapproves of Turkish troops taking part in the force.

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UK’s biggest weapons firm BAE grounds ‘lifeline’ aircraft delivering food aid

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Exclusive: In the year they announced record profits, Britain’s arms maker has revoked licence to fly for planes taking supplies of food to starving people in South Sudan, Somalia and DRC

Britain’s biggest weapons manufacturer, BAE Systems, has quietly scrapped support for a fleet of aircraft providing “life-saving” humanitarian aid to some of the world’s poorest countries.

The decision further reduces the distribution of vital aid to countries facing serious humanitarian crises, including South Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

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ICJ orders Israel to allow aid into Gaza and says restrictions breached international obligations

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UN’s top court also finds Israel failed to justify blocking Unrwa and other relief agencies

Israel must allow aid into Gaza, and its restrictions on doing so over the past two years have put it in breach of its obligations, the UN’s top court has found.

The stinging advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in The Hague also found that Israel had a duty not to impede the supply of aid by UN organisations including the beleaguered UN Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, which has been in effect banned from the territory since January.

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Thailand to let Myanmar refugees work to counter aid cuts and labour shortages

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The move, welcomed by UN, will allow thousands of people living in camps to support themselves and their families

Thailand is setting a global precedent this month by giving refugees permission to work in the country in an effort to tackle aid cuts and its own labour shortages.

More than 87,000 refugees living in nine refugee camps along Thailand’s border with Myanmar have been totally reliant on handouts of food and foreign aid.

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Houthi rebels detain 20 UN staff in Yemen

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Five Yemenis and 15 foreign workers held as Iran-backed group steps up its campaign against international agencies

Houthi rebels have detained 20 employees at a UN facility in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen.

They are holding five Yemenis and 15 international workers but released another 11 after questioning them on Sunday. It was the second raid on a UN building in Sana’a in 24 hours.

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Egypt expected to lead global stabilisation force in Gaza, say diplomats

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Decommissioning Hamas weapons seen as major stumbling block, with British diplomats advising on process

A European and US-backed UN security council motion to give a planned international stabilisation force robust powers to control security inside Gaza is being prepared, with the strong expectation that Egypt will lead it, diplomats have said.

The US is pressing for the force to have a UN mandate without being a fully fledged UN peacekeeping force and will operate with the kind of powers given to international troops operating in Haiti to combat armed gangs.

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Agencies prepare to bring aid to starving people in Gaza as ceasefire appears to hold

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Unicef says ‘humanitarian crisis continues’ and expects to scale up aid deliveries on Sunday

Aid agencies are preparing to bring large amounts of vital aid to starving people in Gaza this weekend, as a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to be holding.

“We have received signals that tomorrow will be the day that the scale-up [in aid deliveries] begins in earnest under the ceasefire,” said Tess Ingram, a spokesperson for the UN agency for children, Unicef.

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Militia strikes kill at least 60 in Sudan displacement camp, says El Fasher group

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Drone and artillery strikes by RSF paramilitary group hit Dar al-Arqam shelter in western city, says resistance committee

Militia drone and artillery strikes have killed at least 60 people at a displacement shelter in the besieged city of El Fasher in western Sudan, a local activist group has said.

The Resistance Committee for El Fasher said the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group hit the Dar al-Arqam displacement centre, which is in the grounds of a university.

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