Category Archives: United Nations

Scott Morrison says Australia’s record on climate change misrepresented by media

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PM trumpets his country’s achievements in address to UN general assembly

Scott Morrison signalled that Australia is unlikely to update its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris agreement before a speech to the UN in which he declared that the media was misrepresenting the country’s climate change record.

During a press conference before his UN speech at a recycling facility in Brooklyn, the prime minister said he wouldn’t characterise “misrepresentations” about Australia’s climate stance as fake news.

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Iran’s president rejects nuclear talks before sanctions are lifted

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Hopes of a deal with Trump quashed as Rouhani accuses US of ‘economic terrorism’

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has ruled out negotiations on its nuclear programme with the United States so long as sanctions remained in place and said he was not interested in a “memento photo” with Donald Trump.

“I would like to announce that our response to any negotiation under sanctions is negative,” Rouhani said in an address to the UN general assembly in New York.

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US patience with Iran not inexhaustible, warns Saudi Arabia

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Saudi minister says military response to attack on oil facilities still being considered

Saudi Arabia has said that US patience with Iran is not inexhaustible and warned that military options are still being considered following the attack on the Aramco oil facilities earlier this month.

The Saudi foreign affairs minister, Adel al-Jubeir, also said the UN-commissioned report into the origins of the attack will be available fairly soon, and described the EU’s Monday statement ascribing responsibility to Iran as “very significant”.

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Donald Trump tells UN ‘future belongs to patriots not globalists’ – video

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The US president made his third address to the United Nations on Tuesday, retreading his message of promoting 'sovereignty' above international relations. Trump said: ‘The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations, who protect their citizens, respect their neighbours and honour the differences that make each country special and unique.’ He added he was 'working closely' with Boris Johnson on a 'magnificent' post-Brexit trade deal

• Trump addresses UN summit – live news

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Impeachment calls grow amid revelation Trump ordered block on Ukraine aid

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President ordered his staff to withhold nearly $400m in aid days before he pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden

Donald Trump ordered his staff to withhold nearly $400m in aid to Ukraine days before he repeatedly pressured the country’s president to investigate a political rival, it emerged on Monday night.

Related: Why is the Trump-Ukraine whistleblower scandal so serious?

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Scott Morrison ducks questions on Australia’s emissions strategy for 2050

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UN climate summit focus is on net zero by 2050 but Australian PM says challenge ‘not just about climate change’

Scott Morrison has ducked questions about when his government will develop an emissions reduction strategy for 2050, despite signing on at the Pacific Islands Forum to a communique pledging to develop one next year.

The Australian prime minister is also copping flak at home for his decision to signal in a speech in Chicago that China needed to be treated like a developed economy both in global trade and climate change negotiations – meaning Beijing would need to make a significant commitment towards emissions reduction.

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British in U-turn over Franco-German ‘alliance for multilateralism’

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UK reverses decision not to send minister to meeting, a snub that was seen as a fresh sign of how Brexit is shifting foreign policy

The UK has moved to douse claims that it was snubbing a major Franco-German initiative on multilateralism announcing it would after all send a minister to the launch of An Alliance for Multilateralism, due to be attended by as many as 40 ministers.

Following diplomatic claims that Downing Street was distancing itself from the Franco-German plan by not sending a high level representative to the launch in New York on Thursday, the foreign office announced late on Monday that Lord Ahmad would now attend.

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Boris Johnson calls for ‘Trump deal’ to fix Iran nuclear standoff

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PM says president could come up with better pact, in apparent shift from European position

Boris Johnson has sided with Donald Trump in calling the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran a “bad deal”, while praising the US president as a “very brilliant negotiator” capable of achieving a better one.

The prime minister’s remarks, made in a NBC interview, marked a sharp change in UK rhetoric. British leaders, including Johnson, had until now upheld the 2015 accord between six major powers and Iran as a major diplomatic achievement.

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Greta Thunberg condemns world leaders in emotional speech at UN

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  • Thunberg, 16, says governments have betrayed young people
  • ‘You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. You are failing us’

Greta Thunberg has excoriated world leaders for their “betrayal” of young people through their inertia over the climate crisis at a United Nations summit that failed to deliver ambitious new commitments to address dangerous global heating.

Related: If world leaders choose to fail us, my generation will never forgive them | Greta Thunberg

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Leaked letter suggests US is rallying UN member states to oppose abortion

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Attempt to ‘roll back the clock’ condemned as governments are urged to oppose UN support for reproductive rights

The US is understood to have written to UN member states urging them to join a “growing coalition” of countries rallying against abortion, in what seems to be the latest attempt by the Trump administration to rollback women’s rights.

A letter, seen by the Guardian, is believed to have been sent to governments deemed sympathetic to the administration’s view on reproductive health.

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UN secretary general hails ‘turning point’ in climate crisis fight

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  • United Nations hosts climate summit in New York on Monday
  • New data shows 2014-19 warmest five-year period on record

The world may have hit a hopeful “turning point” in the struggle to tackle the climate crisis despite escalating greenhouse gas emissions and the recalcitrance of major emitters Brazil and the US, according to the United Nations secretary general.

Related: Trump to snub climate summit for religious freedom meeting at UN

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Scott Morrison insists Australia will not be drawn into any military conflict with Iran

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Prime minister says there is no discussion of Australian involvement after Donald Trump’s recent comments

Scott Morrison insists Australia will not be drawn into any military conflict with Iran, declaring our commitment is limited to protecting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Donald Trump, who flagged the prospect of a military strike against Iran, including, possibly, with nuclear weapons, during a meeting with Morrison in the Oval Office, before backtracking and saying his preference was for restraint – has sent additional troops and enhanced air and missile defence systems to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in response to a drone attack on Saudi oil facilities on 14 September.

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Voices for the Future: climate activism lights up the UN – in pictures

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The United Nations headquarters in New York plays host to an immersive art installation by artist Joseph Michael that features images of an iceberg and six young advocates including Greta Thunberg addressing hopes and fears around the climate crisis and the urgent actions that must be taken

  • Voices For the Future will be performed 7.30-10 pm EDT on Friday 20 September outside the UN building in New York
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‘Wake up and face facts’ : Greta Thunberg pleads with politicians to lead fight against climate crisis – as it happened

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  • The Swedish teen activist made clear her disapproval of Trump leaving the Paris climate agreement
  • The Guardian is joining forces with more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate crisis ahead of the UN summit. Read more about Covering Climate Now.

That’s it from the Liveblog for today.

Writer (and occasional Guardian columnist) Roxane Gay has endorsed Massachusetts senator, democratic presidential candidate and selfie enthusiast Elizabeth Warren for president, joining the progressive group Working Families Party -- which endorsed Warren’s challenger Bernie Sanders in 2016.

Shoutout to our #WCW, @rgay. We’re grateful that you’re in this fight with #TeamWarren. ✨ pic.twitter.com/5YEkyrCn8X

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Pakistan PM to accuse Modi of complicity in Kashmir ‘terrorism’

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Imran Khan will use UN address to highlight alleged atrocities carried out by Indian army

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, is to follow a speech by his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, at the United Nations general assembly by accusing him of being complicit in the torture and mass detention of protesters in India-administered Kashmir.

Khan will use his address in New York next week to highlight alleged atrocities being carried out by the Indian army in the Jammu and Kashmir state since Modi’s government revoked the region’s autonomy by abrogating article 370 of the constitution.

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Kenyans who claim UK drove them from their land seek UN inquiry

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More than 115,000 people allege they were forcibly removed by colonial-era army

Thousands of Kenyans who say they were driven from their homes and abused under British colonial rule and subsequently faced hardship and poverty have called on the UN to launch an investigation into their treatment.

British and Kenyan lawyers submitted a complaint to the UN special rapporteur on the promotion of justice, Fabián Salvioli, on behalf of more than 115,000 people originally from Kericho county, who claim they were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands by the British army.

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Leak suggests UN agency self-censors on climate crisis after US pressure

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International Organization for Migration apparently amends programme documentation to avoid conflict with US ‘political sensitivities’

Leaked communications suggest that the UN’s migration agency is censoring itself on the climate crisis and the global compact on migration, following pressure from the US government.

An email sent by a US-based official of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on 28 August to colleagues around the world relayed that the US state department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) told the agency documents related to programme activities it funds “must not be in conflict with current [US government] political sensitivities”.

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UK, US and France may be complicit in Yemen war crimes – UN report

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Panel lists 160 key actors in Yemen war who could face charges, adding to pressure on UK to end Saudi arms sales

Britain, the US and France may be complicit in war crimes in Yemen by arming and providing support to a Saudi-led coalition that starves civilians as a war tactic, a United Nations report has said.

A UN panel of experts has for the first time compiled a list of 160 military officers and politicians who could face war crimes charges, including from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Houthi rebel movement and Yemeni government military forces. A secret list of those most likely to be complicit has been sent to the UN.

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UN communications chief under fire for tweeting refugee’s details

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Melissa Fleming’s data breach led to girl’s name, location and phone number being retweeted to 2.3 million UNHCR followers

The UN’s newly appointed under secretary-general for global communications has been accused of an “astonishing” breach of confidentiality, after she tweeted an image of a child refugee that displayed personal details, including her name, location and family’s phone number.

The tweet, sent by Melissa Fleming, was retweeted by UNHCR to its 2.3 million followers over the weekend before being deleted. Fleming has since told the Guardian she is trying to locate the child’s family to apologise.

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Home Office planning to end family reunion for children after Brexit

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Exclusive: Current system for asylum-seeking minors set to end the day after UK leaves EU

The Home Office is preparing to end the current system of family reunification for asylum-seeking children if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Guardian has learned.

The government has privately briefed the UN refugee agency UNHCR and other NGOs that open cases may be able to progress, but a no-deal Brexit would mean no new applications after 1 November from asylum-seeking children to be reunited with relatives living in the UK. Even if there is a deal, the future of family reunion is not certain.

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