United Nations

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US Blocks Attempt to Win UN Membership for Palestine

American ambassador says move would not lead to two-state solution

(Newser) - The US vetoed a widely backed UN resolution on Thursday that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favor, the US opposed and two abstentions. The resolution would have recommended that the 193-member General Assembly,...

Germany Rebuts Genocide Claim, Cites the Holocaust

Nicaragua brought case before the UN's top court over Germany's arms sales to Israel

(Newser) - In an appearance before the UN's highest court on Tuesday, Germany responded to Nicaragua's accusations that it has been facilitating genocide in Gaza by providing weapons to Israel. The Guardian reports lawyer Tania von Uslar-Gleichen cited the Holocaust, saying, "Germany has learned from its past, a past...

UN Demands Ceasefire in Gaza During Ramadan
UN Demands Gaza Ceasefire
Mar 25, 2024 11:09 AM CDT

UN Demands Gaza Ceasefire

Security Council resolution wants an end to violence for the rest of Ramadan

(Newser) - The United Nations Security Council on Monday demanded a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, its first demand to halt fighting. The United States abstained on the resolution, reports the AP , which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise...

'Moral Outrage': UN Chief Calls to 'Flood Gaza' With Aid

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits border city of Rafah amid war with Israel

(Newser) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stood near a long line of waiting trucks on Saturday and declared it time to "truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid," calling the starvation inside the enclave a "moral outrage." Guterres spoke on the Egyptian side of the border near the southern...

In Marked Shift, US Proposes 'Immediate' Gaza Ceasefire
Russia, China Veto US
Push for Gaza Ceasefire
updated
Mar 22, 2024 8:43 AM CDT

Russia, China Veto US Push for Gaza Ceasefire

Measure fails in the Security Council

(Newser) - The US changed its mind about a Gaza ceasefire on Friday, but to no avail. The UN Security Council voted on a resolution to demand an immediate halt to fighting, but Russia and China vetoed the measure, reports the New York Times . The US had vetoed three previous calls for...

UN: Our E-Waste Problem Is Getting Out of Control

The planet generated 62M tons of it in 2022

(Newser) - UN agencies have warned that electrical and electronic waste is piling up worldwide while recycling rates remain low and are likely to fall even further. In a new report released Wednesday, the UN's International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR said some 62 million tons of "e-waste"—...

UN Team Finds Reason to Believe Hamas Raped Victims

Envoy reports 'inhumane forms of torture and other horrors'

(Newser) - A team of United Nations experts reported Monday it found reason to believe that during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, women in Israel were sexually assaulted, raped, and gang raped. In calling for a full investigation, the report said the attacks took place in at least three places, including the...

US Vetoes UN Resolution Demanding Gaza Ceasefire

Arab-backed Security Council resolution gets 13-1 vote

(Newser) - The United States vetoed an Arab-backed UN resolution Tuesday demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the embattled Gaza Strip. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining, reflecting the wide global support for ending the more than four-month war, reports...

Venezuela to UN Rights Agency: You Have 72 Hours to Get Out

Agency had criticized arrest of prominent human rights lawyer

(Newser) - After the United Nations human rights agency expressed concern about the arrest of a prominent human rights advocate, Nicolas Maduro's government ordered the agency's office in Venezuela's capital to close and said its 13 staff members had 72 hours to get out of the country. Foreign Affairs...

Half of Migratory Species Are in Trouble: UN

New report has bad news for critters who roam the planet to feed, breed

(Newser) - Nearly half of the world's migratory species are in decline, according to a new United Nations report released Monday. Many songbirds, sea turtles, whales, sharks, and other migratory animals move to different environments with changing seasons and are imperiled by habitat loss, illegal hunting and fishing, pollution, and climate...

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...

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