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by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations on Thursday recognized a new record high temperature for the Antarctic continent, confirming a reading of 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit) made last year. The record heat was reached at Argentina’s Esperanza research station on the Antarctic Peninsula on February 6, 2020, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said. “Verification of this maximum temperature record is important because it helps us to build up a […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Delta variant of coronavirus is driving the pandemic forward in Africa at record speeds, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday. Infection numbers have increased in Africa for six weeks running, rising by a quarter week-on-week to almost 202,000 in the week that ended Sunday, it said. The continent’s weekly record currently stands at 224,000 new cases. Deaths rose by 15 percent across 38 African countries to nearly […]
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Burkina Faso said Tuesday that more than 7,000 people had fled the country’s volatile north following the bloodiest massacre in a six-year-old jihadist insurgency. “Steps have already been taken to give (displaced people) a minimum level of comfort, lodgings, and food,” Prime Minister Christophe Dabire said, promising on a visit to the area that the attack “will not go unpunished”. Dabire’s advisers told AFP that 7,600 people had fled to […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — More than 90 percent of people in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region need emergency food aid, the United Nations said Tuesday, as it appealed for over $200 million to scale up its response. The UN World Food Programme voiced alarm that the conflict had caused an increase in hunger levels which were already high in Tigray. “A total of 5.2 million people, equivalent to 91 percent of Tigray’s population, need emergency food […]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The United Nations said Tuesday that thousands of families across war-torn Yemen have been hit by torrential rains and deadly floods since mid-April that destroyed homes and shelters. “Initial reports indicate some 3,730 families (22,380 people) have been affected by the rains and flooding, the majority of whom are internally displaced people,” the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said. “Intensified rainfall over the past few days is causing damage to […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The UN rights office condemned Tuesday the “excessive use of force” by security officers in Colombia, after numerous deaths during days of protests against a proposed tax reform. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights voiced “profound shock” at the latest incident overnight in the city of Cali in which police are alleged to have “opened fire” on demonstrators, reportedly killing and injuring a number of people. […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Persistent drought in southern Madagascar has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine and stoked acute malnutrition among children, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned Thursday. Ministry of Health data revealed that 16.5 percent of children under five now suffer from acute malnutrition, almost double the proportion four months ago, the agency said. The Ambovombe district in the Indian Ocean island’s far south has […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines pleaded on Monday for countries to donate generously following a series of devastating volcanic eruptions in the Caribbean nation. “Please help St. Vincent and the Grenadines in its midnight hour of need,” Ralph Gonsalves told a United Nations Security Council meeting. The La Soufriere volcano erupted for the first time in 40 years on April 9. Eruptions have continued to […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — 2021 must be the year of action for protecting people against the “disastrous” effects of climate change, the United Nations said on Monday ahead of a crucial US-convened summit. Time is fast running out to tackle the climate crisis, the UN warned, with the Covid-19 pandemic having failed to put the brakes on “relentless” climate change. The call comes alongside a major report ahead of US President Joe […]
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN said Thursday it will maintain its political and humanitarian mission to Afghanistan despite the departure of US and NATO troops later this year. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman to the UN secretary-general, said it was “clear and obvious” that the troops’ departure “will have an impact on the country as a whole,” in response to questions about the mission’s future. “We will continue to study the situation, but our work […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The humanitarian and economic crisis unleashed by the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent will last months and could extend to nearby islands, a UN official warned Wednesday. “It is a crisis that will require a humanitarian response but also a response in terms of rehabilitation” which could last for several months, said Didier Trebucq, the United Nations coordinator for Barbados and […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The UN rights chief warned Tuesday of possible crimes against humanity in Myanmar and said it seemed to be heading towards a massive conflict like the one ravaging Syria. In a statement, the UN rights office urged countries to take immediate and decisive action to push the military leaders behind a February 1 coup in Myanmar to stop their “campaign of repression and slaughter of its people.” “I […]
