Tag: UN

UN chief proposes code to tackle ‘grave’ misinformation

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Alarm over advancements in artificial intelligence must not obscure the “grave” harm already being done by digital platforms rife with misinformation, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday, as he proposed an international code of conduct. Rapidly developing AI tools, including chatbots, image generators and voice cloning technology, have sparked global concern over their striking ability to disseminate falsehoods. Guterres said he endorsed the idea for the creation of an […]

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Sudan declares UN envoy Volker Perthes ‘persona non grata’

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) — The Sudanese government has declared United Nations envoy Volker Perthes “persona non grata”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. “The Government of the Republic of Sudan has notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations that it has declared Mr. Volker Perthes … persona non grata as of today,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday, just weeks after army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan accused Perthes of stoking the country’s conflict […]

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Fossil fueled: Climate talks begin with spotlight on oil chief

By Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France-Presse PARIS, June 5, 2023 (AFP) — The future of fossil fuels — the leading source of planet-heating emissions — will face scrutiny at UN climate negotiations Monday with an under-fire Emirati oil chief poised to step into the driver’s seat. As the world struggles to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, pressure is on the UAE to arrive in Germany with ambitious plans for its presidency of […]

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No alternative to risky oil tanker salvage in Yemen, UN says

By Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States, June 1, 2023 (AFP) — Transferring more than a million barrels of oil from an abandoned tanker anchored off the shore of Yemen comes with “palpable risks” — but doing nothing could lead to a devastating oil spill, a senior UN official said Wednesday. “If something were to go wrong, indeed, many questions will be asked,” said Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Program, […]

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World ‘failing’ to protect civilians in combat zones, UN chief says

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The world is failing to protect civilians as the number of people caught up in conflicts and their humanitarian aftershocks skyrocketed last year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday. In 2022, the United Nations tallied a 53 percent increase in civilian deaths compared to the year prior, with nearly 17,000 civilian deaths recorded across 12 conflicts. Citing civilian deaths in Ukraine and Sudan, schools destroyed in Ethiopia and damage […]

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More than $3 bn needed for aid in Sudan, Sudanese refugees: UN

GENEVA, May 17, 2023 (AFP) – The United Nations said Wednesday that $3.03 billion would be needed to provide urgent aid to people in conflict-ravaged Sudan and to over one million expected to flee into neighboring countries this year. Needs have soared since a bloody conflict erupted in Sudan on April 15, the UN said, revising up its response plan for the country. “Today, 25 million people — more than half the population of Sudan […]

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China’s elders savor twilight years as the young toil

  By Peter CATTERALL Agence France-Presse RUDONG, China (AFP) — At the end of a back alley surrounded by dilapidated buildings, the pitter-patter of ping-pong balls echoes around a cavernous warehouse in a Chinese town north of Shanghai. The members of this table tennis club in Rudong, a sleepy seaside county with one of the highest proportions of elderly residents in China, gather to exercise and catch up. Rudong once played a pioneering role in […]

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Press freedoms shrink, journalists targeted: UN and media

By Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Press freedom is under attack in every corner of the globe, with journalists continually harassed, jailed and killed, UN officials and media outlets warned Tuesday. Speaking ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a rallying cry for journalists and media worldwide. “All our freedom depends on press freedom,” he said in a video message, calling it the “foundation […]

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Number of child marriages falling too slowly: UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS, United States — Child marriages are declining — but at a rate that would not eliminate the practice for another 300 years, while a perfect storm of crises could yet reverse the trend, the United Nations children’s agency said Tuesday. “We definitely have made progress in the abandonment of the practice of child marriage, particularly in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, this progress was not enough,” Claudia Cappa, lead author of the UNICEF […]

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UN expert urges Japan to sanction Myanmar junta

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan should sanction Myanmar as it has done for Russia over its Ukraine invasion, a United Nations expert said Thursday, slamming the junta’s “barbarism and oppression”. Thomas Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, also urged Japan to immediately end a training program for Myanmar troops, warning it was tarnishing the image of the country’s military. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung […]

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Over a dozen alleged gang members stoned, burned alive in Haiti

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — More than a dozen suspected gang members were stoned and burned alive on Monday by residents in Port-au-Prince, police and witnesses said, as the UN warned that insecurity in the Haitian capital has reached levels similar to countries at war. “During a search of a minibus in which there were armed individuals, the police confiscated weapons and other equipment. In addition, more than a dozen individuals traveling in this […]

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Guterres proposes ‘way forward’ for Ukraine grain initiative

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — United Nations chief Antonio Guterres presented a “way forward” on extending Ukrainian grain exports during a meeting with Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York Monday, the UN said. Guterres gave Lavrov “a letter to President Vladimir Putin, outlining a proposed way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion” of the deal, a spokesperson for the Secretary General said in a statement. An agreement has been in […]

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