Tag: United Nations (UN)

UN launches global campaign against COVID-19 misinformation

(Eagle News) – The United Nations on Thursday, May 21 launched “Verified”, a worldwide initiative to combat misinformation about COVID-19. ““We cannot cede our virtual spaces to those who traffic in lies, fear and hate,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement. He noted that misinformation spreads online through “savvy production and distribution methods”, and thus “scientists and institutions like the United Nations need to reach people with accurate information they can trust.” As […]

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UN to host first talks on use of ‘killer robots’

by Ben Simon Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations is set to host the first-ever talks on the use of autonomous weapons, but those hoping for a ban on the machines dubbed killer robots will be disappointed, the ambassador leading the discussions said Friday. More than 100 artificial intelligence entrepreneurs led by Tesla’s Elon Musk in August urged the UN to enforce a global ban on fully-automated weapons, echoing calls from activists […]

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Palace to UNHCHR: Duterte knows what is legal

(Eagle News)– Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella defended President Rodrigo Duterte after United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein criticized Duterte for “lacking of understanding to human rights institutions and principles”. “As a lawyer and former prosecutor, the President knows the limits of the power and authority of the Presidency. In his inauguration he said, ‘I know what is legal and what is not. My adherence to due process and the […]

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UN blasts Duterte due to ‘lack of understanding’ of human rights

(Eagle News)– United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Tuesday (September 13) criticized President Rodrigo Duterte for his statements regarding human rights. “The President of the Philippines’s statements of scorn for international human rights law display a striking lack of understanding of our human rights institutions and the principles which keep societies safe,” Al Hussein commented in his speech at the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council in […]

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Leaders hail ‘real progress’ in Syria

Paris, France—World leaders hailed “real progress” in Syria on Friday, but fresh air strikes showed the fragility of the week-old truce as the opposition cast doubt on its attendance at talks next week in Geneva. Warplanes struck a key rebel bastion east of the Syrian capital for the first time since the United States-Russia-brokered truce — which excludes the fight against jihadists — began last weekend, a monitor said. “Two air strikes hit the edge […]

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Former Bosnian-Serb army chief Ratko Mladic defends against charges of 1990s atrocities

Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic has called his first witness in his defense at the UN court in the Hague. He faces 11 charges, including genocide, during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. A summary of the testimony from the witness, Mile Sladoje, a former assistant commander of a Serb battalion in Sarajevo, was read by one of Mladic’s lawyers at the hearing. He said he was never ordered to fire on civilians in the besieged […]

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