UN

December 4, 2024 10:56 AM

UN seeks $47 billion in aid as donor appetite shrinks while crises multiply

The United Nations on Wednesday sought $47 billion in aid for 2025 to help around 190 million people fleeing conflict and battling starvation, at a time when this year's appeal is not even half-funded and officials fear cuts from Western states including the top donor, the U.S. Facing what the new U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher describes as "an unprecedented level of suffering", the U.N. hopes to reach people in 32 countries next year, including those in war-torn Sudan, Syria, Gaza and Ukraine. "...

October 29, 2024 10:52 AM

US warns Iran at UN of ‘severe consequences’ in case of new attacks

The United States warned Iran at the United Nations Security Council on Monday of "severe consequences" if it undertakes any further aggressive acts against Israel or U.S. personnel in the Middle East. "We will not hesitate to act in self defense. Let there be no confusion. The United States does not want to see further escalation. We believe this should be the end of the direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the 15-member cou...

October 18, 2024 5:22 PM

UN denounces Israel’s use of ‘war-like’ tactics in West Bank

The United Nations humanitarian office on Friday denounced Israel's use of what it described as "war-like" tactics against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, saying nine Palestinians had been killed there in a week. OCHA also voiced concern about Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians and olive trees during the annual October-November harvest, saying it was affecting the economic lifeline of tens of thousands of Palestinian families. "Israeli forces have been using lethal, war-like ...

October 17, 2024 12:06 PM

WHO says Western Pacific to miss UN goal to cut early deaths from lifestyle diseases

Western Pacific nations are unlikely to meet the United Nations target of reducing premature deaths from lifestyle-related diseases including cancer and diabetes, due to the slow decline in alcohol and tobacco consumption, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday. Chronic lifestyle diseases, such as heart attacks, stroke, asthma and lung diseases, have been blamed for more than 80% of deaths among the 1.9 billion people in the Western Pacific. The U.N. goal is to reduce early deaths by a...

October 10, 2024 8:24 PM

UN inquiry accuses Israel of crime of ‘extermination’ in destruction of Gaza health system

A United Nations inquiry said on Thursday it found that Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza's healthcare system in the Gaza war, actions amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination. A statement by ex-U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay released ahead of a full report accused Israel of "relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities" in the war, triggered by Hamas militants' deadly cross-border attack on...

September 30, 2024 10:50 PM

UN authorizes Haiti security force for another year

The U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed on Monday (September 30) to authorize for another year an international security force helping fight armed gangs in Haiti, but a U.S. push for a plan to transform it into a U.N. peacekeeping mission was dropped from the resolution because of opposition by Russia and China. The United States is now focused on supporting a call in the General Assembly last week by the head of Haiti's transition council, Edgard Leblanc, for a U.N. peacekeeping mission, ...

September 30, 2024 10:30 PM

US envoy to UN: We want de-escalation in Middle East

The United States does not want to see violence spread in the Middle East and wants to see a de-escalation, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Monday. "We want to find a path to peace, so that Palestinians and Israelis have safety and Lebanese and Israelis living on the northern border find security and safety as well," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters. When asked if Israel had told the U.S. that it was going to carry out an incursion into Lebanon, T...

September 27, 2024 10:16 PM

Netanyahu tells UN: Israel seeks peace but ‘enough is enough’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel's attacks on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon in a closely watched United Nations speech on Friday (September 27) as hopes faded for a ceasefire that could head off an all-out regional war. Several delegations walked out as Netanyahu approached the lectern while supporters in the gallery cheered. In southern Lebanon, Israel continued to strike Hezbollah targets while diplomats at the U.N. voiced fears the attacks could flare ...

September 26, 2024 9:24 PM

Iran, Hezbollah enabled Houthis’ rise, says UN report

Yemen's Houthi rebels have grown "from a localised armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organization" with the help of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi specialists, according to a confidential report by U.N. sanctions monitors. The independent panel of experts, who report annually to the U.N. Security Council, said Houthi fighters had been receiving tactical and technical training outside Yemen, traveling on fake passports to I...

September 25, 2024 11:51 AM

At UN for last time, Biden seeks to calm Mideast tension

U.S. President Joe Biden addressed world leaders at the United Nations for the final time on Tuesday, declaring that Russia's war in Ukraine has failed and that a diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah was still possible. With four months left in office, Biden stepped up to the green-marbled lectern at the U.N. General Assembly with wars in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and Sudan still raging and likely to outlast his presidency, which ends in January. He sought to calm tensions ...