The United Nations (UN) has lauded Pakistan for the successful completion of the first-ever smart card registration of Afghan refugees. The campaign, supported by UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was launched on April 15 last year and ended on December 31. The documentation renewal and information verification exercise, officially known as DRIVE, also provided … Read more
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), Munir Akram has said that Pakistan will combat the virus of disinformation globally in cooperation with other member states of the UN and international organizations. He said this on Saturday while expressing his gratitude over adoption of a Pakistan-sponsored resolution by the UN General Assembly … Read more
LAHORE: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif has urged United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and human rights bodies to take notice of the threats of ethnic cleansing of Muslims in India. Read more: Russell Tribunal highlights Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir The opposition leader made this demand in response to a … Read more
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a US-proposed resolution to help humanitarian aid reach desperate Afghans, while seeking to keep funds out of Taliban hands. The resolution, a first step by the UN after months of wrangling over how to avert a humanitarian catastrophe amid economic meltdown in Afghanistan, was welcomed by … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Ehsaas and World Food Programme (WFP) inked a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday to expand the Ehsaas Nashonuma programme from 15 districts to all tehsils of Pakistan. WFP Country Director Chris Kaye and Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) Secretary Ismat Tahira signed the MoU. WFP Executive Director (ED) David Beasley … Read more
Recalling warnings by global agencies, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asserted on Wednesday that 97 per cent of the Afghan population would plunge into poverty in the next six months if immediate measures were not taken, Radio Pakistan reported. Read more: Afghanistan’s SOS call Pakistan is hosting an extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic … Read more
HONG KONG: Chinese artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime said Monday it was postponing a planned $767 million initial public offering in Hong Kong after it was blacklisted by the US over human rights concerns in Xinjiang. The US Treasury announced the ban on Friday, saying SenseTime’s facial recognition programmes were designed in part to be used against … Read more
UNITED NATIONS: The coronavirus pandemic is likely to halt two decades of global progress towards Universal Health Coverage, according to reports released on Sunday from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank, which reveal more than half a billion people are being pushed into extreme poverty because they have to pay for health … Read more
GOMA, DR Congo: Three UNHCR staff members were injured in an attack in the east of DR Congo, the UN’s refugee agency said. “Unidentified attackers opened fire on a UN convoy that was travelling in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the UNHCR said in a statement. “Bullets struck a vehicle… and three staff members … Read more
MADRID: The coronavirus pandemic will cost the global tourism sector $2 trillion in lost revenues in 2021, the UN’s tourism body said on Monday, calling the sector’s recovery ‘fragile’ and ‘slow’. The forecast from the Madrid-based World Tourism Organization comes as Europe is grappling with a surge in infections and as a new heavily mutated … Read more
RIYADH: The high price of ocean shipping could boost global inflation by 1.5 per cent in 2023, with smaller, trade-dependent countries potentially suffering the most, Bloomberg reported, citing the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The Geneva-based agency said shipping rates have increased more than fourfold over the past decade. The current price to ship a … Read more
UNITED NATIONS: The World Food Programme (WFP), a Rome-based UN agency, has warned that the number of people teetering on the edge of famine in 43 countries, has risen to 45 million, up by three million this year, as acute hunger spikes around the world. This number has risen from 42 million earlier in the … Read more
ROME: The UN’s food agency said Monday the number of people on the edge of famine in 43 countries had risen to 45 million, as acute hunger spikes around the world. The jump from 42 million people earlier in the year was largely down to a food security assessment that found another three million people … Read more
ON THE FRENCH NAVY’S FALCON 200 AIRCRAFT, Nov 8, 2021 (AFP) – Flying above the Yellow Sea between Korea and China, a French naval crew scans the ocean surface for signs of contraband headed for North Korea. The team is part of an international mission enforcing United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang, flying surveillance trips from the US Futenma base in … Read more
ADDIS ABABA: Nine rebel groups battling Ethiopia’s government will “collaborate and join forces” Friday, they said in a statement announcing the alliance, which comes as fears grow of Tigrayan fighters advancing on the capital. The alliance, due to be signed in Washington later on Friday, includes the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and the Tigray People’s Liberation … Read more
ABIDJAN: A ground-breaking vaccine against malaria has stoked hopes in Africa of rolling back a disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives a year, many of them youngsters. Since 2019, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have immunised more than 800,000 children under a pilot programme using the RTS,S vaccine. It is the first to show significant protection … Read more
GLASGOW: Thousands of youth activists were preparing to descend on Glasgow on Friday to protest against what they say is a dangerous lack of action by leaders at the COP26 climate summit. Demonstrations are expected across the Scottish city to highlight the disconnect between the glacial pace of emissions reductions and the climate emergency already … Read more
PARIS: As warnings have intensified about the massive damage that climate change will have on the world in the coming decades, big business has started to make commitments to reduce carbon emissions. But are these companies making a genuine attempt to fight global warming, or simply “greenwashing” their brands to try to divert criticism while … Read more
KHARTOUM: Furious Sudanese protests against a military coup entered a third day Wednesday, with the prime minister returned home under guard after intense international condemnation of the army’s power grab. But the return to his residence of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok – who was detained Monday along with his ministers and civilian members of Sudan’s ruling … Read more
KHARTOUM: Protesters were defiant on the streets of Sudan early Tuesday to denounce a military coup, as international condemnation of the country’s security forces ramped up with the UN Security Council expected to meet later. Telecommunications down, internet services limited Telecommunications were interrupted in Sudan a day after the country’s top general, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, declared a … Read more
RAMALLAH: Palestine has decided to appeal to United Nations (UN) agencies and international courts to stop the Israeli settlement plans and other measures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Monday. The decision was made during a joint meeting of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation … Read more
From a bowl of rice to a cup of coffee, experts say the foods we take for granted could become much scarcer unless we can make them resistant to climate change. For more than 10,000 years humans have been using selective breeding to adapt fruits and vegetables to specific growing conditions that today are changing … Read more
There is no one to address the annual high-level United Nation General Assembly – UNGA in New York on Afghanistan’s behalf as the ambassador for the Afghan government expelled by the Taliban. The ex-ambassador who was due to speak in the UNGA removed his name from the list. The development comes amongst opposing claims for … Read more
Prime Minister Imran Khan called upon the international community to strengthen and stabilise the government in Afghanistan for the sake of the Afghan people. Addressing the 76th session of the UN General Assembly via video link, he said if the world community incentivises them, it would be a win-win situation for everyone. He said the … Read more
DUBAI: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) had always been about access. Access to clean water and sanitation, access to sustainable cities and communities among 14 other goals. In designing a pathway for local actions, translating into global progress, the UN ensured that actors would leverage on their strengths through partnerships. In this regard, … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has stressed that the developed countries must take lead in raising their climate ambitions, both for emissions reduction and increased financial flows to the developing countries. Emphasising that commitments made under the Paris Agreement must be fully implemented, he expressed concern over unrealised climate finance pledges by the developed countries. … Read more
UNITED NATIONS: The global economy is expected to bounce back this year with a growth of 5.3 per cent, the fastest in nearly five decades, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development. In its new report released on Wednesday, the agency said that the rebound was highly uneven along regional, sectoral and income … Read more
PARIS: Farming subsidies worth around $500 billion doled out by governments every year must be repurposed, three UN agencies warned, citing the environmental and health damage they cause. Released ahead of a UN food systems summit next week, the agencies’ report is a ‘wake-up’ call for governments to rethink their agricultural support schemes, Food and … Read more
