Envoys from the United States, China and Russia as well as major European aid donors and key neighbors such as Pakistan are among representatives from about 25 countries and groups called to the two days of talks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Taliban government has not been invited.

NEW YORK, US - UAE Minister of State Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar urged United Nations Security Council members to peacefully resolve conflicts by promoting dialogue and cooperation between states. Al Marar said at the UNSC,  "Our sustained commitment to effective multilateralism, grounded in international law and the principles of the...

India will overtake China as the world's most populous country in the coming week, hitting almost 1.43 billion people, the United Nations said. "By the end of this month, India's population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850 people, matching and then surpassing the population of mainland China," the UN Department of...

Foreign nations pushed with evacuations of their citizens from Sudan which, the UN chief warned, is "on the edge of the abyss" after 10 days of brutal fighting between rival forces. As army and paramilitary troops again clashed in Khartoum and across the country, Sudanese have sheltered in their homes...

MIYAZAKI, JAPAN  -  With hunger levels rising and food prices soaring in most of the world, collective actions are necessary for immediate and long-term global food security objectives, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Sunday. Director-General of FAO Qu Dongyu made the remarks at the G7 Ministers of Agriculture...

Coastguards of the kingdom's navy operating in the Mediterranean and Atlantic rescued 552 illegal migrants of varying nationalities between April 8 and 18," mostly from sub-Saharan African countries, the military source told official news agency. The source said among them were people attempting the crossing aboard makeshift boats, in canoes,...

Seeking a "durable way forward" for the war-scarred Afghanistan, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is convening an international meeting in May. The closed-door gathering will feature special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries who aim to "clarify expectation" on concerns including the Taliban authorities' restrictions on women.

Calling on warring parties in Sudan to immediately cease hostilities, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that any further escalation of the conflict between the army and paramilitary forces, led by rival generals, "could be devastating for the country and the region. Guterres' envoy to Khartoum said at least 185...

A day after a major prisoner exchange, more than 100 prisoners of war were flown from Saudi Arabia to Yemen on Monday, raising hopes for peace in the future. Two ICRC planes carrying 48 prisoners each flew to Sanaa, Yemen's rebel-held capital, while a third with eight captives took off...

The Observatory, which has a wide network of sources on the ground in Syria, said fighters riding motorbikes also attacked a group of shepherds in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, killing five and seizing their livestock. Two other shepherds were kidnapped, the war monitor said.

Denouncing clashes in Sudan that have left dozens of civilians dead including three workers of the World Food Program, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for swift justice over the killings. He called for an immediate halt to the fighting and "a return to dialogue," and engagement with regional leaders...

The UN's food agency said it was suspending work in Sudan after three staff were killed in the Darfur region, as fighting raged between the army and paramilitaries. "I am appalled and heartbroken by the tragic deaths of three WFP employees on April 15," Cindy McCain, executive director of the...

Houthi political leader Mohamed Ali al-Houthi said the talks were conducted in a "positive atmosphere", with plans for another round. On Saturday, before the Saudi visit, a Yemeni government source said the Saudis and Houthis had agreed in principle on a six-month truce to pave the way for three months...

The world's leading developed economies are all targeting net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner after signing the Paris Agreement to cap global warming at well under two degrees Celsius. But they differ on how to respond to the energy squeeze caused by Russia's war in Ukraine, with host Japan among...

The global economic slowdown and swelling interest rates are pummeling debt-ridden developing countries, the UN warned, urging bold global action to ward off catastrophe. In a fresh report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development cautioned that poorer countries were expected to suffer as higher interest rates eat away...

World food prices are still high but have fallen by a fifth compared to a year ago when prices soared to a monthly record high after Russia invaded agricultural powerhouse Ukraine, UN data showed. Prices have fallen 20.5 percent since March 2022 after a 12th straight monthly drop, the Food...

Tensions have soared between Israel and Palestinians during what is both the Jewish Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, prompting international calls for restraint. On Thursday, the Israeli army said more than 30 rockets had been fired from Lebanese territory into Israel in the largest escalation on the...

Paris, France--Earth had its second-warmest March on record with Antarctic sea ice shrinking to its second-lowest extent, the EU's climate monitoring agency said on Thursday. "The month was jointly the second warmest March globally," said a report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The report is based on computer-generated analyses...

The Taliban authorities ordered all NGOs in December to stop employing Afghan women after receiving "serious complaints" that women employees were not observing a proper Islamic dress code. Many NGOs suspended their entire operations in the country in protest after the ban was announced, piling further misery on Afghanistan's citizens,...

The UN rights chief called for Libyan authorities and the international community to step up accountability efforts in the conflict-ravaged country, as a probe into war crimes wrapped up. "Libyan authorities, armed groups, smugglers and human traffickers should not assume that the eyes of the international community have now left...

Israeli forces have carried out a number of deadly raids in the The raid came two days after a peak in violence that saw two killed in confrontations with Israeli forces, amid fears of escalation in the conflict during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In a Monday statement, the...

Kyiv, Ukraine--Ukraine on Saturday branded Russia's presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of April "a slap in the face", joining a chorus of outrage from Western countries. Moscow assumes the presidency as part of its monthly rotation between the Security Council's 15 member states, with ties with the...

The announcement comes as UN envoy to the region Staffan de Mistura invited parties including Morocco and the Polisario Front to New York this week for a series of informal bilateral meetings. A UN report last year warned that restrictions on the supply chain to the MINURSO mission sites east...

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said initial assessments in Turkey revealed "severe damage to agriculture, including crops, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, as well as rural infrastructure in affected areas". It said more than one-third of the population in the hardest-hit areas relied on agriculture to survive.

A fire believed to have been started by migrants protesting against their deportation killed at least 38 people at a Mexican immigration detention center near the US border, authorities said Tuesday, prompting demands for justice. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a "thorough investigation" into the fire.

DUBAI, UAE – UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri emphasized the importance of collaboration, data sharing and investment in achieving global solutions for promoting water sustainability. The minister made these comments in an interactive dialogue and side sessions at the United Nations in New York....

Dubai, UAE -- Saudi Arabia has said that the kingdom is on track to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030, thanks to the restructuring of the water sector and the development of the National Water Strategy. Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister for Water at the Ministry of...

Warning that it could be left with no option but to cut support for children in Yemen without a funding boost, the UN said that more than 540,000 children under the age of five are suffering life-threatening severe acute malnutrition with one child continuing to die every 10 minutes from...

UN Water forum published its report as the first major conference on the issue in nearly a half-century is set to get underway Wednesday in New York. About 10 percent of the world's population lives in a country where water stress (the ratio of water use to water availability) is...

The UN has confirmed that Yemen's Houthi rebels and its internationally recognized government have reached an agreement to exchange more than 880 prisoners. This comes in the wake of the China-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic ties between the two countries. The two regional powers back...

Aid groups urged donors to step up their commitments after the UN complained of the poor level of response to a call it made in mid-February for urgent funding. The International Rescue Committee said they should at least ensure that the UN's emergency appeal for $1bn for Turkey and $397m...

Turkey announced the extension of a deal that has allowed exports of Ukrainian grain to resume following Russia's invasion, but it was unclear if it had been prolonged for 60 or 120 days. Russia said it had agreed to a 60-day extension, while Ukraine's infrastructure minister said the deal had...

BEIRUT, LEBANON - The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Thursday it had not observed any border crossings after Israel said it killed a suspect wearing an explosive belt who may have entered from Lebanon. The Israeli army said on Wednesday it was probing the possible involvement of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement...

United Nations, United States--The surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran should offer momentum toward peace by the warring parties in Yemen after eight years of conflict, UN officials said Wednesday. The UN Security Council on Wednesday discussed the impact on Yemen of the shock Chinese-led announcement on March 10 that...

In order to reinstate full food rations for millions in Yemen, the WFP has said that it requires more than double the money raised for all United Nations agencies in Yemen this year. The UN was able to raise only $1.2 billion for all its agencies in Yemen at a...

Dubai, UAE -- Mashreq Bank, the oldest privately-owned bank in the UAE, has facilitated $15.5 billion in sustainable finance, Joe Van Dusen, Group Head of Corporate & Investment Banking at Mashreq, said on Tuesday. In a statement in January, the bank said that the finance was facilitated between Jan 2021...

Consultations to prolong Ukrainian grain exports deal are continuing, the UN said, after a Russian proposal for just a 60-day extension cast doubt over its fate. "The United Nations will do everything possible to preserve the integrity of the agreement and ensure its continuity," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United...

Most of the MEPs who signed are from Green or left-wing parties. They were joined by non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam, supported by a dozen economists and by 20 millionaires. The signatories claimed that in 2018 Tesla owner Elon Musk, "then the second-richest man in the world, did not pay a...

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron last Friday agreed a new pact worth over 500 million euros to thwart illegal migration across the Channel.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The world failed to act quickly enough to rush life-saving aid to Syrians in desperate need following the devastating earthquake, United Nations investigators said Monday. The quake response was characterized by failures by the government, other factions in the civil war, the international community and the UN itself,...

Diplomats from nearly 200 nations and top climate scientists begin a week-long huddle in Switzerland Monday to distill nearly a decade of published science into a 20-odd-page warning about the existential danger of global warming, and what to do about it. Since its creation in 1988, the IPCC - an...

Italy's coastguard said the boat in distress was in Libya's search-and-rescue zone, and that the deadly episode laid bare "the inactivity" of other countries in the Mediterranean. The latest disaster in the Mediterranean comes exactly two weeks after a shipwreck off Italy's southern coast of Calabria that killed at least...

TRIPOLI, LIBYA - UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily called on rival administrations in conflict-torn Libya Saturday to agree terms for elections "by mid-June", pushing for the long-delayed ballot to be held by year end. The Senegalese diplomat told the UN Security Council last month he had a new initiative to break a...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran has finalized a deal to buy Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, state media reported, as defense cooperation between the two countries deepens. The air force of sanctions-hit Iran has an ageing fleet of aircraft and has struggled to acquire spare parts to keep its warplanes...

NEW YORK, US -  Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber met UN Secretary General António Guterres and underscored  the UAE’s commitment of deepening cooperation with the world body on climate action. Guterres expressed his deep appreciation for the cooperation of the...

Negotiations overseen in Switzerland by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross will see Yemen's warring parties holding talks in Geneva starting Saturday to discuss a prisoner exchange, according to rebels and government officials. Hostilities have largely stopped since a UN-brokered ceasefire took effect in April last...

DOHA, QATAR - Just US$1.4 billion in new loans and grants were promised at a UN summit devoted to the world's poorest nations where UN leader Antonio Guterres had appealed for massive aid, officials said Thursday. A top UN envoy warned at the end of the five-day Least Developed Countries meeting...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that extending a deal that allowed grain exports from Ukraine to resume was becoming "complicated" as he claimed it was not being properly implemented. Russia's military intervention last February saw Ukraine's Black Sea ports blocked by warships until a deal last...

A planned mass rally in Tel Aviv by Israeli protesters opposed to the government's controversial legal reform plans forced an 11th-hour change of venue for Lloyd Austin's talks, throwing an international spotlight on Israel's domestic divisions.

The pushback was "predictable", said Khaled al-Montasser, a professor of international relations at the University of Tripoli, as elections would see members of both chambers potentially lose their seats and privileges. Despite the rivalry between them, both view the UN initiative as "interference in their sovereign decision-making power and an...