Antonio Guterres, speaking at an economic forum in China, condemned the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people as "acts of terror" that could not be justified. "But those attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," Guterres said. He urged Israel to...

If aid is not allowed into the besieged territory, doctors will have to "prepare death certificates for their patients," WHO regional director for the eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al-Mandhari told AFP. Monday marked 10 days of relentless Israeli air strikes on targets in the Palestinian enclave, in retaliation for an October...

As Israel prepares for a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip, the international community has mobilized to try to protect civilians and prevent the conflict spreading across the region. But Tel Aviv's avowed determination to crush Hamas, the group behind the October 7 attack on Israel, are hampering mediation efforts.

UN estimates that about one million people have been displaced since Israel began a relentless aerial bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas's deadly assault on October 7. The UN agency's director of communications, Juliette Touma, told AFP more people are likely to become displaced "as people continue to leave...

Israel's strikes on the Gaza Strip have led to an "unprecedented human catastrophe" in the Palestinian territory, the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees said. "Not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel has been allowed in the Gaza Strip for the last...

Marrakech, Morocco-- The UAE has allotted $200 million to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) to expand concessional financing for low-income countries. This aligns with the UAE’s unwavering efforts to realize the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1) – no poverty – alongside other challenges that the...

Jerusalem - International aid groups and major powers have pleaded with Israel to set up safe zones in Gaza where thousands struggled on Saturday to get out of the north of the Palestinian territory, under threat of attack. With thousands of Israeli troops massed around Gaza's borders, uncertainty over when...

Geneva, Switzerland - The World Health Organization said on Saturday enough basic health supplies to serve 300,000 people in the Gaza Strip have been flown to an Egyptian airport near the Palestinian enclave. The supplies were ready to go in once humanitarian access could be established through the Rafah crossing from...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the bombardment is "just the beginning" as Israel seeks to retaliate against Hamas after their fighters killed more than 1,300 people a week ago. At least 1,900 Gazans -- most of them civilians and including more than 600 children -- have been killed in...

Describing the situation in Gaza as having reached a dangerous new low, UN Chief Antonio Guterres said that there was an immediate need for humanitarian access throughout Gaza to rush fuel, food and water to people in need. He warned that the blockaded enclave's health system was on the brink...

With Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip showing no sign of any let up, and death toll touching 1,900 people, Russia has called for a "humanitarian cease-fire" in the Gaza Strip. Its ambassador to the UN blamed the US for the conflict. The draft resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire...

PARIS, FRANCE - Natural and man-made disasters have caused $3.8 trillion in crop and livestock loses over 30 years, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said on Friday. Floods, droughts, insect infestations, storms, disease and war have caused about $123 billion per year in lost food production between 1991 and...

Israel's army said it has called for all Gaza City residents to evacuate their homes and head south of the territory "for their safety". "The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said on...

Nearly 60 percent of households in Gaza were considered food insecure before the start of the new hostilities. As of late Thursday, the number of displaced in Gaza rose by over 84,400 people to reach more than 423,300, according to OCHA figures.

Israel has also imposed a "complete siege" on the Palestinian territory, cutting off electricity, water and fuel supplies into Gaza. Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said earlier on Thursday that the supplies will not be resumed until Hamas militants free all the hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira has interrupted an Asia trip to travel "to New York to participate in a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, called by Brazil... to address the situation in the Gaza Strip," the ministry said in a statement.

By late Wednesday, the number of displaced people in Gaza had risen by an additional 75,000 people from the figure given 24 hours earlier, reaching 338,934, it said. The announcement came as Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip -- a densely populated enclave of 2.3 million people --...

Abu Dhabi, UAE-- The UAE and US have reviewed ways to accelerate cooperation in priority sectors such as clean energy, sustainable industrial development and advanced technology – areas where the UAE and US already share a successful track record. The discussion on the boosting of ties came up in a...

Fierce fighting has left thousands dead on both sides since Hamas launched a surprise assault on Saturday, spurring Israel's reprisal bombing campaign. "Over 263,934 people in Gaza are believed to have fled their homes," said UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in an update Tuesday, warning that "this number is expected...

According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake occurred at a shallow depth at around 05:10 am local time with its epicentre about 29 kms north of Herat. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.3, hit an area where about 1,000 people were killed after a series of similar...

Geneva, Switzerland--Israel's total siege of the Gaza Strip, depriving civilians of goods essential for survival, is banned under international law, the United Nations human rights chief said on Tuesday. Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said people's dignity and lives had to be respected as he called for...

The UN's World Food Programme expressed concern over the mounting challenges civilians, including vulnerable children and families, face in accessing essential food supplies, with food distribution networks disrupted by hostilities. The WFP is concerned about stocks in food shops and the impact of power cuts in the Gaza Strip.

An AFP reporter saw dozens of homes ruined near the epicenter of the quakes, which shook the area for more than five hours. Men shovelled through piles of crumbled masonry as women and children waited in the open, with gutted homes displaying personal belongings flapping in the harsh wind.

President Joe Biden said US support for Israel was "rock solid and unwavering". "The United States stands with Israel," Biden said in a televised statement at the White House, flanked by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

ROME, ITALY - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) raised its forecast for global cereal production in 2023 to 2,819 million tonnes, now 0.9 percent higher than the previous year. The higher forecast is almost entirely based on recent and more positive yield estimates for the...

Paris, France - Global sugar prices soared to their highest level in almost 13 years in September as the El Nino weather phenomenon hit production in India and Thailand, the Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday. While world food prices steadied as a whole last month, the FAO's Sugar Price Index...

The Palestinian health ministry named the two men killed as Abdul Rahman Atta, 23, and Huthaifa Faris, 27, saying they died as a result of "occupation (Israeli) bullets". Hamas identified them as members of its armed wing. A third Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli soldiers later on Thursday after...

"I am gravely concerned by the escalating violence in Syria today," Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, said in a statement issued in Geneva. The conflict in Syria has killed more than half a million people since it began in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests,...

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up as part of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement to funnel grants and loans to developing countries for adaptation and mitigation projects in a warming world. The fund plays a part in the promise by rich countries to supply $100bn of climate finance...

Sick prisoners sent from detention facilities to the capital's Tishreen Military Hospital for treatment rarely received any medical attention, according to a report released Tuesday by the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP), a Turkey-based watchdog. Instead, security forces at the hospital jail and even medical...

Amid mounting speculation that Saudi Arabia and Israel will normalize ties, the minister traveled to Riyadh for a meeting of the Universal Postal Union, a specialised UN agency intended to facilitate international cooperation in the postal sector. He is expected to give a speech and meet with officials including the...

Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces had fired "live bullets and tear gas canisters at several young men and children" at the entrance to the camp, adding that the teenager died of his wounds. Saturday's incident is the latest in the West Bank, where violence linked to...

PARIS, FRANCE - A new roadmap to reduce the environmental risks from chemicals and waste was adopted at a United Nations conference on Saturday as part of a drive to manage damaging chemical exposure. The Global Framework on Chemicals was adopted by governments, companies, and NGOs at the fifth International Conference...

Tripoli, Libya - A Rome-bound aircraft departed on Saturday from Libya's capital, restarting flights to Italy after a nearly decade-long suspension due to an EU ban, authorities in Tripoli said. The European Union in 2014 halted flights operated by Libyan airlines and banned them from entering member states' airspace, as the...

Manama, Bahrain - A fourth Bahraini soldier has died after an attack this week on his country's contingent in the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthi rebels, the Gulf archipelago's army said. Bahrain had previously announced the deaths of three of its soldiers in Monday's attack near the Saudi border with Yemen....

The land journey from sub-Saharan African countries, where many of the migrants hail from, to departure points on the Tunisian and Libyan coasts "remains one of the world's most dangerous," Ruven Menikdiwela, director of the UNHCR New York office, said. The migrants and refugees "risk death and gross human rights violations...

Sudairi's delegation, which crossed overland from Jordan, was the first from Riyadh to visit the West Bank since the 1993 Oslo Accords, which had aimed to pave the way for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When asked whether there will be a Saudi embassy in Jerusalem, Sudairi recalled there...

New York, US-- The UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed has held talks with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India, and pledged to further develop cooperation as part of the two countries' strategic partnership. The two ministers met on the sidelines of the 78th Session of the United...

New York, US-- Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt have pledged to cement the partnership between themselves in order to boost cooperation in several economic and political fields. In this connection, Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Expatriates Ayman Safadi participated in a tripartite meeting with his Iraqi and...

NEW YORK, US – UAE Minister of Climate Change and the Environment Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri called upon the global community to utilize the opportunity offered by COP28 in the Emirates to drive climate action by focusing on food systems transformation and promoting nature-based solutions. She made the comments during...

New York, US--Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, has stressed the importance of strengthening ties with the United Kingdom, including the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which is an essential element of the strategic partnership and will contribute to achieving common interests. This came during Albudaiwi’s meeting...

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said he is seeking to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia, a fellow nuclear power, and will not send American troops. His administration has also distanced itself from Ukrainian attacks into Russia itself. But Lavrov pointed to the billions of dollars in Western military...

NEW YORK, US - The United Kingdom will be holding a summit on artificial intelligence (AI) so that nations can come together to “understand it, govern it, harness its potential and contain its risks”, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told the UN General Assembly. Dowden said the so-named AI Safety...

New York, US-- The GCC foreign ministers and the UK foreign minister have exhorted Iraq to uphold international agreements and United Nations resolutions on the demarcation of the Kuwaiti-Iraqi borders. Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Member States and the UK's Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and...

This comes after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hinted at the ongoing efforts to establish ties between the two nations during an interview with Fox News.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto ruler of Sudan since a 2021 coup, alluded to the rival Rapid Support Forces' ties with Wagner, the Russian mercenary group hit by Western sanctions over alleged abuses in Africa. "The danger of this war is now a threat to regional and international...

Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau called on the Indian government to "work with us" in order to establish processes to uncover the truth of the matter. Trudeau, however, refused to provide the evidence that led him to accuse India...

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's address came a day after Netanyahu discussed Saudi normalization in a meeting with US President Joe Biden. Israel and the United States believe that the Jewish state's normalization with Saudi Arabia -- guardian of Islam's two holiest sites -- would be a game-changer for the Middle...

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in New York that he will visit Israel too once Benjamin Netanyahu will have visited Turkey. Erdogan, after meeting with Netanyahu, added that drilling work with Israel will be started soon and operating transmission lines to Turkey and further to Europe will also...

New York, US-- Kuwait has exhorted UN member states to back its bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for 2024-2026. The appeal was made at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly by the country's Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Highlighting Kuwait's...