His wearing of the badge, which has come to symbolize the oppression of Jews since its imposition in Nazi-occupied Europe, was swiftly criticized by Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, which urged him to wear the Israeli flag instead.

United Nations, New York - A humanitarian catastrophe on a biblical scale is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said at a session of the UN Security Council. "It’s time to call it what it is: a humanitarian catastrophe on a biblical scale...

United Nations - The United Nations on Monday warned that Syria was at its "most dangerous" point in a long time as violence surges and as "spillover" from the Israel-Hamas war starts to have an impact. Syria has "seen growing instability and violence, exacerbated by the lack of a meaningful...

"Impeding relief supplies as provided by the Geneva Conventions may constitute a crime within the court jurisdiction," chief prosecutor OF ICC Karim Khan told reporters in Cairo. He was speaking after a visit to Egypt's Rafah crossing, where he said trucks full of desperately needed goods remained stuck and unable...

The United Nations said it was concerned that war crimes were being committed on both sides in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The UN human rights office cited forcible transfer, collective punishment and the taking of hostages as the war continued into its 21st day.

"Without policy intervention, direct and indirect emissions from air conditioning and refrigeration are projected to rise 90 percent above 2017 levels by the year 2050," a UN report warned in 2020.

Hamas released a list of around 7,000 names of people in Gaza it said had been killed in Israeli strikes. The list was produced a day after US President Joe Biden said he had "no confidence" in the militant group's death toll figures. Israel says 1,400 people were killed in...

Geneva, Switzerland - At least 30% of the housing sector in the Gaza Strip has been either destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, while hospitals are overwhelmed with patients, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reported by the Russian news agency Tass. "Since 7 October, at...

"We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation in Gaza starts as quickly as possible... a first delivery is due to start in the next day or so," the UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said, quoted by his spokesman Jens Laerke...

"The United States is disappointed this resolution made no mention of Israel's rights of self-defense," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote. The resolution said the Council "firmly condemns all violence and hostilities against civilians and all acts of terrorism."

Israel has massed forces outside the long-blockaded enclave of 2.4 million in preparation for what the army has said would be a land, air and sea attack involving a "significant ground operation". Israel has also stationed troops and tanks on its UN-patrolled northern border with Lebanon and closed a four...

Jerusalem - The Israeli military said on Saturday that Gaza City residents must not delay their departure before a military offensive starts, as people leaving the north of the territory again jammed roads south. Ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive against Hamas, which attacked southern Israel on October 7,...

"Our Palestinian people reject the threat of the occupation (Israeli) leaders and its call for them to leave their homes and flee from them to the south or Egypt," the group said in a statement.

In Gaza, UN officials said the Israeli military, whose troops are massing at the border, had told them the evacuation should be carried out "within the next 24 hours". It later admitted it would take more time, however, and did not confirm it had set the deadline.

Cairo, Egypt- The first shipment of humanitarian aid arrived in Egypt's Sinai on Thursday from Jordan, state-affiliated media reported, to be transported into Gaza, which Israel has been bombarding for days following a surprise Hamas attack. Israel's army has hammered Hamas with thousands of strikes ahead of what is widely expected...

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 --...

Beirut, Lebanon - Shelling by government forces targeting several locations in rebel-held northwest Syria killed seven civilians including four children on Saturday, a war monitor said. The Damascus regime has been bombing opposition-held areas in apparent retaliation for an attack on a military academy graduation ceremony in Homs on Thursday...

Human rights office spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell said at a press briefing that the Nobel award for Mohammadi "highlights the courage and determination of the women of Iran". Mohammadi's husband, Taghi Rahmani, said the prize was "an award for all the men and the women who fight for Woman, Life, Freedom"

In a sweeping report on the issue, the United Nations agency detailed the heart-wrenching stories of some of the children affected, and co-author Laura Healy told AFP the data only revealed the "tip of the iceberg," with many more likely affected. According to the prediction of UNICEF report, Floods linked...

"While economic challenges are rife across the country, rising inflation and the deterioration of public services are making life unbearable," said a statement signed by 35 Yemeni groups and 13 international aid organizations including the Danish Refugee Council and Save the Children.

Netanyahu, who has repeatedly used the UN stage to issue dark warnings about Tehran, briefly gave pause at the General Assembly when he appeared to threaten nuclear attack if Tehran pursues its own atomic bomb. "Above all -- above all -- Iran must face a credible nuclear threat. As long...

Iran announced the restoring of diplomatic ties with Djibouti over seven years after it joined other regional nations in severing ties with Tehran in support of Saudi Arabia. The decision by the Horn of Africa nation came months after Shiite-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia resumed relations under a China-brokered...

"An estimated 43,059 individuals have been displaced by the floods in northeastern Libya," the IOM said, adding that a "lack of water supply is reportedly driving many displaced out of Derna" to other areas.

Armored cars, missiles and thousands of uniformed fighters filed past Houthi dignitaries in a show of strength from the Iran-backed group, as a military jet buzzed overhead. The parade took place two days after a Houthi delegation left Riyadh following "positive" but inconclusive talks aimed at ending a war that has ravaged...

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in New York with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said "ties between the two countries were improving". After more than a decade of tensions, relations have improved with recent high-level visits, including that of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Ankara last year.

"President Erdogan called on Tesla to establish its seventh factory in Turkey," the Turkish leader's office said.

Sanaa, Yemen - Flooding and lightning strikes in Yemen have killed eight civilians, an official and a doctor told AFP on Saturday, underscoring the threat of extreme weather in the war-ravaged country. The lightning strikes occurred on Friday in the Al-Layha and Al-Zahra districts of Hodeida governorate on the Red Sea...

Dubai, UAE - Emirates NBD made an investment in Erguvan, a climate and financial technology venture aimed at providing financial institutions and corporations with digital infrastructure, enabling them to manage the impacts and risks of climate change. The investment was made via Deniz Ventures, an investment fund launched by DenizBank...

The death toll from freak floods in eastern Libya is expected to soar dramatically, with 10,000 people reported missing, the Red Cross warned. Officials in Libya have said at least 150 people were killed in the sudden flooding on Sunday afternoon after storm Daniel swept the Mediterranean, lashing Bulgaria, Greece...

Geneva, Switzerland - The World Food Program said Tuesday that shrinking funding was forcing it to drastically slash rations in many operations, warning that 24 million more people risked being pushed to the brink of starvation. The United Nations agency said it had been struggling to meet growing global needs for...

US president Ronald Reagan's administration opens dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1988 after its exiled leader Yasser Arafat agrees to recognize Israel's right to exist. Three years later, in late 1991, Washington and Moscow co-organize an Israeli-Arab peace conference in Spain.

Sidon, Lebanon - Two fighters and a civilian were killed on Saturday in clashes at a south Lebanon Palestinian camp, official media reported, as Prime Minister Najib Mikati rebuked Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas over the spiraling violence. Renewed fighting broke out late on Thursday in Ain al-Helweh refugee camp on the...

An AFP correspondent in Sidon reported the sound of intermittent automatic weapon fire and rocket launchers emanating from within the camp on Friday morning.

Paris, France - The United Nations called on Thursday for strict rules on the use of AI tools such as viral chatbot ChatGPT in classrooms, including limiting their use to older children. In new guidance for governments, the UN's education body UNESCO warned that public authorities were not ready to deal...

The G20, which accounts for about 85 percent of the world's economy and greenhouse gas emissions, will meet in New Delhi in the absence of China and Russia's leaders, as the invasion of Ukraine, trade and the future of fossil fuels stir tensions.

Some 175 nations are working to reach a landmark agreement by end-2024 that will curb plastic pollution, which ends up in oceans, birds' stomachs and on mountain peaks. Microplastics have even been detected in blood and maternal milk.

The new arrivals in Adre may now be safe from the gunfire, but they soon learn they are still in danger -- including from torrential rains that pummel camps already experiencing shortages of food and water, according to aid group Doctors without Borders (MSF). Since the war began, at least...

Dubai, UAE - An airport terminal able to handle up to 45 million passengers a year will open in Abu Dhabi in November, state media said Thursday, accelerating competition in the crowded Gulf market. Terminal A in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates capital, touted as one of the world's biggest, will...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia has officially acceded to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) to become the 96th State that accedes to the Convention. Saudi Arabia became the 96th State Party to the Convention. The Convention will enter into force for...

Idlib, Syria - Thousands of fans in Syria's last opposition bastion have packed into a stadium for the frenzied final of a football cup -- an escape valve amid years of conflict and misery. "I'm really happy today," said Mohammed al-Zeer, 28, from the northwestern city of Idlib. "Between the war...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the composition of the country’s delegation to the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It will be led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The delegation also includes Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee...

Videos circulated on social media on Wednesday night showed Mahmoud Hamza dressed in military fatigues and surrounded by his fighters at the Tekbali barracks south of the Libyan capital.

In a separate statement late Tuesday, the commerce ministry announced the total lifting of subsidies on petrol and a partial lifting of subsidies on fuel oil. As a result the price of petrol has risen to 8,000 pounds from 3,000 previously, and fuel oil to 2,000 pounds from 700 previously,...

Shorelines at Habbaniyah, about 70 kilometres west of Baghdad, have receded by several dozen meters after years of drought ravaged parts of the country.

BEIRUT, LEBANON -The Lebanese army arrested 134 migrants near the northern border with Syria on Saturday after foiling their attempt to take a boat to Europe, it said in a statement. The group of would-be migrants -- made up of 130 Syrians and four Lebanese nationals -- were taken into custody...

Drastic government measures have restricted water use for some purposes, including crop irrigation, and authorities have cracked down on illegal practices they long ignored.

The Safer, a floating storage and offloading facility, has been moored around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the port of Hodeida since the 1980s. It has not been serviced since war broke out eight years ago between rebels, who control the capital Sanaa and the waters where the Safer is...

The UAE, set to host COP28 from November to December in the business hub of Dubai, requires official permission for protests but effectively bans demonstrations it deems disruptive. At the upcoming UN climate talks "there will be space available for climate activists to assemble peacefully and make their voices heard", it...

"The United Nations has begun an operation to defuse what might be the world's largest ticking time bomb," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "A complex maritime salvage effort is now underway in the Red Sea off the coast of war-torn Yemen to transfer one million barrels of...

"AI development is now outpacing Moore's Law and moving at breakneck speed, and governments are unable to keep up. This is the wake-up call we need," asserts Sharaf, urging for a balanced outlook towards AI, emphasizing the need for "optimistic realists" who assess the possible threats posed by AI to...