Page 19 - United Nations

World Children's Day 2024: History, significance, theme, quotes and more

World Children's Day is celebrated every year on November 20 and this day is an opportunity to address children's voices and the issues they face

Iran's uranium stockpile enriched to near weapons-grade levels, says UN

Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels in defiance of international demands, according to a confidential report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog seen Tuesday by The Associated Press . The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said that as of Oct. 26, Iran has 182.3 kilograms (401.9 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%, an increase of 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) since the last report in August. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The IAEA also estimated in its quarterly report that as of Oct. 26, Iran's overall stockpile of enriched uranium stands at 6,604.4 kilograms (14,560 pounds), which represents an increase of 852.6 kilograms (1,879.6 pounds) since the last report in August. Under the IAEA's definition, around 42 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity is the amount at which creating one atomic weapon is theoretically possibl

No progress at COP29 in matters critical to developing countries: India

At COP29 in Baku, India has expressed frustration with developed countries for not seriously discussing how to support climate action in developing nations, saying it is impossible to tackle climate change without financial and technological help. Delivering a statement in the closing plenary of the subsidiary bodies' meeting on the Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) on Saturday, India said that developed countries, which have historically contributed the most to greenhouse gas emissions and have more resources and the ability to act on climate change, have repeatedly delayed climate action and continuously shifted goalposts. "We have seen no progress in matters that are critical for developing countries (during the last week). Our part of the world is facing some of the worst impacts of climate change, with far lower capacity to recover from those impacts or to adapt to the changes to the climatic system for which we are not responsible, India's deputy lead negotiator, Neelesh Sah, ...

Protesters gather outside UN climate summit hall as progress on deal slows

Hundreds of activists formed a human chain outside one of the main plenary halls at the United Nations climate summit on what is traditionally their biggest protest day during the two-week talks. The demonstration in Baku, Azerbaijan will be echoed at sites around the world in a global day of action for climate justice that's become an annual event. Activists waved flags, snapped their fingers, and hummed and mumbled chants in a silent protest, with many covering their mouths with the word Silenced. Demonstrators held up signs calling for more money to be pledged for climate finance, which involves cash for transitioning to clean energy and adapting to climate change. It comes as negotiators at the venue try to hammer out a deal for exactly that but progress has been slow and observers say the direction of any agreement is still unclear. Tired but inspired, activists vow to keep fighting' Lidy Nacpil said protestors like her are not surprised about how negotiations are going. Bu

Protesters gear up for biggest day at UN climate talks amid slow progress

The United Nations climate talks neared the end of their first week on Saturday with negotiators still at work on how much wealthier nations will pay for developing countries to adapt to planetary warming. Meanwhile, activists planned actions on what is traditionally their biggest protest day during the two-week talks. The demonstration in Baku, Azerbaijan is expected to be echoed at sites around the world in a global day of action for climate justice that's become an annual event. Negotiators at COP29, as the talks are known, will return to a hoped-for deal that might be worth hundreds of billions of dollars to poorer nations. Many are in the Global South and already suffering the costly impacts of weather disasters fuelled by climate change. Several experts have said USD 1 trillion a year or more is needed both to compensate for such damages and to pay for a clean-energy transition that most countries can't afford on their own. The talks came in for criticism on several fronts .

Elon Musk meets Iran's UN envoy as Trump prepares for January takeover

US-Iran relations: Iranian diplomats described the discussions with the tech entrepreneur as 'positive' and 'good news'

Developing nations need $1 trn a year by 2030: Climate finance group

Negotiators at the UN climate conference in Azerbaijan should focus on mobilising USD 1 trillion per year by 2030 to help developing countries cope with the warming world, a new report the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance said on Thursday. This money, according to the group of international climate finance experts, is needed from public and private sources. As countries negotiate at COP29 a new climate finance package to support developing countries beyond 2025, the report cautions against the risks of delayed action. Any shortfall in investment before 2030 will place added pressure on the years that follow, creating a steeper and potentially more costly path to climate stability," Failing to invest sufficiently now, it warns, "Means we will need to mobilise even larger sums in shorter time frames to catch up on critical targets." The report said global climate action requires USD 6.36.7 trillion annually by 2030, with USD 2.4 trillion per year needed ...

A 34-page complex climate finance draft sparks concern in COP29 summit

An overly lengthy 34-page draft on a new climate finance goal emerged on the third day of the UN climate talks in Azerbaijan's Baku on Wednesday, but the text is filled with repetitions and duplications, making it difficult to work with. While it includes all the elements everyone wanted, there is growing concern as three days have already passed with little progress. Observers say all negotiating groups have now asked the co-facilitators to condense the document to make it more manageable. The G77 and China group requested the co-chairs to organise the draft text by themes and not add new ideas to it. There were three options for structuring the climate finance goal in the draft framework prepared in October by the co-chairs of the Ad Hoc Work Programme on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). The new draft now presents 13 sub-options too. The new finance text is expected to include the same options for the goal as the previous two drafts. One of the options is a specific dol

Ongoing military exercise VINBAX-24 at Ambala to boost Indo-Vietnam ties

The 5th Edition of "VINBAX 2024" is being conducted from November 4 to 23 at Ambala and Chandimandir

India reiterates stand on terrorism, highlights peacekeeping efforts at UN

Counsellor Eldos Mathew Punnoos from India delivered the statement at the General Debate in the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly

UN climate talks give all nations a platform to address climate change

When more than two dozen world leaders deliver remarks at the United Nations' annual climate conference on Wednesday, many are likely to detail their nations' firsthand experience with the catastrophic weather that has come with climate change. That could include Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose nation has seen deadly flooding this year from monsoon rains that scientists say have become heavier with climate change. Just two years ago, more than 1,700 people died in widespread flooding. Pakistan has also suffered from dangerous heat, with thousands of people hospitalised with heatstroke this spring as temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius. Also on the list of speakers Wednesday is Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis. Like many other countries in the Global South, the Bahamas has piled up debt from warming-connected weather disasters it did little to cause, including Hurricanes Dorian in 2019 and Matthew in 2016. Leaders have been seeking help and money from the

US prohibits airlines from flying to Haiti, UN temporarily suspends flights

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday that it will prohibit US airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot two planes and the United Nations will temporarily suspend flights to Port-au-Prince, limiting humanitarian aid coming into the country. Bullets hit the Spirit Airlines plane when it was about to land Monday in the country's capital, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down. Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting the interior of a plane. On Tuesday, JetBlue announced that its plane had also been shot while departing Port-au-Prince on Monday. The shootings were part of a wave of violence that erupted as the country plagued by gang violence swore in its new prime minister after a politically tumultuous process. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and more roadblocks affecting humanitarian operation during the violence Monday. The Port-au-Prince airpo

Pak PM calls for $6.8 trillion in climate funding for developing nations

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday called for USD 6.8 trillion in climate funding for developing countries by 2030. Sharif was speaking at a climate finance roundtable hosted by Pakistan during the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan's capital Baku. According to live coverage of his speech by Pakistani TV channels, the prime minister stressed that developing countries were facing huge climate challenges but were often left without adequate resources to meet them. We need urgent climate finance to tackle issues brought by environmental changes, Sharif said, as he asked the developed countries to fulfil promises that have remained largely unmet despite repeated commitments. Developing countries require USD 6.8 trillion in financing by 2030 to manage the impacts of climate change effectively, the premier said. He pointed out that while a climate finance goal of USD 100 billion annually was set in 2009, increasing this target is now crucial as the

Israeli work on Alpha Line with Syria saw severe cease-fire violations: UN

United Nations peacekeepers warned Tuesday that the Israeli military has committed severe violations of a cease-fire deal with Syria as its military continues a major construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. The comments from the UN Disengagement Observer Force, which has patrolled the area since 1974, come after an Associated Press report Monday that published satellite imagery showing the extent of the works along the frontier. The work, which UNDOF said began in July, follows the completion by the Israeli military of new roadways and what appears to be a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip's frontier with Israel. The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where other UN peacekeepers have come under fire. While such violence hasn't broken out along the Alpha Line, UNDOF warned Tuesday the work risked further inflaming tensions in the region. Such severe violations of the (demilitarized

Donald Trump picks Afghanistan vet Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor

The person familiar requested anonymity to discuss the selection. Waltz's congressional office did not immediately respond to requests for comment

Targets unchanged a year after deal on tripling renewables by 2030: Report

A year after countries agreed to triple global renewable energy capacity to 11,000 gigawatts by 2030, a new report on Tuesday revealed that national targets still only aim for a collective doubling of capacity in the next six years. The report by global energy think tank Ember showed only eight countries have updated their renewable targets in the last 12 months, resulting in just a four-GW increase in overall renewable energy targets globally. The report analysed national 2030 renewable capacity targets for 96 countries and the EU as a bloc. These countries collectively account for 96 per cent of the world's renewable capacity, 95 per cent of global electricity sector demand and 94 per cent of global power sector emissions. Of the 96 countries, 83 have renewable capacity targets for 2030. At the UN's climate conference in December 2023 in Dubai, world leaders reached a historic agreement to triple global renewables capacity by 2030. The International Energy Agency (IEA) and ...

Afghanistan attends UN climate talks for first time since Taliban's return

Afghanistan's first delegation at United Nations climate talks since the Taliban's return to power in 2021 has arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday in a bid to garner support for climate action in the climate-vulnerable nation. Matuil Haq Khalis, who's head of the country's environment protection agency, told The Associated Press that Afghanistan is among the worst affected nations by climate change and needs the world's support to deal with extreme weather like erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and flash floods. All the countries must join hands and tackle the problem of climate change, said Khalis, speaking through a translator. Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with a recent assessment by climate experts ranking it the sixth most climate vulnerable country in the world. In March this year, northern Afghanistan was hit by heavy rains resulting in flash floods, killing over 300 people. Climate scientists have found that extreme rainfall has gotten 25 pe

COP29: United Nations calls for urgent climate action, financial commitment

Soaring rhetoric, urgent pleas and pledges of cooperation contrasted with a backdrop of seismic political changes, global wars and economic hardships as United Nations annual climate talks began Monday and got right to the hard part: money. In Baku, Azerbaijan, where the world's first oil well was drilled and the smell of the fuel was noticeable outdoors, the two-week session, called COP29, got right to the major focus of striking a new deal on how many hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars a year will flow from rich nations to poor to try to curb and adapt to climate change. The money is to help the developing world transition their energy systems away from planet-warming fossil fuels and toward clean energy, compensate for climate disasters mostly triggered by carbon pollution from rich nations and adapt to future extreme weather. These numbers may sound big but they are nothing compared to the cost of inaction, the new COP29 president, Mukhtar Babayev, said as he to

New COP29 climate finance target at benefits all, says UN climate chief

Setting ambitious objectives for the COP29 climate summit here, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell on Monday emphasised the need for an updated global climate finance target and robust action on carbon markets. Stiell's remarks came during the opening of the 29th session of the climate change conference of parties (COP29) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. India's key priorities at the conference are likely to focus on ensuring accountability for developed nations on climate finance, strengthening resilience for vulnerable communities, and achieving an equitable energy transition, experts anticipate. Stiell delivered a rallying call to global leaders, emphasising the urgency of coordinated action on climate change. Stiell's address highlighted that despite incremental progress, COP remains the sole forum for addressing the escalating climate crisis globally. "This UNFCCC process is the only place we have to address the rampant climate crisis, and to credibly hold

Lebanon: Traumatised by war, children facing physical and emotional scars

Curled up in his father's lap, clinging to his chest, Hussein Mikdad cried his heart out. The 4-year-old kicked his doctor with his intact foot and pushed him away with the arm that was not in a cast. My Dad! My Dad!" Hussein said. "Make him leave me alone! With eyes tearing up in relief and pain, the father reassured his son and pulled him closer. Hussein and his father, Hassan, are the only survivors of their family after an Israeli airstrike last month on their Beirut neighbourhood. The strike killed 18 people, including his mother, three siblings and six relatives. Can he now shower? the father asked the doctor. Ten days after surgery, doctors examining Hussein's wounds said the boy is healing properly. He has rods in his fractured right thigh and stitches that assembled his torn tendons back in place on the right arm. The pain has subsided, and Hussein should be able to walk again in two months albeit with a lingering limp. A prognosis for Hussein's invisible wounds is much .