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Tag: United Nations

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Can the rest of the world save itself from climate breakdown without the US?

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With Trump expected to skip the UN climate summit, the question will be: whats possible if the most powerful nation is pulling away from action? This story originally appeared in Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. As world leaders converge on New York City for the United Nations climate action Summit on 23 September, they enter what may be the most consequential week in climate politics since Donald Trumps surprise election as president of the United States…

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Officials at UN agency for Palestinians face ethical abuse claims

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Investigation launched into UNRWA over alleged nepotism and discrimination Senior figures at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees have been accused of serious ethical abuses, including nepotism, according to an internal review. Credible and corroborated allegations were made last year in a confidential internal ethics report by and about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), according to the Agence France-Presse news agency, facing a crisis after the US cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. UNRWA said Krhenbhl had instructed all staff to fully cooperate with the…

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Mediterranean will be ‘sea of blood’ without rescue boats, UN warns

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Refugee agency says risk of people dying attempting crossing is at its highest The risk of migrants and refugees becoming shipwrecked in the Mediterranean and dying at sea is the highest it has ever been due to a lack of NGO rescue ships and the conflict in Libya hastening departures at an alarming rate, the UN has warned. If we do not intervene soon, there will be a sea of blood, said Carlotta Sami, the spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, in Italy. With favourable sea conditions, thousands of…

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Zimbabwe opposition figure charged after forced return

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UN accuses Zambia of violating international law after MDCs Tendai Biti is denied asylum A senior Zimbabwean opposition politician who was refused asylum in neighbouring Zambia and forcibly returned to his own country has been charged over his alleged role in last weeks post-election protests. We will keep on fighting, Tendai Biti told reporters, before being granted bail of $5,000 (3,885) and told to surrender his passport. The UN said it was gravely concerned that Biti, a former finance minister and senior figure in the Movement for Democratic Change, was…

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Russia blasts new US sanctions as ‘theatre of the absurd’

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Officials vow countermeasures and markets slump after tough measures unveiled over Salisbury attack Russian officials reacted with outrage and markets slumped on Thursday morning following tweeted Dmitry Polyanskiy, first deputy permanent representative of Russia to the UN. No proofs, no clues, no logic, no presumption of innocence, just highly-likelies. Only one rule: blame everything on Russia, no matter how absurd and fake it is. Let us welcome the United Sanctions of America! One senior Russian MP called the US a police state. A member of the Dumas foreign affairs committee,…

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Haley Defends U.S. Decision to Quit UN’s Human Rights Council

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Ambassador Nikki Haley defended the U.S. decision to quit the United Nations Human Rights Council last month as a stand against “political corruption and moral bankruptcy” and the organization’s “anti-Israel bias.” “The United States provided the last shred of credibility that the council had, but that was precisely why we withdrew,” Haley said Wednesday at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. In June, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Haley announced the U.S. decision after the council passed a resolution denouncing Israeli settlements as a “flagrant violation” of human rights. In…

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Italian minister declares victory as Spain accepts rescue boat

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Matteo Salvini, who refused to let ship carrying 629 refugees and migrants to dock, says: We have opened a front in Brussels Matteo Salvini, Italys far-right interior minister, has declared victory after a standoff over the fate of 629 people on a humanitarian rescue boat prompted Spain to agree to accept them. The impasse, after the populist and far-right government in Italy refused to allow the MS Aquarius to dock over the weekend, suggested that Europe could face a humanitarian crisis this summer as it comes to grips with the…

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Why Elon Musks SpaceX launch is utterly depressing | Nathan Robinson

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Elon Musk is right: silly and fun things are important. But some of them are an indefensible waste of resources Elon Musk Why Elon Musks SpaceX launch is utterly depressing Nathan Robinson Elon Musk is right: silly and fun things are important. But some of them are an indefensible waste of resources Wed 7 Feb 2018 11.04EST Share on Twitter View more sharing options Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on Messenger Close Play Video 1:39 80 people were killed by government airstrikes. Meanwhile, in Florida, Elon Musk fired…

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North Korea Signals Olympics Truce, Seeks Talks With Seoul

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for urgent talks with South Korea to make the Winter Olympics next month a success even while repeating claims that he could strike the U.S. with a nuclear bomb if necessary. In an annual New Year’s day speech, Kim said that “we sincerely hope the games will be successful.” He said that both Koreas should seek to resolve problems among themselves rather than seek help from outside of the region. “It’s about time that the North and the South sit down and seriously…

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Kim Jong Un Says Nuclear Button to Hit U.S. Always on My Desk

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Kim Jong Un repeated claims that he could hit the U.S. with a nuclear weapon, saying that its deterrent is “irreversible” and would prevent President Donald Trump from starting a war. Kim also said he planned to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month, Yonhap News reported, even as he called for mass production of nuclear warheads. South Korean television stations stopped broadcasting the speech before it ended. “It’s reality, not a threat, that the nuclear button is always on my desk,” Kim said in…

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Odds and Ends 

‘This is EPIC’: Trump threatens to cut off financial aid to UN members over Jerusalem vote

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Ambassador Nikki Haley has already put the United Nations on notice that “the U.S. will be taking names” when the UN votes Thursday on a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump sweetened the pot, telling reporters that the U.S. just might withhold foreign aid from countries that vote in favor of the resolution and against the U.S. Trump threatens to cut aid to countries that oppose his Jerusalem decision: 'Let them vote against us. We'll save a…

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Haley Warns UN That Trump Is Watching Jerusalem Votes

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Nikki Haley has a warning for her fellow UN ambassadors ahead of a key vote on Jerusalem this week: Read a QuickTake Q&A on the controversy over Jerusalem’s status “I liked the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations to all of those nations that take our money and then they vote against us in the Security Council, they vote against us potentially at the assembly,” Trump said. “They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us. Well we’re…

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US outnumbered 14 to 1 as it vetoes UN vote on status of Jerusalem

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Nikki Haley furious over resolution, describing it as an insult and saying the US wont be told where it can put its embassy A UN security council resolution calling for the withdrawal of Donald Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital has been backed by every council member except the US, which used its veto. The unanimity of the rest of the council was a stark rebuke to the Trump administration over Israeland the Palestinians, none is as sensitive as the status of Jerusalem. The holy city has been at…

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Two Palestinians shot dead and one critical in riots after Trump speech

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Palestinian worshippers and Israeli troops clash as Muslims protest against Donald Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital Two Palestinians have been shot dead in Gaza by the Israeli army, the first people killed in clashes that began after Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israels capital. Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli troops across the West Bank as worshippers throughout the Muslim world took to the streets after the weekly Friday midday prayers to vent their fury at Trumps decision. A third man was in a critical condition after being shot…

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North Korea Warns That Nuclear War Could Break Out Any Moment

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North Korea warned that a nuclear war “may break out any moment” as the U.S. and South Korea began one of the largest joint naval drills off both the east and west coasts of the peninsula. Kim In Ryong, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said on Monday that his nation had become a “full-fledged nuclear power which possesses the delivery means of various ranges” and warned that “the entire U.S. mainland is within our firing range.” He also called North Korea “a responsible nuclear state.” “As long…

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