Latest United Nations General Assembly News

In this photo provided by the United Nations, Bob Loughman, prime minister of Vanuatu, speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, at U.N. headquarters. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo via AP)

At UN, nations urge overdue reckoning with colonial crimes

Sep. 28, 2020 10:55 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — Leaders of countries once subjugated to Western powers sent a pointed message at this year’s U.N. General Assembly: For those who think the word “colonialism” evokes a long-ago, no-longer-relevant era, think again. Several leaders raised this year’s global protests...

FILE - This undated file photo released on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, by Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (BAKAMLA) shows a Chinese Cost Guard ship sails in North Natuna Sea. Earlier this month, an Indonesian patrol ship confronted a Chinese coast guard vessel that spent almost three days in waters where Indonesia claims economic rights and are near the southernmost part of China’s disputed South China Sea claims. (Indonesian Maritime Security Agency via AP, File)

South China Sea Watch: China holds drills amid new tensions

Sep. 27, 2020 11:43 PM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — A look at developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple territorial disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons. The waters are a major commercial shipping route and are rich in fish and possible oil and gas reserves. ___ CHINA HOLDS NEW...

The UN Security Council holds a meeting on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, in this Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019 file photo, at United Nations headquarters. The coronavirus that has claimed nearly 1 million lives has underscored the failure of the United Nations to bring countries together to defeat it. “We could criticize the U.N. for this — but who are we really talking about, when we blame `the U.N.?'” Switzerland President Simonetta Sommaruga asked. “We are in fact talking about ourselves, because the U.N. is its member states. And it is often member states that stand in the way of the U.N.’s work.”(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

UN failures on coronavirus underscore the need for reforms

Sep. 27, 2020 8:44 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The coronavirus that has claimed nearly 1 million lives has underscored the failure of the United Nations to bring countries together to defeat it, prompting renewed calls to reform the world body so that it can meet challenges far different — and more daunting — than...

In this photo made from UNTV video, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, at UN Headquarters. (UNTV Via AP )

At UN, India vows to help produce virus vaccine for world

Sep. 27, 2020 1:14 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to help the world produce and deliver potential coronavirus vaccines while making no mention Saturday of the heavy toll the pandemic has taken on his own country, where the enormous population has suffered among the highest numbers of cases...

In this image made from UNTV video, Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, at UN headquarters. (UNTV via AP)

At UN, Pakistani leader says India sponsors anti-Muslim hate

Sep. 27, 2020 1:08 PM EDT

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday assailed India’s Hindu nationalist government and its moves to cement control of Muslim-majority Kashmir, calling India a state sponsor of hatred and prejudice against Islam. Khan said at the annual U.N. gathering of world...

FILE - In this Saturday, July 22, 2017, file photo, a polar bear stands on the ice in the Franklin Strait in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In a year of cataclysm, some world leaders at September 2020's annual United Nations meeting are taking the long view, warning: If COVID-19 doesn't kill us, climate change will. With Siberia seeing its warmest temperature on record this year and enormous chunks of ice caps in Greenland and Canada sliding into the sea, countries are acutely aware there's no vaccine for global warming. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Leaders to UN: If virus doesn't kill us, climate change will

Sep. 27, 2020 2:46 AM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — In a year of cataclysm, some world leaders at this week’s annual United Nations meeting are taking the long view, warning: If COVID-19 doesn't kill us, climate change will. With Siberia seeing its warmest temperature on record this year and enormous chunks of ice caps in...

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2019, file photo, Bradley fighting vehicles are parked at a U.S. military base at an undisclosed location in Northeastern Syria, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019. The U.S. has deployed additional troops and armored vehicles into eastern Syria after a number of clashes with Russian forces, including a recent vehicle collision that injured four American service members. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

Syria minister calls Turkey main terrorism sponsor in region

Sep. 26, 2020 9:10 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Syria’s foreign minister accused Turkey on Saturday of being “one of the main sponsors of terror” in his country and the region, and said it is guilty of “a war crime and a crime against humanity" for cutting water to more than a dozen towns that resisted...

A police officer tries to take away an old Belarusian national flag from Nina Bahinskaya's hands during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have been protesting daily since the Aug. 9 presidential election. (AP Photo/TUT.by)

Belarus tells UN sanctions would be 'harmful for everyone'

Sep. 26, 2020 8:41 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Belarus' foreign minister warned Western nations Saturday against imposing sanctions over the country's disputed presidential election and crackdown on protesters, saying their expressions of concern are “nothing but attempts to bring chaos and anarchy to our country.”...

A woman speaks during a protest, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Louisville, Ky. A grand jury has indicted one officer on criminal charges six months after Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by police in Kentucky. Protests against racial injustice aren't just part of the United States' national conversation. America's foes have taken note too, using the demonstrations and images of police violence to criticize the country at the U.N. General Assembly this year. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The U.S. reckoning on race, seen through other nations' eyes

Sep. 26, 2020 6:17 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — It's not only in the United States where protests against racial injustice are part of the national conversation. A handful of America's critics have taken note too, using recent months' demonstrations and graphic images of police violence to denounce the country at the...

In this image made from UNTV video, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister, of Samoa, speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, at U.N. headquarters. (UNTV via AP)

They said it: Leaders at the virtual UN, in their own words

Sep. 26, 2020 5:59 PM EDT

Lots of leaders saying lots of things about lots of topics — topics that matter to them, to their regions, to the world. That’s what the speechmaking at the U.N. General Assembly invariably produces each year. And each year, certain enormous topics and certain louder voices dominate. Here, The...

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