Middle East latest: Israel ends agreement with UN agency providing aid in Gaza

Israel said Monday that it has terminated the agreement facilitating the work of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, in what appeared to be a step to implement legislation passed last month that would sever ties with the agency and prevent it from operating in...

US gives Israel a 'fail' grade on improving aid to Gaza so far

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is stepping up criticism of Israel for not doing enough to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza as a 30-day deadline looms for Israeli officials to meet certain requirements or risk potential restrictions on military assistance. State...

Mpox cases in Congo may be stabilizing. Experts say more vaccines are needed to stamp out virus

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Some health officials say mpox cases in Congo appear to be “stabilizing” — a possible sign that the main epidemic for which the World Health Organization made a global emergency declaration in August might be on the decline. In recent weeks, Congo has...

Iran’s help has transformed Yemen's Houthi rebels into a potent military force, UN experts say

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been transformed from a local armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organization with support from Iran, Iraqi armed groups, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants and others, U.N. experts said in a new report. The...

At U.N. summit, historic agreement to give Indigenous groups voice on nature conservation decisions

CALI, Colombia (AP) — After two weeks of negotiations, delegates on Saturday agreed at the United Nations conference on biodiversity to establish a subsidiary body that will include Indigenous peoples in future decisions on nature conservation, a development that builds on a growing movement to...

Delegates agree to establish Indigenous subsidiary body at COP16 UN biodiversity summit in Colombia

Middle East latest: Israel kills 52 in northeast Lebanon after a night of strikes in Beirut

Rescuers searched for survivors Friday after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 52 people and wounded 72 others across northeastern Lebanon, the country's Health Ministry reported. The wave of bombings pounded villages that had previously been spared the worst of Israel’s air campaign against the...

Negotiations stall over some crucial issues on final day of UN biodiversity summit in Colombia

CALI, Colombia (AP) — At the United Nations biodiversity summit in Colombia, negotiators have struggled to find common ground on key issues. These include how to finance protections for 30% of the world's plants and animals by 2030, how to establish a permanent body for Indigenous...

Israel is falling far short of a US ultimatum to surge aid to Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — Halfway through the Biden administration's 30-day ultimatum for Israel to surge the level of humanitarian assistance allowed into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding, Israel is falling far short, an Associated Press review of U.N. and Israeli data shows. ...

Head of UN-backed team of experts cites paramilitary force in Sudan for sexual violence as war rages

GENEVA (AP) — The head of a U.N.-backed fact-finding team looking into human rights violations and abuses in Sudan said Friday it found the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces responsible for large-scale sexual violence in areas that it controls. Mohamed Chande Othman has denounced...