Latest United Nations News

At UN climate talks, nations big and small get chance to bear witness to climate change

Nov. 13, 2024 01:09 AM EST

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — 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...

Allies providing Sudan's warring parties with weapons are 'enabling the slaughter,' UN official says

Nov. 12, 2024 23:39 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. political chief accused allies of Sudan’s warring military and paramilitary forces on Tuesday of “enabling the slaughter” that has killed more than 24,000 people and created the world’s worst displacement crisis. “This is unconscionable,”...

Middle East latest: US won't halt any weapons to Israel over Gaza humanitarian aid situation

Nov. 12, 2024 22:14 PM EST

Eight international aid groups said Tuesday that Israel has failed to meet U.S. demands for greater humanitarian access to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where hunger experts say the north may already be experiencing famine. However, the Biden administration said Tuesday it won't limit...

US prohibits airlines from flying to Haiti and UN suspends flights after planes were shot by gangs

Nov. 12, 2024 19:48 PM EST

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration prohibited U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot three planes and the United Nations also Tuesday temporarily suspended flights to Port-au-Prince, limiting humanitarian aid coming into the country. ...

Amid Earth's heat records, scientists report another bump upward in annual carbon emissions

Nov. 12, 2024 19:08 PM EST

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Even as Earth sets new heat records, humanity this year is pumping 330 million tons (300 million metric tons) more carbon dioxide into the air by burning fossil fuels than it did last year. This year the world is on track to put 41.2 billion tons (37.4...

US says it will not limit Israel arms transfers after some improvements in flow of aid to Gaza

Nov. 12, 2024 17:33 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that Israel has made some good but limited progress in increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and will not limit arms transfers to Israel as it had threatened to a month ago if the situation had not improved. Relief groups say...

Earth's biggest polluters aren't sending leaders to UN climate talks in a year of weather extremes

Nov. 12, 2024 14:33 PM EST

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — World leaders converged Tuesday at the United Nations annual climate conference with plenty of big names and powerful countries noticeably absent. Past talks often had the star power of a soccer World Cup. But the meeting just getting underway in Azerbaijan...

After hosting World Cup, Qatar praised by UN rights body for labor law reforms but urged to do more

Nov. 12, 2024 13:58 PM EST

GENEVA (AP) — Qatar was praised at the United Nations’ top human rights body on Tuesday for improving labor laws before the 2022 World Cup, though it was urged to fully abolish its employment system for migrant workers. Qatar returned to the Human Rights Council in Geneva for its...

Head of UN nuclear watchdog: 'Dire straits dynamic' with Iran's nuclear program amid Mideast wars

Nov. 12, 2024 13:09 PM EST

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Tuesday he's hopeful that meetings this week with Iranian officials, including the country's new president, can lead to a breakthrough in monitoring the country's nuclear program, a longstanding issue that has gained...

Azerbaijan accused of ramping up repression of critics ahead of hosting UN climate summit

Nov. 12, 2024 12:18 PM EST

As representatives from nearly 200 countries, along with hundreds of journalists, arrived in Azerbaijan in November for the U.N. climate conference known this year as COP29, they bring with them a level of scrutiny the hosts aren't accustomed to — and don't often tolerate. ...