The UN’s cultural and scientific agency, Unesco, has announced that the US plans to rejoin – and pay more than $600m (£477m) in back dues – after a decade-long dispute sparked by the organisation’s move to include Palestine as a member. US officials say the decision to return was motivated by concern that China is filling the gap left by Washington in Unesco policymaking, notably in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world. The US deputy secretary of state for management and resources, Richard Verma, submitted…
Tag: United Nations
UN experts express ‘grave concern’ over detention of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong
A group of UN experts have expressed “grave concern” over the arrest and detention of Jimmy Lai, a former media mogul in Hong Kong who has been charged with violating the territory’s national security law. In a joint communication sent to the Chinese government, the experts from the UN working group on arbitrary detention and several special rapporteurs focused on human rights said Lai’s arrest and multiple prosecutions related to “his criticism of the Chinese government and his support for democracy in Hong Kong”. The involvement of such a large…
India’s population set to overtake China’s by June, UN figures show
India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country with almost 3 million more people by the middle of this year, according to UN figures. The State of World Population 2023 report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates India’s population will be 1.4286 billion by the end of June, compared with China’s 1.4257 billion. The US is a distant third, with an estimated population of 340 million people by the end of June. The data in the report is based on information available up to…
The Observer view on the dubious excuses for not backing the UN resolution on the Ukraine invasion | Observer editorial
In times of trouble, a person or country discovers who their true friends are. Such insights can be disillusioning. The war in Ukraine has produced a number of such disturbing moments, for the government in Kyiv but also for the western democracies that are its most ardent supporters. “Whose side are you on?” is a crude but necessary question when international law is flouted and innocent people begin to die in large numbers. The UN general assembly’s non-binding resolution last week condemning Russia’s invasion, demanding its immediate, unconditional withdrawal and…
UN marks one year of Ukraine war with vote as Germany and China clash over supply of weapons – video
The United Nations overwhelmingly isolated Russia by calling for a ‘comprehensive, just and lasting peace’, demanding Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine and stop fighting. Marking one year since Moscow’s invasion, the resolution was adopted with 141 votes in favour and 32 abstentions. Six countries joined Russia to vote no: Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria. China abstained from the vote – accusing the west of ‘adding fuel to the fire’ – a day after Beijing’s top diplomat visited Moscow and pledged a deeper partnership with Russia The Guardian
Germany and China clash over west’s supply of weapons to Ukraine
The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, clashed with Chinese diplomats on Thursday, passionately rejecting their claim that the west was adding fuel to the fire by arming Ukraine. Baerbock said it was time for China to tell Russia to stop its aggression. In a debate at the UN general assembly marking the anniversary of the invasion and seen as a key barometer of the state of world opinion, China intervened to present itself as above the conflict by proposing a catalogue of measures: a ceasefire, dialogue, security guarantees for Russia,…
UN expected to endorse demand for Russia to leave Ukraine
The 193-strong UN general assembly is expected by a massive majority on Thursday to endorse a broad resolution demanding Russia unconditionally and immediately withdraw from Ukraine’s territory, but China, South Africa, India and many countries in the global south are likely to continue to abstain, underlining their alienation from what they regarded as the west’s war. The resolution has been the subject of weeks of negotiations and has required Ukraine’s allies in the G7 to persuade Kyiv not to press for very specific wider demands and risk seeing some of…
U.S. Recognition of Tiny Pacific Country Reshapes Its New Zealand Ties
The Cook Islands had given up on its dream of United Nations membership and, with it, greater autonomy and influence on the world stage. New Zealand, the country that once governed the small Pacific nation and still exercises power there, had rejected its repeated entreaties. But now that President Biden has provided a stamp of approval — with formal recognition for the Cook Islands at a summit of Pacific nations in September — the country of 18,000 people has shifted course, moving toward joining international bodies with renewed vigor. What…
Canada leads calls for 30% for nature target as
Conserving 30% of Earth for nature would be equivalent to the 1.5C climate target, Canada’s environment minister has said, as senior UN figures warn action on nature loss at Cop15 this month is key to helping solve the biodiversity and climate crises. Steven Guilbeault, a former environmental activist who is now Canada’s climate minister, said that agreeing to conserve nearly a third of the planet by the end of the decade is a key aim for his country at the biodiversity summit, which is being held in Montreal over the…
Canada and China prepare to open Cop15 biodiversity summit despite rifts
More than 10,000 scientists, government officials and activists will gather in Montreal this week for the world’s most important biodiversity conference, eager to hammer out a deal to stem habitat loss around the world and preserve sensitive ecosystems. The UN Cop15 biodiversity summit opens on Tuesday, and will see countries negotiate this decade’s targets for protecting nature after more than two years of pandemic-related delays and just over two weeks since the end of the Cop27 climate meeting in Egypt. There is growing hope that the summit will not only…