EDITH M. LEDERER

Gang violence in Haiti is escalating and spreading with a significant increase in killings, UN says
The U.N. chief says in a new report that gang violence in Haiti is escalating and spreading from the capital Port-au-Prince through the center of the country to its two other major cities, Gonaives and Cap-Hatien, with a significant increase in killings, kidnappings and rapes in the past few months.
 
Russia accuses US of promoting ties between Israel and Arabs before Israeli-Palestinian peace deal
Russia is accusing the United States of promoting Israel’s normalization of relations with Arab nations and circumventing an Arab initiative launched by Saudi Arabia in 2002, which calls for a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before any diplomatic recognition of Israel.
 
FILE - Afghan women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. The mental health of Afghan women, who have suffered under harsh measures imposed by the Taliban since taking power two years ago, has deteriorated across the country, according to a joint report from three U.N. agencies released Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
As mental health worsens among Afghanistan’s women, the UN is asked to declare ‘gender apartheid’
The U.N.’s most powerful body is being asked to support governments seeking to legally declare the crackdown by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on women and girls “gender apartheid.”
 
Belarus Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Belarus’ top diplomat says he can’t imagine his nation entering the war in Ukraine alongside Russia
The foreign minister of Belarus says he can’t envision a situation where his country would enter the war in Ukraine alongside Russian forces. Belarus has a strategic partnership with Russia.
 
Former Irish President Mary Robinson, left, and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, both members of Elders, "an independent group of global leaders working for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet" founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, hold an interview to discuss the group's progress, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Former New Zealand prime minister and pandemic prep leader says we’re unprepared for the next one
If another pandemic happens, the world will again be unprepared. That’s the bleak assessment from former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark after the U.N. General Assembly held a high-level summit aimed at heading off another pandemic.
 
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Russian foreign minister lambastes the West but barely mentions Ukraine in UN speech
Russia’s top diplomat is lashing out at the U.S. and the West as self-interested defenders of a fading international power structure. But Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov didn’t directly discuss his country’s war in Ukraine in his speech to the U.N.
 
Pakistan's interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar holds an interview during his visit for the United Nations General Assembly, Friday Sept. 22, 2023, in New York. Kakar said he expects parliamentary elections to take place in the new year, dismissing the possibility that the country’s powerful military would manipulate the results to ensure that jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party doesn’t win. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Pakistan’s prime minister says manipulation of coming elections by military is ‘absolutely absurd’
Pakistan’s interim prime minister says he expects elections to take place in the new year, dismissing the possibility that the country’s powerful military would manipulate the results to ensure that jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party doesn’t win.
 
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres acknowledges the audience applause after addressing the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
As the world’s problems grow more challenging, the head of the United Nations gets bleaker
At the annual meeting of world leaders last year, the United Nations chief sounded a global alarm about the survival of humanity and the planet. This year, the alarm was louder and more ominous.
 
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, center, listens during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Thursday Sept. 21, 2023 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Azerbaijan claims full control of breakaway region and holds initial talks with ethnic Armenians
Azerbaijan regained control of its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in a deadly two-day military offensive and held initial talks with representatives of its ethnic Armenian population on reintegrating the area into the mainly Muslim country.
 
President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Iran’s president says US should ease sanctions to demonstrate it wants to return to nuclear deal
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi says that relations with the United States can move forward if the Biden administration demonstrates it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, and a first step should be easing sanctions.
 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a high level Security Council meeting during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Ukraine’s president, at Security Council, lashes out at Russia but avoids face-to-face encounter
Ukraine’s president is accusing Russia of undermining all norms of war and the United Nations Charter. The allegation was aired Wednesday at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
 
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi kisses a Quran as he addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Iran’s president urges US to demonstrate it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi says that his country will never give up its right “to have peaceful nuclear energy” and urged the United States “to demonstrate in a verifiable fashion” that it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
 
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrives to the SDG Summit at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The UN chief summons world leaders to action. But, he says, they seem ‘incapable of coming together’
The United Nations chief delivered a dire warning to leaders from across the world. He declared that the planet is becoming unhinged with mounting global challenges and geopolitical tensions — and he warned that “we seem incapable of coming together to respond.”
 
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, seen on screen, talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, right, during a video conference at the foreign ministry Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, in Tokyo. The tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began releasing its first batch of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday — a controversial step that prompted China to ban seafood from Japan.(AP Photo/Norihiro Haruta)
‘Stop it!’ UN’s nuclear chief pushes Iran to end block on international inspectors
The U.N. nuclear chief says he asked to meet Iran’s president on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level meeting, His goal is to reverse Tehran’s ban on many of the agency’s inspectors.
 
Police and sanitation vehicles block access to 1st Street ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. (AP Photo / Bryan Woolston)
As leaders convene, the UN pushes toward its crucial global goals. But progress is lagging
The commitments were far-reaching and ambitious. Among them: End extreme poverty and hunger. Ensure every child on Earth gets a quality secondary education. Achieve gender equality. Make significant inroads in tackling climate change by 2030.
 
People arrive at the headquarters of United Nations ahead of this week's General Assembly in New York, Sunday, Sept 17, 2023. (AP Photo / Bryan Woolston)
The spotlight is on Ukraine at UN leaders’ gathering, but is there room for other global priorities?
The war in Ukraine and its visiting president take center stage at the United Nations this week. But developing countries will be vying for the spotlight as well as they push for faster action on poverty and inequality at the first full-on meeting of world leaders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt
 
This is a locator map for Iraq with its capital, Baghdad. (AP Photo)
At the request of Baghdad, UN will end in 1 year its probe of Islamic State extremists in Iraq
The Security Council has voted unanimously to end, a year from now, a U.N. probe into activities of Islamic State extremists in Iraq. The vote on Friday came at the request of the Iraqi government. The U.K.
 
FILE - U.S. Ambassador Cindy McCain, wife of former Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, smiles as she arrives for the public ceremonial inauguration of Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs at the state Capitol in Phoenix, Jan. 5, 2023. A global hunger crisis has left more than 700 million people not knowing when or if they will eat again, and demand for food is rising relentlessly while humanitarian funding is drying up, the head of the United Nations food agency said Thursday, Sept. 14. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
More than 700 million people don’t know when — or if — they will eat again, UN food chief says
The head of the United Nations food agency says a global hunger crisis has left more than 700 million people not knowing when or if they will eat again.
 
FILE - Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court, in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2023. Gershkovich, who was detained on espionage charges, arrived at a Moscow court Thursday, Aug. 24, for a hearing on a motion by the prosecution to extend his arrest. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Father of imprisoned reporter Evan Gershkovich calls on world leaders to urge Russia to free him
The father of imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is calling on world leaders meeting at the United Nations next week to stand up for freedom of the press and urge Russia to release him.
 
This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo)
UN envoy for Sudan resigns and warns that the conflict could be turning into full-scale civil war
The U.N. special envoy for Sudan who was declared unwelcome by the country’s military government in June has resigned. He is warning that the conflict between Sudan’s two military leaders “could be morphing into a full-scale civil war.”
 
FILE - Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on April 18, 2023. Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in March on espionage charges, which he has denied, as have his employer and the U.S. government. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Lawyers for jailed reporter Evan Gershkovich ask UN to urgently declare he was arbitrarily detained
Lawyers for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich are asking a United Nations body to urgently issue an opinion that he has been arbitrarily detained by Russia on espionage charges which are “patently false.” The request to the U.N.
 
Associated Press journalist Mstyslav Chernov delivers a video message from the field in Ukraine before the screening of the award-winning documentary "20 Days in Mariupol" at the United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Over 100 VIPs attend UN screening of documentary on Russia’s siege of Ukrainian city of Mariupol
More than a hundred ambassadors, journalists and representatives of a broad spectrum of society watched a U.N. screening of the award-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” which follows a trio of Associated Press journalists during Russia’s relentless siege of the Ukrainian port city in the ear
 
A record numbers of children are on the move through Latin America and the Caribbean, UNICEF says
The U.N. children’s agency says record numbers of children are making perilous journeys through Latin America and the Caribbean, often alone, and from countries as far away as Asia and Africa.
 
UN goal of achieving gender equality by 2030 is impossible because of biases against women, UN says
The United Nations says in a report that the U.N. goal of achieving gender equality by 2030 is impossible to achieve because of deeply rooted biases against women around the world in heath, education, employment and the halls of power.
 
Central African Republic faces humanitarian crisis with 2.4 million people needing aid, UN says
A U.N. official says Central African Republic is facing a humanitarian crisis with 2.4 million people in need of assistance and the U.N.’s $534 million appeal only 36% funded.
 
FILE - Residents flee fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese forces near Kibumba, some 20 kms ( 12 miles) North of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Oct. 29, 2022. A senior UN official said Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, the humanitarian situation in conflict-wracked eastern Congo has deteriorated alarmingly in the past 18 months with 8 million people in urgent need of assistance and women and girls subjected to sexual violence on a massive scale -- just in three provinces. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)
An alarming humanitarian crisis and massive sexual violence wrack eastern Congo, UN official says
A senior UN official says the humanitarian situation in conflict-wracked eastern Congo has deteriorated alarmingly in the past 18 months with 8 million people in urgent need of assistance and women and girls subjected to sexual violence on a massive scale -- just in three provinces.
 
FILE - United Nations General Secretary António Guterres addresses a news conference during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The United Nations chief is going globetrotting to four major meetings before the biggest meeting of all – the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly starting Sept. 18. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
UN chief is globetrotting to four major meetings before the gathering of world leaders in September
The United Nations chief is going globetrotting to four major meetings before the biggest meeting of all – the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly starting Sept. 18.
 
UN chief sends Russia new proposals to revive Black Sea grain deal but Moscow isn’t satisfied
The United Nations chief has sent Russia a new proposal aimed at getting its grain and fertilizer to global markets in hopes of reviving the deal that allowed Ukraine to ship almost 33,000 tons of grain at a time of growing global hunger.
 
UN demands that Lebanon’s forces and Hezbollah militants allow unannounced UN peacekeeping patrols
The U.N. Security Council has approved a resolution demanding that the Lebanese military and Hezbollah stop blocking the movement of the U.N. peacekeeping force and guarantee its freedom to operate, “including by allowing announced and unannounced patrols.”
 
Russia’s actions at U.N. terminate Mali sanctions and panel of experts reporting, recently on Wagner
Mali’s military junta succeeded in kicking out the U.N. peacekeeping force, and on Wednesday its Russian allies scored yet another victory against the U.N.: They were able to terminate all U.N. sanctions on Malians and abolish a panel of experts which has been critical of activities of Russia’s Wagn
 
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