EDITH M. LEDERER

UN chief warns that rise in global distrust and improvements in nukes are `recipe for annihilation’
The U.N. chief is warning that an alarming rise in global distrust and division coupled with efforts by countries to improve the accuracy and destructive power of nuclear weapons is “a recipe for annihilation.”
 
FILE - United Nations forces patrol the streets of Timbuktu, Mali, on Sept. 26, 2021. The United Nations is in the throes of what Secretary-General António Guterres calls an “unprecedented” six-month exit from Mali on orders of the West African nation’s military junta, which has brought in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to help fight an Islamic insurgency. (AP Photo/Moulaye Sayah, File)
The UN is undertaking an unprecedented 6-month withdrawal of nearly 13,000 peacekeepers from Mali
The United Nations is in the throes of what Secretary-General António Guterres calls an “unprecedented” six-month exit from Mali on orders of the West African nation’s military junta, which has brought in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to help fight an Islamic insurgency.
 
FILE - A sign on the northern road exiting in Gao, Northern Mali, reads "welcome to the islamic state of Gao on Jan. 30, 2013. Islamic State extremists have almost doubled the territory they control in Mali in less a year, and their al-Qaida-linked rivals are also capitalizing on the deadlock and perceived weakness of armed groups that signed a 2015 peace agreement, United Nations experts said in a new report.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
UN experts say Islamic State group almost doubled the territory they control in Mali in under a year
Islamic State extremists have almost doubled the territory they control in the West African country of Mali in less than a year.
 
FILE -Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks after a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the war in Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. The United States and its allies clashed Friday, Aug. 25, 2023 with North Korea, Russia and China over Pyongyang’s failed attempts to launch a spy satellite and who is responsible for escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the DPRK had again defied Security Council resolutions by pursuing its unlawful ballistic missile program. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
The US and allies clash with North Korea, China and Russia over failed satellite launch and tensions
The United States and its allies clashed with North Korea, Russia and China over Pyongyang’s failed attempts to launch a spy satellite and who is responsible for escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
 
US warns military takeovers in Africa’s Sahel hamper fight against terrorism in the volatile region
The United States is warning that the string of military takeovers in Africa’s Sahel region will hamper the fight against terrorism.
 
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks after a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the war in Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
US sanctions 11 Russians and 2 re-education facilities involved in forced transfer of Ukrainian kids
The United States has announced sanctions against 11 Russians and two re-education facilities reportedly involved in the forced transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children, accusing Moscow of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. U.S.
 
UN Security Council, minus China and Russia, condemns Myanmar military’s killing of civilians
Members of the U.N. Security Council – minus China and Russia – are condemning the “unrelenting violence” and killing of civilians in Myanmar and again urging its military rulers to stop attacks, release ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and respect human rights.
 
FILE - Libyan security forces stand guard in Tripoli, Libya, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2023. One of Libya’s rival prime ministers warned Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, that his government would not tolerate any further militia fighting, days after the year’s bloodiest bout of clashes rocked the capital, Tripoli, killing at least 45 people. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad, File)
Libya’s stability at greater risk after deadly militia clashes, turmoil in Niger and Sudan, UN says
The U.N. special envoy for Libya says the oil-rich North African country’s stability is at greater risk following recent militia clashes and amid the danger of spillover from the turmoil in neighboring Sudan and Niger.
 
This year over 200 Palestinians and nearly 30 Israelis have been killed, highest since 2005, UN says
The U.N. Mideast envoy says the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has killed over 200 Palestinians and nearly 30 Israelis so far this year – already surpassing last year’s annual figures and the highest number since 2005. Tor Wennesland told the U.N.
 
Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaks via video call after Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, sitting president of the United Nations Security Council, gavels in a meeting of the council to discuss the situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
UN: North Korea is increasing repression as people are reportedly starving in parts of the country
The U.N. rights chief says North Korea is increasing its repression of human rights and people are becoming more desperate and reportedly starving in parts of the country as the economic situation worsens.
 
Armenia and Azerbaijan clash over plight of 120,000 people in Nagorno-Karabakh facing food crisis
Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council over the plight of the 120,000 people in the Nagorno-Karabakh region that Armenia says are blockaded by Azerbaijan and facing a humanitarian crisis.
 
This is a locator map for Yemen with its capital, Sanaa. (AP Photo)
Threats to return to war in Yemen hinder efforts to start peace talks, UN envoy says
A senior U.N. official says public threats to return to war in Yemen are hindering efforts to start peace talks as the Arab world’s poorest country faces an increasingly dire economic situation.
 
FILE - Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, holds a news conference at U.N. headquarters, on Sept. 16, 2016. Brown told a virtual U.N. press conference on the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, that its rulers are responsible for “the most egregious, vicious and indefensible violation of women’s rights and girls’ rights in the world today.” (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
UN envoy says ICC should prosecute Taliban for crimes against humanity for denying girls education
The U.N. special envoy for global education says the International Criminal Court should prosecute Taliban leaders for crimes against humanity for denying education and employment to Afghan girls and women.
 
FILE - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the assembly during the opening session of a three-day U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency's summit on food systems in Rome, July 24, 2023. The U.N. chief urged the international community on Tuesday, Aug. 15, to deploy a multinational force comprising “police special forces and military support units” to Haiti to combat gangs with sophisticated weapons and restore security to the impoverished Caribbean nation. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
UN chief urges deployment of police special forces and military support to combat gangs in Haiti
The United Nations chief is urging the international community to deploy a multinational force comprising “police special forces and military support units” to Haiti to combat gangs with sophisticated weapons and restore security to the impoverished Caribbean nation.
 
North Korea denounces US plans for an open UN Security Council meeting on its human rights record
North Korea has denounced U.S.-led plans for an open U.N. Security Council meeting on its human rights record as only aimed at achieving Washington’s geopolitical ambitions.
 
This is a locator map for Syria with its capital, Damascus. (AP Photo)
Islamic State group still has thousands in Syria and Iraq and poses Afghan threat, UN experts say
U.N. experts say the Islamic State group still commands between 5,000 and 7,000 members across its former stronghold in Syria and Iraq and its fighters pose the most serious terrorist threat in Afghanistan today.
 
UN to hold emergency meeting on Azerbaijan’s blockade of road from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh
The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting Wednesday in response to a request from Armenia saying the mainly Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh in neighboring Azerbaijan is blockaded and 120,000 people are facing hunger and “a full-fledged humanitarian catastrophe.”
 
FILE - The 'Safer' tanker is seen on Monday, June 12, 2023, off the coast of Yemen. A senior United Nations official says a salvage team is set to begin siphoning oil out of the decaying tanker moored off the coast of Yemen. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman, File)
More than 1 million barrels of oil removed from deteriorating tanker moored off Yemen, UN says
The United Nations says an environmental disaster has been prevented with the transfer of 1.1 million barrels of oil from a deteriorating tanker moored off the coast of war-torn Yemen.
 
This is a locator map for Yemen with its capital, Sanaa. (AP Photo)
UN announces release of 5 staff members kidnapped by al-Qaida in Yemen 18 months ago
The United Nations says five staff members who were kidnapped in Yemen 18 months ago by an al-Qaida affiliate have walked free.
 
6 Western nations demand Russia return two regions it took from neighboring Georgia 15 years ago
Six Western nations marked the 15th anniversary of Russia’s takeover of 20% of Georgia’s territory by demanding that Moscow return the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions. A joint statement Thursday by the six members of the U.N.
 
Fighting has left half of Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp `a hot area,’ UN says
A senior U.N. official says days of fighting in the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon displaced several hundred families, destroyed up to 400 houses and left half the camp still off-limits and considered “a hot area.”
 
FILE - Delegations gather for a United Nations Security Council meeting on nuclear non-proliferation regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, March 23, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. The U.N. Security Council will hold its first open meeting on North Korea’s dire human rights situation since 2017 on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, the United States announced. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
UN Security Council to hold first open meeting on North Korea human rights situation since 2017
The U.N. Security Council will hold its first open meeting on North Korea’s dire human rights situation since 2017 next week. U.S.
 
This is a locator map for Syria with its capital, Damascus. (AP Photo)
Agreement to reopen crossing to Syria’s northwest will safeguard independent UN operations, UN says
The United Nations says the agreement it reached with Syria to reopen the main border crossing from Turkey to the country’s rebel-held northwest for six months safeguards the independence of U.N. operations and allows it to provide aid to all parties.
 
FILE - Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, on June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. A leading human rights group said on Thursday Aug. 3, 2023 Sudan's warring parties have committed “extensive war crimes” including mass killings of civilians, rape and sexual slavery of women in the ongoing conflict. (AP Photo, File)
Sudan fighting is driving country to collapse and millions face a ‘humanitarian calamity’, UN says
UN officials say nearly four months of brutal fighting is driving Sudan to collapse with millions of people trapped in a “humanitarian calamity” and the possibility of a new ethnic conflict spilling into the region. The dire briefings to the U.N.
 
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States ambassador to the United Nations speaks during the UN Security Council meeting to discuss the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine, Friday, July 21, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
US vows to keep Syria’s chemical weapons program in UN spotlight over Russian and Chinese opposition
The United States and its allies are vowing to keep Syria’s failure to account for its chemical weapons program in the spotlight at the U.N. Security Council every month despite opposition from Russia and China. U.S.
 
FILE - Trucks loaded with United Nations humanitarian aid for Syria following a devastating earthquake are parked at Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, in Syria's Idlib province, on Feb. 10, 2023. On Tuesday, July 11, 2023, the U.N. Security Council failed to renew the Bab al-Hawa border crossing into opposition-held northwestern Syria from Turkey. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed, File)
The UN announces that a deal has been reached with Syria to reopen border crossing from Turkey
The United Nations has announced that an agreement has been reached with Syria to reopen the main border crossing from Turkey to its rebel-held northwest for six months. U.N.
 
UN investigator says Eritreans experienced torture and sexual violence during national service
A U.N. independent investigator on human rights says Eritrean refugees and asylum-seekers report that during compulsory national service they experienced torture, inhumane or degrading treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, forced labor and abusive conditions.
 
FILE - People board a truck as they leave Khartoum, Sudan, on June 19, 2023. A leading human rights group called Friday Aug.4, 2023 on the United States and the United Nations to impose further sanctions on the Sudanese individuals "responsible for the atrocities" in Darfur, as evidence of scorched-earth attacks mount. The northeast African country plunged into chaos in April when monthslong tensions between the military, led by Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital of Khartoum, and elsewhere. (AP Photo, File)
Fighting has plunged Sudan into a humanitarian catastrophe, senior UN officials say
Senior U.N. officials say the conflict in Sudan has left 24 million people — half the country’s population — in need of food and other assistance. But only 2.5 million have received aid because of vicious fighting and a lack of funding.
 
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds seat as president of the United Nations Security Council during meeting on famine and conflict-induced global food insecurity, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
US challenges world to tell Russia to stop using Ukrainian grain as `blackmail’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is challenging all countries to tell Russia to stop using the Black Sea and Ukraine’s grain as “blackmail” and stop treating the world’s hungry and vulnerable people as leverage in its “unconscionable war.”
 
Vast majority of submissions to UN body on Israeli occupation favor them, Palestinians say
The Palestinian U.N. ambassador says the vast majority of over 55 countries that made submissions to the U.N.’s highest judicial body which will give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories supported the Palestinians view that Israel is taking
 
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