A year of firsts for Somalia's U.N.-backed all-women media team
Bilan is marking its first anniversary with a look back at what U.N. Development Program calls "a year of smashing taboos and shining a light on stories other media have long ignored."
John Heilprin
Award-winning U.N.-accredited journalist, with 30+ years on four continents, almost half of it for AP in Washington, New York and Geneva.
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Geneva
At 75, U.N. health agency is lightning rod for equity and cooperation
As the World Health Organization celebrated its 75th anniversary – commemorating World Health Day and the day its constitution took effect, recognizing health as a human right – the COVID-19 pandemic's lessons were inescapable.
Rapprochement could help address the Middle East's climate problem
The Middle East and North African region is among the most vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change but the public health impacts are relatively unknown, according to a new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
Wanted on war crimes charges, Russian official appears before U.N.
Diplomats from other nations objected to the Russian-led U.N. Security Council session as an exercise in disinformation and cynical misuse of its mandate to maintain peace and security.
Slower trade growth projected in 2023 mainly due to war in Ukraine
The World Trade Organization expects trade growth to slow to 1.7% this year because of Russia's war in Ukraine, high inflation, tight monetary policy and market uncertainty.
Putin, charged with war crimes, takes over U.N.'s most powerful arm
Russia's status as president of the U.N. Security Council, despite its leader waging an illegal war on Ukraine and facing war crimes charges, is bound up in a frozen-in-time power structure dating to the end of World War II.
NATO chief: Finland 'safer,' military alliance 'stronger' with accession
The addition more than doubles the length of the 1,215 kilometers of borders that NATO member nations share with Russia. Finland and Russia share a 1,340-kilometer border.
'Multiple challenges' undermine A.U.'s flagship peace plan for 2030
As the continent faces a raft of complications, the African Union's ambitious goal of tackling structural root causes and drivers of conflict for sustainable development is in doubt.
News consortium reveals trove of data on Russian cyber strategies
The Vulkan Files show Russian intelligence and a defense contractor sought ways to launch cyberattacks and spread disinformation, including two potential hacking targets in Switzerland.
Stockpiles of nuclear weapons available for use increased in 2022
The number of nuclear warheads that are available to nations for deployment reached 9,576 at the start of 2023, up from 9,440 a year earlier, according to a watchdog's new report.
European court hears first citizen complaints over climate inaction
The European Court of Human Rights heard two climate cases brought by citizens against Swiss and French authorities complaining they must do more to reduce carbon emissions.
Vanuatu's 'epic' win lets top U.N. court set climate obligations
Prodded by Vanuatu and other nations, the U.N. General Assembly will ask the ICJ based in The Hague for an unprecedented legal opinion on nations' legal obligations to fight global warming – and the consequences if they don't.
At U.N., leaders link debt, climate to unity in fighting counterterrorism
Mozambique, which holds the U.N. Security Council's monthly revolving presidency, hosted a discussion on how to strengthen efforts between the United Nations and regional organizations at curbing terrorism and violent extremism.
World marks horrific slave trade history to guard against more abuses
The commemoration is not meant to be a look solely into the past; the idea is to preserve and teach an ugly chapter of history that might help ward off humanity’s worst impulses.
Nations back ambitious clean water and sanitation goals this decade
The voluntary commitments that came from the conference – the first such gathering since a U.N. water conference in Argentina in 1977 – fall far short of a legally binding agreement like the 2015 Paris Agreement for climate change.
Prisoner executions, other abuses found on both sides in Ukraine war
The U.N. human rights office cited summary executions, use of soldiers as human shields, torture and other inhumane treatment carried out by both Russian and Ukrainian forces.