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.
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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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.
Ukraine to secure first IMF loan package due to wartime spending
Ukraine incurred a huge deficit mainly due to its enormous military spending, and had to rely on its central bank printing more money to loan to the government.
New IPCC report urges 'hope' and climate justice for most vulnerable
Almost half of the world’s population lives in regions highly vulnerable to climate change and where deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in the past decade.
Swiss devise US$3.25B deal for UBS to aquire 'too big to fail' Credit Suisse
The Financial Stability Board designated Switzerland's two biggest banks as so huge and critical to the world's global financial architecture that they must not be allowed to fail.
U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal extended for at least two months
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a United Nations-brokered agreement signed between the world body, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey on July 22, 2022, was reauthorized once again.
Court issues warrant for Putin over Ukrainian child abductions
The court's prosecutor said the charges are based on evidence collected and analyzed by his office that pertains to the deportation of "at least hundreds of children taken from orphanages and children’s care homes."
Experts urge accountability for Russian war crimes in Ukraine
The war crimes include killings, torture and illegal confinement, rape and other sexual violence, kidnapped children, and attacks on civilians and energy-related infrastructure, according to a U.N. commission of inquiry.
Study says bottled water industry undercuts safe drinking water for all
It finds the expanding bottled water industry – expected to grow to US$500 billion a year in sales by 2030 – isn't aligned with the U.N.'s 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
WHO chief calls 3-year pandemic 'a chaotic patchwork of responses'
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered three lessons the world must learn to be able to effectively cope with future global health crises.
U.N. panel prepares last report of series to shape climate policy
The head of the U.N.'s Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate experts called for quick action because "make no mistake, inaction and delays are not listed as options."