Cooling La Niña could be back, but global temperatures set to rise: WMO

Latest data shared by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) indicates a 55 per cent likelihood that sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific will cool to La Niña levels from September to November. About 90 per cent of the excess heat from global warming is stored in the ocean, making ocean heat content a critical indicator of climate change.  “For October … Read more

‘Reparatory justice’ key to ending racism against Africans and their descendants

Doing so is key to dismantling systemic racism that is rooted in legacies of slavery and colonialism, it said. Actions include formal apologies, truth-seeking, memorialisation and education measures, medical and psychosocial support, as well as compensation. Past and present linked For the most part, the report found that amid some rollback of commitments to racial … Read more

World News in Brief: Afghanistan quake latest, sexual violence in Haiti, WHO medicines update, deadly floods in Pakistan

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, has released $10 million in response to the urgent need for food, water, shelter and other lifesaving provisions following this week’s devastating earthquakes and aftershocks in Afghanistan. “This is the latest crisis to expose the cost of shrinking resources on vital humanitarian work,” said the UN relief chief, Tom … Read more

Air pollution is on the rise – but not everywhere, says UN weather agency

“Air quality respects no boundaries,” said Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). “The smoke and the pollution that issues from the wildfires in this record-breaking season in the Iberian Peninsula has been detected over Western Europe already [and]…can travel basically throughout the rest of the European continent.” Presenting the latest WMO Air … Read more

UN official decries deadly Ukraine strikes, urges return to diplomacy

Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), renewed the call for an immediate ceasefire and a return to diplomacy to end the devastation. “Ukrainian people have endured nearly three-and-a-half years of unimaginable horrors, death, devastation and destruction. They urgently need relief … Read more

LIVE: UN Security Council meets on crisis in Ukraine

The UN Security Council meets Friday afternoon to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, where recent attacks have left dozens dead or injured. A senior UN political affairs official is expected to brief on the situation. Follow our live coverage from UN News, in coordination with UN Meetings Coverage, for real-time updates and key developments … Read more

UN highlights need for peaceful resolution, as Trump and Putin prepare to meet on Ukraine

The UN is stressing that any peace effort or deal must be consistent with the principles of the UN Charter, including respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric welcomed “dialogue at the highest level” between the two permanent members of the Security Council. The meeting is … Read more

First Person: On Ukraine’s frontlines, humanitarians risk all to bring hope

“Sometimes it feels like we’re swimming against a current that never slows down,” says Ms. Tiutiunnyk, an assistant external relations officer working in Ukraine for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Ms.Tiutiunnyk is herself a displaced person from Luhansk, forced to flee following the onset of hostilities. “I was not a part of the humanitarian community”, … Read more

More young lives lost in Ukraine, as UN chief repeats call for a ‘just, comprehensive and sustainable peace’

The development came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a group of European leaders arrived in Washington on Monday to meet President Donald Trump, who held talks on a possible peace deal to end the war with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Alaska last Friday. Responding to questions at the regular daily briefing in … Read more