Annalena Baerbock, President of the General Assembly and one of the youngest persons to ever hold the office, stressed that youth are “the designers of their future” but should not have to build it alone. Drawing on conversations with young leaders from Ethiopia to Afghanistan, she highlighted the challenges today’s youth face – from conflict […]
Their appeals, sharpened by rising seas, failed harvests and disappearing ecosystems, echoed Secretary-General António Guterres’s warning at a climate summit that the world is already in the “dawn of a new energy era” – one where clean energy must replace fossil fuels, and where finance and justice remain at the heart of the global response. […]
The game-changing summit was convened by Secretary-General António Guterres alongside President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva of Brazil, host of the COP30 conference which kicks off in November in the Amazonian city of Belém. At the outset, leading climate scientists Johan Rockström and Katharine Hayhoe provided a stark assessment of global efforts so far to […]
After firm expansion last year, seaborne trade volumes are forecast to rise by just 0.5 per cent in 2025, the slowest pace in years, according to the agency’s Review of Maritime Transport 2025, launched in Geneva. The slowdown comes as geopolitical tensions, new trade barriers and climate pressures reshape shipping routes, push up costs and […]
The summit, which takes place on 24 September at UN Headquarters, is designed as a launchpad for COP30 but, unlike the sprawling negotiations of a UN climate conference, this is a targeted high-level event where Heads of State, Government leaders, businesses, and civil society are expected to present concrete pledges and new national climate plans. […]
The World Health Organization (WHO)’s Deputy Representative to the country Hala Khudari reported on Tuesday that the outbreak, which started in July 2024 in Kassala, has spread to all 18 states of the country. More than 113,600 cases have been registered so far and over 3,000 deaths – a “concerning case fatality rate” of 2.7 […]
France joins UK, Canada, Australia and Portugal in recognising Palestinian statehood at UN-backed conference United Nations/New York: UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday reiterated that nothing can justify the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, nor the “collective punishment” inflicted on the Palestinian people in their aftermath. Calling for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza, he […]
The question of Palestine has taken centre stage at the United Nations, overshadowing the annual high-level week of the General Assembly where world leaders traditionally outline their global visions from the iconic green marble podium. Even as wars rage in Ukraine and elsewhere, and the UN itself confronts crises on its 80th anniversary, the Palestinian […]
Palestine has hailed the coordinated move by Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom to formally recognise it as an independent and sovereign state, calling the decision a step in line with international law and legitimacy resolutions. In a statement shared on X, Palestine’s Mission to the United Nations said its Ministry of Foreign Affairs “welcomes […]
The American dream, long pursued by Indian engineers and graduates, has suddenly become costlier. A new proclamation by US President Donald Trump has imposed a $100,000 annual surcharge on H-1B visa applications, sending shockwaves through India’s education and technology sectors. The fee hike strikes hardest at early-career professionals. With median salaries for computer science graduates […]
The White House has clarified that the newly announced $100,000 H-1B visa fee will apply only to fresh petitions, not to renewals or current visa holders. “This is a one-time fee that applies only to new visas. It will first be levied in the next lottery cycle,” a senior official told Indian media on Saturday. White […]
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a renewed global push to end wars and divisions, stressing that “peace cannot wait” as the world observes the International Day of Peace. “Lives are being ripped apart, childhoods extinguished, and basic human dignity discarded, amidst the cruelty and degradations of war,” Mr. Guterres said in his message […]
A Thai national living in the United States was recently lured into an elaborate phone scam after receiving a call from fraudsters posing as embassy staff and police officers, who falsely accused her of being linked to an international money laundering case. Wannapa Suprasert, known as Bow, said the ordeal began when she received […]
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) 2.0 regime, set to come into force on September 22, 2025, will bring sweeping changes to India’s indirect tax system, but several key items will remain untouched. The 56th GST Council meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, approved a restructuring of the tax slabs by merging the 12% […]
Morocco and Sierra Leone joined the list of States ratifying on Friday, becoming the 60th and 61st parties to the pact. The treaty, formally known as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ […]
Held on the opening day of the UN General Assembly’s high-level week, the annual September gathering of world leaders, the initiative comes amid a deeply worrying regional backdrop of intensified Israeli military operations that have allegedly killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza since October 7, 2023, Israel’s strikes against Hamas officials in Qatar on […]
They warned that foreign military action, political exclusion and dwindling resources threaten to undo fragile gains. UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen – who announced that he will be stepping down from his role during the meeting – told ambassadors that interim authorities in Damascus have inherited “not just the ruins of shattered buildings, but the […]
Last century, scientists confirmed the alarming reality of a significant depletion in the ozone layer – an invisible shield of gas which surrounds the earth and protects it from the sun’s UV rays. The collection of ozone-depleting substances included CFCs, or chlorofluorocarbons, which in the mid-1980s were commonly found in everyday products such as air […]
The development followed reports that the Israeli military has stepped up its ground offensive in Gaza City, ordering residents to leave the area. Speaking from the south of the enclave, UNICEF’s Tess Ingram described the forced mass displacement of families as a “deadly threat for the most vulnerable”. “It is inhumane to expect nearly half […]
The night sky often brings a sense of awe, but every so often, a rocky visitor from deep space captures global attention. This week, astronomers are tracking asteroid 2025 FA22, which will sweep past Earth on Thursday, 18 September, 2025, in one of the year’s most closely monitored celestial events. According to NASA, FA22 is […]