Addressing ministers and ambassadors, António Guterres warned that rapid developments in AI are outpacing humanity’s ability to govern it, raising important questions about accountability, equality, safety and human oversight in decision-making. “Every moment of delay in establishing international guardrails increases the risk for us all,” Mr. Guterres said. “No country...
“We can’t lose sight of the forest because we’re tussling over individual trees,” said Simon Stiell, urging delegates to wrap up “less contentious issues” as early as possible this week, so there is enough time for the major political decisions. COP29 opened in the Azerbaijan capital this past Monday with...
“You have every right to be angry. I am angry too,” the UN chief posted on social media on Thursday following his meeting with youth representatives and young environmental activists. “I am angry because we are on the verge of the climate abyss, and I don’t see enough urgency or...
Their meeting took place on Thursday, in Kazan, Russia, the venue for the 16th BRICS Summit. In a post on social media platform X, Mr. Guterres wrote on Friday that during the meeting, he had emphasized to President Putin the illegality of the Russian invasion. “I reiterated the points I...
“A collective approach is necessary to assist the Yemeni Government to reinforce its institutional capabilities,” its capacity to address the ongoing economic crisis and protect against threats to international navigation,” Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi told world leaders at the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level meeting. Focusing largely on what he saw...
“Palestine will remain ours. And if anyone were to leave, it will be the occupying usurpers,” he declared. He began by highlighting that Palestinians have endured nearly a year of what he described as one of the most heinous crimes of our time. “It is the crime of a full-scale...
“These are deliberate Russian attacks on our powerplants and entire energy grid,” he said, noting that it has destroyed all Ukrainian thermal power plants and a large part of the hydro-electric capacity. “This is how [Russian President] Putin is preparing for winter, hoping to torment millions of Ukrainians – ordinary...
On the second and final day of preliminary hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel’s legal team insisted that the twin military objectives were to eradicate the existential threat posed by Hamas militants and to free some 136 hostages still held in the war-shattered enclave. “Israel is in...
12:58 PM End ‘flagrant injustice’ of Israeli occupation: Jordan Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs for Jordan, underscored that ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine is the viable way to ensure peace for Palestinians, Israelis and all others in the region. “Those who purport to say...
Philippe Lazzarini was addressing an emergency summit convened by the League of Arab States and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation where he called for urgent support for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on three fronts. He called on leaders at the Arab-Islamic summit to “act now to change the trajectory”...
Echoing his remarks with French President Emmanuel Macron looking on, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, stressed the “heart-breaking” plight of children in the territory, whom he saw last week “pleading for a piece of bread and a sip of water”. Mass displacement has...
UN News is winding down our live coverage of today’s events in the Council. For full blow by blow coverage of the debate so far and the dozens of speakers to come on the Israel-Palestine crisis, you can visit our special UN Meetings Coverage Section, here. Indonesia Retno Marsudi, Minister...