World News in Brief: World News in Brief: Warmest January on record, Sudan diplomacy push, catching childhood cancer early

World heading towards new temperature records, UN weather watchdog warns

Latest forecasts from the World Meteorological Organization indicated that there was an 80 per cent likelihood that the world will see the annual average global temperature temporarily exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the next five years, a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns.  “WMO is sounding the alarm that…

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Sudan: Security Council members call for immediate halt to military escalation in El Fasher

Sudan: ‘Noose of war’ tightens on civilians in El Fasher, UN official warns

Fighting between the Sudanese army and rival military the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been battling for more than year, recently intensified in the North Darfur city.  Civilians are under attack from all sides and the news of reported casualties and human rights abuses are appalling, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan Clementine…

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SIDS drowning in debt and ‘running on empty’, warns Guterres in Antigua

SIDS drowning in debt and ‘running on empty’, warns Guterres in Antigua

That’s the warning from UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Day Two of the pivotal Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) taking place in the Caribbean twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda this week. The 39 States known collectively as SIDS have been uniquely vulnerable to the trifecta of COVID – which…

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Targeting Rafah could lead to slaughter, warns UN aid agency

Targeting Rafah could lead to slaughter, warns UN aid agency

“Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” for the 1.2 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in and around the Strip’s southernmost city, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told journalists in Geneva. Echoing those concerns, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that “Band-Aid” contingency plans have been made in case a full-scale military incursion does…

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Thousands of children killed or maimed by explosive weapons in populated areas: UNICEF

Gaza at ‘most dangerous’ stage amid huge unexploded weapons risk, warns demining expert

“This is the most dangerous period; once people start returning to the north, that’s when most accidents will occur, because they won’t be familiar with where your unexploded ordnance is located,” said Mungo Birch, Chief of the UN Mine Action Programme (UNMAS) in the State of Palestine. “It’s important that once the returns start, we’re…

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Sudan: Civilians trapped in El Fasher, as UN warns of imminent attack

Sudan: Civilians trapped in El Fasher, as UN warns of imminent attack

In a note to correspondents issued on Friday, the UN said there were “increasingly alarming reports of a dramatic escalation of tensions”. “The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are reportedly encircling El Fasher, suggesting a coordinated move to attack the city may be imminent. Simultaneously, the Sudanese Armed Forces appear to be positioning themselves”, the statement…

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