World News in Brief: $236 billion a year profit from forced labour, Senegal election update, peacekeepers in Lebanon

World News in Brief: $236 billion a year profit from forced labour, Senegal election update, peacekeepers in Lebanon

In an alert, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that this increase had been fuelled by the growing number of people forced to work illegally, but also by higher profits. ILO senior research officer Federico Blanco told journalists in Geneva that traffickers and criminals make close to $10,000 per victim, around $1,700 more than they…

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World News in Brief, deadliest year for migrants, Syria refugee support crisis, Shamima Begum appeal

World News in Brief, deadliest year for migrants, Syria refugee support crisis, Shamima Begum appeal

Nearly 8,600 people on the move died in 2023, a 20 per cent increase from 2022, according to the UN agency’s Missing Migrants Project online platform. It details the global movement of people risking their lives to escape conflict, economic crisis and natural disasters, including drought and flooding linked to climate change. IOM says the…

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‘High time for peace’, UN chief says, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters third year

‘High time for peace’, UN chief says, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters third year

“Two years on and a decade since Russia’s attempted illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the war in Ukraine remains an open wound at the heart of Europe,” António Guterres said. “It is high time for peace – a just peace, based on the UN Charter, international law…

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UN’s political chief warns of escalating toll as third year of war in Ukraine looms

UN’s political chief warns of escalating toll as third year of war in Ukraine looms

Briefing the Security Council, Political and Peacebuilding Affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told ambassadors: “We are no closer to the end of this illegal and unjustified war”. “With each passing day, the damage the conflict has done – and is doing – to Ukraine, but also to global peace and security and international law, becomes increasingly…

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WMO confirms 2023 as warmest year on record ‘by a huge margin’

WMO confirms 2023 as warmest year on record ‘by a huge margin’

The World Meteorological Organization uses six leading international datasets from across the globe to monitor global temperatures, which reveal a new annual temperature average of 1.45°C set against the pre-industrial era (1850-1900).  Every month between June and December set new records. July and August were the two hottest months ever recorded, WMO said. The 1.5°C…

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First-ever World Seagrass Day focuses on conservation

COP28: UN says staggering $7 trillion spent every year on investments that fuel climate change

The report from the UN’s environmental wing, UNEP, also revealed that despite decades of calls for ending finance flows towards sectors that harm some of humanity’s most valuable assets, those investments currently account for a whopping 7 percent of global GDP. Saturday’s report launch comes as negotiations on the conference’s outcome text are shifting into…

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