New data published jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed fears that 2023 was the joint warmest or second warmest year on record in Europe. In practical terms, this led to a record number of days with “extreme heat stress” across Europe, “an increasing trend” in the number “strong…
“I was not aware that vegetables were that important or how to grow them,” said the 25-year-old farmer from Idas in West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. “Now I do.” She, along with 50 of her neighbours in this village among the rolling hills of northwest Borneo, received vegetable seeds and the opportunity to…
44-year-old Vanessa Winston lives in Roseau, the capital of Dominica, where she runs a small-scale business primarily making bespoke, hand-made fashion accessories. She is also President of the UN-supported Dominica Arts & Craft Producers Association, which helps its members to promote their products. Hurricane Maria destroyed her home and the workshop where she produced all…
The Sudanese people have endured “unbearable suffering” since the conflict started just over a year ago when an outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “brutally interrupted the political transition”, Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said. “This is a crisis of epic proportions;…
“The Secretary-General condemns any act of retaliation and appeals to the international community to work together to prevent any further development that could lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and beyond,” he said in a statement issued by his Office. Echoing those concerns, UN atomic energy agency chief Rafael Grossi urged “extreme restraint”…
Rakhine was the site of a brutal crackdown on the Rohingyas by the military in 2017, leading to killing of some 10,000 men, women and newborns, and the exodus of nearly 750,000 community members – many of whom continue to languish in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. “Rakhine state has once again become a battleground…
The World Health Organization (WHO) decision means that Euvichol-S vaccine can be added to other cholera-busting drugs which are not being produced in sufficient quantities to help countries battling outbreaks of the preventable disease. WHO reported 473,000 cholera cases in 2022 – double the number in 2021. “The new vaccine is the third product of…
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ian Borg briefed ambassadors during their annual meeting on cooperation between the UN and the regional body, which is comprised of 57 States spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America, representing one billion people. The Maltese Foreign Minister said OSCE countries and their societies “are confronted with an era of profound uncertainty”, given…
The unanimous declaration of the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All in 2012 aimed to hone on the importance of improving “access to reliable, affordable, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound energy services and resources for sustainable development.” Dennis Francis said there have been both achievements and shortcomings in meeting the goal throughout the…
Dr Jeremy Farrar, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the avian influenza virus – which is also known as H5N1 – has had an “extremely high” mortality rate among the several hundred people known to have been infected with it to date. To date, no human-to-human H5N1 transmission has been recorded….
