World News in Brief: ‘Reckless attacks’ on Ukraine nuclear plant must cease, Chibok abductions 10 years on, action against plant pests

World News in Brief: ‘Reckless attacks’ on Ukraine nuclear plant must cease, Chibok abductions 10 years on, action against plant pests

Rafael Grossi told ambassadors that the first direct attacks since the Russian invasion began. earlier this month, on what is Europe’s largest nuclear facility, constituted a “step change increase in risk to nuclear safety and security”. Although the damage from drone strikes on the Russian-occupied power plant’s Unit 6 reactor building was superficial, it sets…

Read More
UN leaders urge ‘wholesale reform’ of global financial architecture

UN leaders urge ‘wholesale reform’ of global financial architecture

Addressing a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on debt sustainability, António Guterres outlined the crippling impact of debt on developing economies. “No example of the international financial architecture’s failure is more glaring than its handling of debt. The last four years have been nothing short of a debt disaster,” he said. He noted that…

Read More
Sudan catastrophe must not be allowed to continue: UN rights chief Türk

Sudan catastrophe must not be allowed to continue: UN rights chief Türk

A year to the day since heavy fighting erupted between Sudan’s rival militaries, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned of a further escalation, including an imminent attack on El-Fasher in North Darfur. “The Sudanese people have been subjected to untold suffering during the conflict which has been marked by indiscriminate attacks in densely…

Read More
Gaza: rights experts condemn AI role in destruction by Israeli military

Gaza: rights experts condemn AI role in destruction by Israeli military

“Six months into the current military offensive, more housing and civilian infrastructure has now been destroyed in Gaza as a percentage, compared to any conflict in memory,” said the experts, who included Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967. In a statement, the experts estimated…

Read More
‘Step back from the brink,’ to avert full-scale Middle East conflict, says UN chief

‘Step back from the brink,’ to avert full-scale Middle East conflict, says UN chief

“It is vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East…Now is the time for maximum restraint,” the UN Secretary-General told delegates at the opening of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.  Mr. Guterres explained that the emergency session was called by Israel…

Read More
World News in Brief: Rights chief dismay over Uganda anti-LGBT law, Haiti update, aid for Sudan, executions alert in Egypt

Guterres welcomes creation of transitional council in Haiti to choose new leaders

In a statement issued on Saturday by his Spokesman, the UN chief welcomed the publication on Friday, 12 April of a decree formally establishing the Transitional Presidential Council, which is tasked with choosing Haiti’s next prime minister and Cabinet. “[He] urges all Haitian stakeholders to continue making progress in putting in place transitional governance arrangements,…

Read More
Gaza: No improvement in aid access to north, insists senior UN aid official

Gaza: No improvement in aid access to north, insists senior UN aid official

Jamie McGoldrick, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator overseeing crisis relief in Gaza, pushed back at Israeli claims that more than 1,000 trucks had entered Gaza in the last few days but only around 800 had been collected on the Palestinian side. The veteran aid official also maintained that the deconfliction system in which humanitarians shared their…

Read More