Oil tanker sinks, hundreds of thousands affected as ‘super typhoon’ batters Philippines
An oil tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of fuel also sank in rough seas off the capital, in the Manila Bay. Now downgraded to a typhoon, Gaemi (locally called Carina) combined with effects of southwest monsoons to bring intense rains…
Global education fund announces $2.5 million grant for Haiti
Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), announced the grant on Friday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, during a high-level UN mission to the Caribbean country. The aim is to reach nearly 75,000 children and adolescents in the hard-hit…
Deadly Atlantic shipwreck shows victims’ desperation, says UN refugee agency
The UN agency’s comments follow reports on Monday that dozens of people are missing after a boat carrying hundreds of people capsized in the waters off the coast of the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. Recent months have continued to see a…
WHO to send one million polio vaccines to Gaza to protect children
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the vaccines will be administered to children in the coming weeks. He noted that no cases of polio have been recorded yet but without immediate action, it was “just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left…
Gaza: Evacuation orders displace thousands, disrupt aid operations
Meanwhile, hundreds remain stranded in eastern Khan Younis as fighting continues. “Once again, we underscore that all parties to the conflict must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects,”…
‘Endless nightmare’ of death and destruction in Gaza, UN officials tell Security Council
Muhannad Hadi, Deputy UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and Antonia De Meo, Deputy Commissioner-General of the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, briefed the Security Council on the dire situation. “For nearly 10 months now, Palestinians…
EU transfers $1.6 billion to Ukraine from frozen Russian assets
The European Union announced Friday that it had made available $1.6 billion to Ukraine – interest generated from $225 billion in immobilized Russian Central Bank assets. The Russian assets, frozen under sanctions levied in retaliation for Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale…
US, Taiwan, China race to improve military drone technology
washington — This week, as Taiwan was preparing for the start of its Han Kuang military exercises, its air defense system detected a Chinese drone circling the island. This was the sixth time that China had sent a drone to…
Video game performers to strike over artificial intelligence concerns
LOS ANGELES — Hollywood’s video game performers voted Thursday to go on strike, throwing part of the entertainment industry into another work stoppage after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections. The…
UN chief: Earth becoming hotter and more dangerous for all
United Nations — The U.N. Secretary-General warned Thursday that the Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, killing nearly a half-million people annually, and he blamed fossil fuels for driving global warming. “Billions of people are facing an…