UN chief to world leaders: ‘We can’t go on like this’
United Nations — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told world leaders Tuesday that the state of the world is unsustainable. “We can’t go on like this,” he said at the start of the U.N. General Assembly annual debate. He said there…
SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Ambassadors meeting in emergency session over Lebanon; region ‘on the brink of catastrophe’
The Security Council is now in emergency session in New York following Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut and in the south, on Friday which have left at least a dozen dead. It comes amid an uptick in cross-border…
‘Fear of war’ causing speech problems in Gaza
In a modest tent in a makeshift camp for displaced people west of the town of Al-Zawaida in Deir al-Balah governorate in Gaza, children whose lives have been turned upside down by a deadly war and widespread destruction are meeting…
Lebanon: WHO appeals for more support for civilians as crises intensify
Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar outlined how the UN agency has been supporting Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, including following the wave of electronic device explosions this week. Hundreds of pagers across the country simultaneously detonated on Tuesday, while walkie-talkies and even some…
Middle East: Regional crisis risks engulfing Syria, UN envoy warns
Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Geir Pedersen expressed grave concern over the mounting violence and its cascading impact on Syria, which has been embroiled in civil conflict – later drawing in outside forces – since 2011. He highlighted…
Lebanon: UN warns of escalating horror in Middle East as ‘communications tools become weapons’
Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told ambassadors in the Security Council, that strikes and exchanges of fire across the Blue Line, which have been going on for nearly a year, “have expanded in scope and intensity”….
How Lebanon’s wireless paging system was weaponized to make Hezbollah devices explode
The simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers used by Lebanese militia Hezbollah on Tuesday was the result of an unprecedented weaponization of a wireless paging system, in which rigged devices detonated upon receiving a coded signal transmitted by radio frequency….
Whole generation of children ‘lost’ amid ongoing Gaza war, UNICEF warns
Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action, stressed the urgent need for an immediate end to the hostilities and a negotiated political settlement that prioritises the rights and well-being of both Israeli and Palestinian children, now and in…
Security Council: Middle East envoy warns against escalation, highlights continued Israeli settlement activity
“The series of explosions across Lebanon and rockets fired toward Israel in recent days adds to the volatility,” said Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. He urged all sides “to refrain from steps that will further…
Who still uses pagers?
As mobile phones became the world’s main communications tool, pagers, also known as beepers because of the sound they make to notify users about incoming messages, were largely rendered obsolete, with demand plunging from their 1990s heyday. But the tiny…