Paris, France | AFP | France called Wednesday for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss slave-trading in Libya following video footage showing Africans being auctioned off in the war-torn country. “France decided this morning to ask for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to …
Read More »Uganda dismisses Kutesa bribery allegations
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has dismissed reports of a multimillion dollar bribery scheme at the UN allegedly involving minister Sam Kutesa, saying all engagements he had with a named China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), were official activities. US authorities on Monday arrested Hong …
Read More »Libya slave auctions may be crime against humanity: UN chief
United Nations, United States | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he was horrified by video footage showing migrants being sold as slaves in Libya and that these auctions should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity. US television network CNN aired the footage last week of an apparent live …
Read More »France to take in refugees rescued from Libya by UN
Paris, France | AFP | France will be the first to welcome African refugees evacuated from Libya to NIger by the United Nations refugee agency, French officials announced Monday. After experiencing appalling living conditions at camps in the north African country, the refugees were taken to Niger on November 11 by …
Read More »UN warns fuel running out for Yemen hospitals
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations warned Wednesday that fuel supplies needed to run Yemen’s hospital generators and pump clean water will run out in less than three weeks unless the Saudi-led coalition lifts its blockade. The dire forecast came as Yemen battles one of the world’s …
Read More »Canada announces rapid response force for peacekeeping, Hercules plane for Entebbe
Ottawa, Canada | AFP | Canada will boost its support for UN peacekeeping missions by mobilizing a rapid response force of 200 soldiers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday. As an initial step, Canada will send a Hercules aircraft to the UN regional support center in Entebbe, Uganda, which backs …
Read More »DR Congo makes arrests ahead of anti-Kabila protests
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Dozens of people were arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, following warnings from authorities that they would break up planned protests against the extended rule of President Joseph Kabila. The Lucha citizen movement said at least 27 were detained by police in …
Read More »Climate change pushing Earth toward risky ‘tipping points’: report
Bonn, Germany | AFP | As climate change drives up temperatures, Earth comes ever closer to dangerous ‘tipping points’ that could accelerate global warming beyond our capacity to reign it in, scientists warned at UN talks in Bonn Monday. “Climate change is here. It is dangerous. And it is about to …
Read More »New UNESCO chief brushes off US pullout
Paris, France | AFP | UNESCO’s new chief on Monday brushed aside the United States’ decision to walk out of the UN cultural body, saying the organisation had survived long periods without Washington before. Former French culture minister Audrey Azoulay, elected on Friday to head UNESCO, said the US was “not …
Read More »UN begins evacuating refugees from Libya to Niger
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A group of vulnerable refugees from several African countries, who had been stuck in war-ravaged Libya, have been evacuated to Niger, the UN said Sunday. The UN refugee agency said the evacuation of 25 “extremely vulnerable refugees” from Libya Saturday marked the first of its kind. …
Read More »