United Nations

In Lebanon, Power Flows… at a High Price

According to World Population Review, the cost of electricity in Lebanon stands at $0.137 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). This makes the country the most expensive in the region and ranks it 74th worldwide out of 146 countries analyzed. In the region, Morocco follows with $0.121/kWh (86th), Jordan with $0.090/kWh (99th), the United Arab Emirates with ...

UN Security Council to Vote Monday on Trump Gaza Plan

The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, diplomats said. Last week the Americans officially launched negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a text that would follow up on a ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and endorse Trump's plan. A draft ...

US and Several Arab States Urge 'Swift Adoption' of UN Gaza Resolution

The United States and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, called Friday for the UN Security Council to quickly adopt a US resolution endorsing Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza. "The United States, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, ...

Indigenous Protest Blocks Entrance to UN Climate Summit

Dozens of Indigenous protesters, some holding babies, peacefully blocked the entrance to the UN climate summit in Brazil on Friday to demand a meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and discuss their plight in the Amazon. The human barrier of around 60 men and women, most in traditional garb and headdresses, lasted about two hours and ...

Sudan War: The Origins of a “Nightmare of Violence”

“The horrifying crisis in Sudan is spiraling out of control,” warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the second World Summit for Social Development in Doha on November 4. He called on the warring parties to “come to the negotiating table” and put an end to what he described as a “nightmare of violence.” His warning followed ...

UN Rights Council Orders Probe of Abuses in Sudan's El-Fasher

The UN Human Rights Council on Friday ordered investigators to seek to identify all those behind alleged atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher to help ensure they are brought to justice. The United Nations' top rights body adopted a resolution ordering the UN's independent fact-finding mission on Sudan to urgently investigate violations of ...

Diabetes: The Heavy Cost of Delays

The massive presence of a silent disease Diabetes is no longer a diffuse threat: it is a massive reality. Around the world, about 589 million people currently live with diabetes, including nearly 85 million in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region; by 2050, the region could have 163 million. In Lebanon, the International Diabetes ...

Israel Says Key Crossing to North Gaza Opens for Humanitarian Aid

Israel said it had opened a key crossing into northern Gaza on Wednesday to allow the entry of humanitarian aid supplied by the United Nations and other international organizations. "Today, the Zikim crossing has been opened for the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip," COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that ...

Mali Slides into Chaos Following French Withdrawal

At the end of October, the United States issued an unequivocal warning to its citizens in Mali. In a statement released on October 28, the U.S. Embassy in Bamako urged American nationals to leave the country “immediately,” as the capital struggles with a severe fuel shortage imposed by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda. Since September, ...

Amazon Poised to Host Toughest Climate Talks in Years

An odor of oil hung over last year's UN climate conference in Baku, the capital of fossil fuel-rich Azerbaijan. Starting Monday, the 50,000 participants of COP30 will instead feel the heavy, humid air of the Amazon rainforest in Belem, Brazil, where they face the daunting task of keeping global climate cooperation from collapsing. Unfazed, ...

Syrian President to Visit White House for Landmark Talks

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday for unprecedented talks, just days after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist. Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, will be the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the ...

United States Lifts Sanctions on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa

The United States on Friday lifted sanctions imposed on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a day after the United Nations Security Council made a similar decision, ahead of his scheduled meeting next week with U.S. President Donald Trump. According to a notice published on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website, Washington removed the ...