Latest news with #UN-backed
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Guterres Urges Iran And Israel To ‘Fully Respect' Ceasefire
24 June 2025 Before both sides had confirmed that a ceasefire was in place early Tuesday both sides exchanged fire, with Tehran residents saying they had experienced a heavy barrage of attacks. Before leaving Washington for a NATO summit in Europe, President Trump expressed his frustration at the breaches of the fragile ceasefire agreement, urging Iran and Israel to observe the truce. In a social media post, UN chief António Guterres urged both countries to fully respect the ceasefire. 'The fighting must stop. The people of the two countries have already suffered too much,' he said, adding it was his 'sincere hope' that the ceasefire can extend to other parts of the region. It is my sincere hope that this ceasefire can be replicated in the other conflicts in the region. IAEA chief stresses need for strong new nuclear deal Earlier, the head of the UN-backed nuclear watchdog urged Tehran to consider 'resuming cooperation' with the international community to quell any lingering hostility around its nuclear programme.'Resuming cooperation with [the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)] is key to a successful agreement,' said Director General Rafael Grossi. In a short online post on X, Mr. Grossi added that he had offered to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on working together, ' stressing this step can lead to a diplomatic solution to the long-standing controversy ' over Iran's nuclear programme. Tehran prison concern Meanwhile, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, insisted that a notorious Tehran prison known for holding dissidents should not be a target, a day after a reported Israeli strike on the complex. OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told media in Geneva that Evin prison is not a military objective, according to the laws of war. 'Targeting it constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law', he said. OHCHR does not have specific details about what the alleged attack, Mr. Al- Kheetan said, but there have reportedly been fires inside the prison and a number of injuries. Casualty count An updated casualty count from the Iranian authorities on Tuesday indicated that 610 people have been killed including 49 women and 13 children since 13 June. That number includes two pregnant women and one infant along with 4,746 injured, including 185 women and 65 minors. Seven hospitals, four health units and six emergency bases and nine ambulances have been damaged, the Iranian health authorities said. Some 28 Israeli citizens have reportedly been killed by Iranian missile strikes to date. Civilians must be protected Political prisoners including journalists are held at Evin prison, but whether they are detained 'arbitrarily' or in connection with 'crimes they've actually committed', the inmates must be protected, Mr Al-Kheetan insisted. According to media reports on Tuesday, Iran said that it transferred all the inmates out of the prison after it was hit by an Israeli strike, moving them to other prisons around the capital in order to repair damage. A fragile ceasefire proposed by the United States seemed to take hold briefly on Tuesday morning, before reports of further Iranian missile strikes on Israel, disputed by Tehran. The conflict began with Israeli air attacks on 13 June and escalated over the weekend with US forces striking Iranian nuclear facilities. Hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed in the Israeli airstrikes, while Iran's retaliatory strikes killed close to 30 people in Israel. Asked about signs of a crackdown on dissent by the Iranian authorities in the context of the Israeli and US military campaign against the country, the OHCHR spokesperson stressed that it was 'difficult to verify information' coming from Iran, given the lack of access. He confirmed seeing reports about Iranians being 'arrested for cyber activities and publishing content related to the Israeli attacks on Iran, according to NGOs'. Mr. Al-Kheetan also spoke of reports that nine men have been executed in Iran since Israel attacked the country on 13 June. He called on the Iranian authorities to 'completely respect the rights to freedom of expression and information, at all times', insisting that journalists 'must be able to do their work without any obstacles'. Iranian citizens reportedly arrested and accused of espionage or collaboration with Israel 'must have their full rights in terms of legal procedures and a fair trial', he said. 'If these arrests are arbitrary, those persons must be freed immediately and unconditionally,' he concluded. Human Rights Council concerns On Monday, independent human rights experts reiterated their concerns about Iran's 'use of broadly defined national security offences, some of which are punishable by death', in the context of recent reported executions on espionage charges. Last week, the UN deputy human rights chief, Nada Al-Nashif, told the Human Rights Council that at least 975 people were executed in Iran last year – the highest number of reported executions since 2015. She also briefed the Council on the use of torture in Iranian prisons and the ongoing targeting of minorities, journalists and human rights defenders.
Yemen Online
4 days ago
- General
- Yemen Online
Yemen: Nearly half the population facing acute food insecurity in some southern areas
The food security situation in Government-controlled areas of southern Yemen is dire, with nearly half the population facing acute food insecurity and struggling to find their next meal. Yemen remains trapped in a prolonged political, humanitarian and development crisis, after enduring years of conflict between government forces and Houthi rebels, with populations in the south of the country now facing a growing food insecurity crisis. A partial update released Monday by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system – which ranks food insecurity from Phase 1 to famine conditions, or Phase 5 – paints a grim picture. Starting in May 2025, around 4.95 million people have been facing crisis-level food insecurity or worse (Phase 3+), including 1.5 million facing emergency-level food insecurity (Phase 4). These numbers mark an increase of 370,000 people suffering from severe food insecurity compared to the period from November 2024 to February 2025. Further deterioration The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that 'looking ahead, the situation [was] expected to deteriorate further,' with 420,000 people potentially falling into crisis-level food insecurity or worse. This would bring the total number of severely food-insecure people in southern governorate areas to 5.38 million – more than half the population. Multiple compounded crises – such as sustained economic decline, currency depreciation in southern governorates, conflict, and increasingly severe weather – are driving food insecurity in Yemen. High-risk areas Amid Yemen's growing food crisis, humanitarian agencies including WFP, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are reorienting their efforts towards high-risk areas, delivering integrated support across food security, nutrition, sanitation, health, and protection to maximise life-saving impact. 'The fact that more and more people in Yemen don't know where their next meal will come from is extremely concerning at a time when we are experiencing unprecedented funding challenges,' said Siemon Hollema, Deputy Country Director of WFP in Yemen. Immediate support needed WFP, UNICEF and FAO are urgently calling for sustained and large-scale humanitarian and livelihood assistance to prevent communities from falling deeper into food insecurity, and to ensure that the UN 'can continue to serve the most vulnerable families that have nowhere else to turn,' he said. Internally displaced persons, low-income rural households, and vulnerable children are particularly affected, and are now facing increased vulnerability, as approximately 2.4 million children under the age of five and 1.5 million pregnant and lactating women are currently suffering from acute malnutrition. The situation is dire, but with urgent support, 'we can revitalise local food production, safeguard livelihoods, and move from crisis to resilience building, ensuring efficiency and impact,' said FAO Representative in Yemen, Dr. Hussain Gadain.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Mark Carney turning his back on climate action?
The G7 summit in Alberta, hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has ended with only passing mention of fighting climate change, including a statement on wildfires that is silent on the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is puzzling. Canadians didn't opt for Conservative Pierre Poilievre, considered by some to be an oil and gas industry mouthpiece, in the last federal election. Instead, voters gave Carney's Liberals a minority government. Carney was the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and was behind the UN-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance, so some Canadians might have assumed he'd prioritize climate action if he won the election. Instead, Carney has described developing fossil fuel infrastructure as 'pragmatic.' But it's unclear how a country grappling with abysmal air quality due to wildfires fuelled by global warming will benefit from further global fossil fuel development and its related emissions. Read more: Canada is warming faster than most of the globe. Its leaders should be laser-focused on mitigating climate change by reducing fossil fuel use to the greatest extent possible, as soon as possible. This decades-long understanding of how to approach climate action has been repeatedly explained by experts and is well known to governments globally. Canada's prime minister was once one of those experts. Carney now has a tremendous opportunity to lead by steering Canada in a clean direction. Canada is at the forefront of clean technology, with numerous business opportunities emerging, particularly in areas like circular economy international trade. These opportunities not only support Canada's commitment to meeting its Paris Agreement targets but also help expand and diversify its global trade. Canada already has exemplar eco-industrial parks — co-operative businesses located on a common property that focus on reducing environmental impact through resource efficiency, waste reduction and sharing resources. Such industrial communities are in Halifax and in Delta, B.C. They represent significant investment opportunities. Vacant urban land could be revitalized and existing industrial parks could boost their economic output and circular trade by building stronger partnerships to share resources, reduce waste and cut emissions. Read more: Canada would benefit economically and environmentally by building on existing expertise and expanding successful sustainability strategies to achieve economic, environmental and social goals. But by continuing to invest in fossil fuels, Canada misses out on opportunities to diversify trade and boost economic competitiveness. Real diversification makes Canada less vulnerable to economic shocks, like the ones caused by the tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump. Fossil fuel reliance increases exposure to global economic risks, but shifting to cleaner products and services reduces climate risks and expands Canada's global trade options. China's economic rise is partly a result of this strategy. That's seemingly why Trump is so fixated on China. China today is a serious competitor to the U.S. after making smart trade and economic decisions and forging its own path, disregarding American pressure to remain a mere follower. Investing in its huge Belt and Road Initiative, China also aligned itself with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It's building diplomatic bridges with many Belt and Road countries in southeast Asia as Trump's America alienates its partners, pulling out of the Paris Agreement and cutting foreign aid. As another one of the America's mistreated partners, Canada was poised to forge its own path under Carney. Instead, Carney is supporting American oil and gas by encouraging Canadian pipeline projects. Canadian oil and gas is a concentrated industry controlled by a wealthy few, primarily Americans. More pipelines would therefore mean more sales of fossil fuels to other countries, with the beneficiaries mostly American. Fossil fuel investments reduce Canada's diversification because the resources used to further these projects could go elsewhere — toward clean diversification. With almost unlimited clean economy options across many sectors, clean diversification would broaden Canada's economic and trade portfolios and reduce American control. Read more: This is International Business 101, and would make the Canadian economy more competitive through innovation, while reducing the country's climate risk. California, often targeted by Trump for its policies, has been a leader in clean innovation, making its economy the envy of the world. Read more: My recent research shows that clear, decisive choices like those made in California will be key to Canada's future success. Canada must make choices aligned with goals — a core principle of strategic management. My research also suggests Canada must restructure its energy industry to focus on renewable energy innovation while reducing fossil fuel reliance. Increased renewable energy innovation, as seen in patent numbers, leads to higher GDP. Contrary to common beliefs, pollution taxes boost the economy in combination with clean innovation. But when the government supports both the fossil fuel industry and clean industries, it hinders Canada's transition to a cleaner future. Do Canadian taxpayers truly want to keep funding an outdated, polluting industry that benefits a wealthy few, or invest in clean industries that boost Canada's economy, create better jobs and protect the environment? To differentiate Canada from the United States, it would make sense to choose the latter. Carney should consider refraining from pushing for the fast-tracking of polluting projects. If he doesn't, Canada will become more uncompetitive and vulnerable, trapped by the fossil fuel industry. Read more: Carney's support for pipelines may have stemmed from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's implicit support for Alberta sovereignty. She made veiled threats to Canada at a critical juncture, when Trump was making repeated assertions about annexing Canada. Alberta didn't vote for Carney. But Canadians who care about mitigating climate change did. Banks that felt pressure to at least recognize sustainable finance during the Joe Biden administration joined Carney's Net-Zero Banking Alliance. But as soon as Trump came to power a second time and walked away from the Paris Agreement, many American banks abandoned the alliance. Canadian banks followed suit, and Carney remarkably missed another moment to show Canadian leadership by stopping their exit. In fact, Carney seems to have abandoned his own organization to appease Trump as the president made multiple 51st state threats. The prime minister had the chance to differentiate Canada and demonstrate his own leadership. Instead, he seems to have easily turned his back on his principles under pressure from Trump. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organisation bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Deborah de Lange, Toronto Metropolitan University Read more: 'Canada is not for sale' — but new Ontario law prioritizes profits over environmental and Indigenous rights What Liberal Mark Carney's election win in Canada means for Europe How political leaders communicate climate policy should be a defining factor this election Deborah de Lange receives funding from SSHRC and ESRC. She is affiliated with The Liberal Party of Canada and The Writers' Union of Canada.
Irish Examiner
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Donald Trump is 'all in' with Benjamin Netanyahu's illegal war on Iran
The unfolding conflict between Israel and Iran is both far more complex and far simpler to understand than much of the reporting to date suggests. Far from a defensive necessity for Israel against an alleged nuclear threat, this escalation appears to be a calculated gamble born of Benjamin Netanyahu's long-held strategic ambitions and the alarming absence of a coherent strategy from the Trump administration, with Iran's nuclear program serving merely as a convenient — and increasingly threadbare — pretext for regime change in Tehran. For years, the international community, including the United States, painstakingly constructed a robust diplomatic framework to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement between Iran and the P5+1 nations, established an unprecedentedly stringent surveillance and inspection regime, significantly curtailing Iran's nuclear activities. In return, some of the UN-backed sanctions against Iran were lifted or suspended. An Israeli strike hits an oil storage facility in Tehran on Saturday. The assault on Iran is just the latest episode in an alarming pattern of escalating criminal behaviour on the part of Tel Aviv. File photo: AP/Vahid Salemi In 2018, however, bowing to intense pressure from Benjamin Netanyahu, then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the JCPOA. Netanyahu had always been the most vocal critic of the agreement, advocating for military action even as US officials acknowledged that Iran's compliance, as well as a limit to uranium enrichment of just 3%, made the delivery of a nuclear weapon virtually impossible for decades. Notably, Tulsi Gabbard, US director of national intelligence testified in March 2025 that the intelligence community found no evidence of Iran building a nuclear weapon. More definitively, the director general of the IAEA on 18 June 18, 2025, clearly stated "we did not have any proof of a systematic effort [on Iran's part] to move into a nuclear weapon". Thus the "threat" seems, in large part, to be a manufactured crisis. Regime change Israel's surprise attack on Iran occurred just two days before scheduled Iran-US talks that Iran viewed positively and were progressing smoothly (according to officials on both sides). This strongly suggests that these talks were a mere smokescreen, a deceptive cover for an attack that, according to Trump, the US had been aware of for months. While Iran's nuclear programme serves as Israel's public justification for pursuing the war, the true objective appears to be the destabilization of Iran, a clear intention to topple the government and turn the country into a failed state, akin to the tragedies witnessed in Libya and Syria, where central governments can no longer maintain territorial integrity. The echoes of 2003 when the United States and its allies attacked Iraq are eerie: the insistence that Iran is developing alleged 'weapons of mass destruction', disguising the real goal of the operation which is regime change in Tehran. The campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein created utter chaos in Iraq and resulted in the deaths of probably a million Iraqis, the displacement of millions, and 4,800 American and coalition deaths, As was the case in Iraq, it seems abundantly clear that Netanyahu and Trump have no plan for what happens if/after the Iranian regime is defenestrated. This intervention, if successful in toppling the Iranian government, carries the terrifying prospect of a prolonged civil war. Iran's diverse regional groups, including militias from Azerbaijan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, could exploit the power vacuum, leading to a scramble for territory and an even wider regional conflagration. Consequences Furthermore, two other dangerous consequences are likely to emerge. Firstly, Iran may conclude that a nuclear weapon is its only true deterrent against such aggression, leading it to abandon all diplomatic efforts to restrict its nuclear program. Secondly, Iran will almost certainly target US allies and interests in the region. This could involve strikes on oil production and refinery infrastructure in the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia and could block the Strait of Hormuz. Given that roughly 20-25% of global oil exports pass through the strait daily, this will have significant implications for global energy security. The erratic behaviour of the US president is evident in Trump's fluctuating positions throughout this war — from urgent calls for peace, to presenting a final offer to Iran that never materialized, to urging Tehran residents to evacuate, denying involvement in attacks, threatening to assassinate Iran's supreme leader, and finally demanding 'unconditional surrender'. Rogue state Forget these lurching statements about Iran: there is a good case for arguing that they are performative and that Trump is all in as Netanyahu's partner in crime. Trump's American version of authoritarianism neatly dovetails with Benjamin Netanyahu's model: lawlessness and loutishness define them. Violence is their operational creed. Israel is a rogue state now completely out of control. The assault on Iran is just the latest episode in an alarming pattern of escalating criminal behaviour on the part of Tel Aviv, from the repeated and decades-long flouting of UN resolutions, to the ramped up building of illegal settlements and outrageous settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, the murder of large numbers of UN officials and journalists, and cross-border attacks on Lebanon and Syria. Already it is evident that, far from protecting civilians via 'precision strikes' against Iranian regime figures, the casualty list includes at least 250 civilians, including more than 20 children, echoing the approach the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has taken in Gaza. Gaza has become not just an Israeli concentration camp but a death camp, where Palestinians are corralled, starved and murdered by Israeli forces every day of the week. Leaders of the collective 'West' who piously pontificate about 'never again' stand by and do nothing; many such governments give the impression that they implicitly approve of what Israel is doing. The collective West thus bears enormous responsibility for its complicity in Israel's genocidal violence, and Tel Aviv's repeated infringements of international law. The Trump-Netanyahu escalation points to a disturbing calcification of the international system of states and institutions, and a complete unwillingness on the part of those who designed it, to defend the rules-based international order which emerged after the catastrophes of two world wars in the 20th century. Palestinian Samia al-Atrash holds the corpse of one of her sister's children killed in an Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in October 2023. The protracted silence of the European Union as Israel carried out the mass slaughter of more than 50,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza has provided Tel Aviv with confidence that there would be minimal pushback if it went ahead with its large-scale attack on Iran. Photo: Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images An outstanding example of this phenomenon can be seen in the protracted silence of the European Union, as Israel carried out the mass slaughter of more than 50,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza. This provided Tel Aviv with confidence that there would be minimal pushback if it went ahead with its large-scale attack on Iran. The attack on Iran is a dangerous manifestation of Netanyahu's expansive regional ambitions, supported by a US administration seemingly devoid of a cohesive strategy. The consequences, both for Iran and the wider world, could be devastating, far outweighing any purported security gains for Israel and the United States. Shamsoddin Shariati is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at Maynooth University. John O'Brennan is a professor in the Department of Sociology at Maynooth University and Director of the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies.
TimesLIVE
19-06-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Haiti's capital in the dark after residents storm hydroelectric plant
The outburst came after authorities and gangs faced off in Mirebalais earlier in the day, local media reported, with gangs capturing a security vehicle and setting it on fire. Reuters was not immediately able to verify images of the incident. This would be the second time residents forcibly shuttered the hydroelectric plant in recent months. In May interim Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime promised swift action to ensure a similar incident would not happen again. Haitians are growing increasingly frustrated with the government as the transition council fails to deliver on promises to stabilise the nation, which has been without a president since Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021. A Kenya-led, UN-backed security mission to the nation has also failed to make headway in tackling the crisis. World leaders have increasingly called for the mission to become a formal UN peacekeeping mission, while the US and Colombia have floated deploying troops through the Organization of American States.
