Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | The United Nations said Wednesday that some armed groups fighting in Sudan still deploy child soldiers, but acknowledged Khartoum’s efforts to prevent child recruitment into its forces. Olof Skoog, chairman of the UN Security Council’s working group on children and armed conflict, said armed groups including …
Read More »IN THE INDEPENDENT: Kutesa’s dodgy deals
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The top stories in this week’s The Independent. COVER STORY Kutesa’s dodgy deals: How American bribery case sucked in Museveni. THE LAST WORD The meaning of Muntu’s defeat: How Besigye’s hold over FDC has undermined its pretence to be a vehicle for democracy. AFRICA …
Read More »COMMENT: Alarm on biodiversity loss
Why don’t many policymakers recognise loss of healthy, robust, and diverse ecosystems as serious threat? COMMENT | ROBERT WATSON | With the United Nations’ climate change conference underway recently in Bonn, Germany, rising global temperatures were once again at the top of the world’s agenda. But why care about the increase …
Read More »Trump ‘considering’ US embassy Jerusalem move: VP
New York, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump is “actively considering” moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, his vice president said Tuesday, evoking a campaign promise that the administration had sidelined. Mike Pence made the remarks in a keynote address at an …
Read More »UN wants Libya to agree to shut down migrant camps
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations wants Libya’s internationally-backed government to agree to shut down 30 detention centers holding 15,000 migrants, most of whom will be sent back to their countries, the head of the IOM said Tuesday. The detention of the migrants, most of whom …
Read More »US threatens new action against South Sudan
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Tuesday threatened to take unspecified measures against South Sudan’s government unless it moves to end the nearly four-year war and stop harassing UN peacekeepers and aid workers. US Ambassador Nikki Haley put the onus squarely on President Salva Kiir …
Read More »Meghan Markle helped raise global attention to gender equality: UN
United Nations, United States | AFP | Meghan Markle has helped the world focus attention on gender equality, the UN women’s agency said Monday, voicing hope that Prince Harry’s fiancée will continue to use her voice for women. The 36-year-old actress became an advocate for women’s political participation and leadership …
Read More »UN to discuss tougher response to Libya slave auctions: France
United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN Security Council must take stronger measures, possibly including sanctions, to put a stop to slave auctions in Libya, the French ambassador said Monday. France has requested an urgent meeting of the council for Tuesday, a week after the top UN body held …
Read More »UN says 11 million Yemen children desperately need aid
Amman, Jordan | AFP | More than 11 million children in war-torn Yemen are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, the United Nations children’s fund warned on Sunday. “Today it is fair to say that Yemen is one of the worst places on earth to be a child,” said Geert …
Read More »UN peacekeeper killed in C.Africa ambush
Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | A peacekeeper with the UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) was killed and three others wounded Sunday in an ambush, authorities said. The soldier, who was Eqytian, died in an attack carried out by “armed elements affiliated with the anti-Balaka movement,” …
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