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Tag: United Nations

  • Israeli military launches strikes across southern Lebanon against what it says are Hezbollah targets

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    (CNN) — The Israeli military carried out a series of strikes across southern Lebanon on Thursday, saying it was targeting Hezbollah in response to what it described as the militant group’s attempts to rebuild operations in the region.

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strikes targeted weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. It claimed the group was working to “reestablish terrorist infrastructure” in southern Lebanon.

    However, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun claimed the strikes had violated international humanitarian law by targeting civilians and forcing them to flee their homes. He denounced the action as a “fully fledged crime.”

    “The more Lebanon expresses its openness to the path of peaceful negotiation to resolve outstanding issues with Israel, the more Israel intensifies its aggression against Lebanese sovereignty,” Aoun wrote on X.

    Prior to the strikes, the IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee had issued multiple warnings to residents of several villages.

    “You are located in a building used by Hezbollah. For your safety, you are requested to evacuate immediately to a distance of at least 500 meters from the building. Remaining in the vicinity of these structures endangers your lives,” Adraee said in one of three evacuation notices given Thursday afternoon.

    Later Thursday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said it had observed several strikes within its area of operations in southern Lebanon, including in Tayr Dibbah, Taibe, and Ayta al Jabal, and warned the action threatened the safety of civilians.

    UNIFIL called on Israel to stop the attacks, which it said constituted “clear violations” of Security Council resolution 1701, a measure that was adopted to end a 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006 and which called for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

    “Any military action, especially on such a destructive scale, threatens the safety of civilians and undermines the progress being made toward a political and diplomatic solution,” the statement continued.

    Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah ramped up a day after the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel, when the Lebanese militant organization launched attacks on Israeli positions in what it said was an act of solidarity. In October 2024, Israel launched what it described as a “a limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah.

    In November 2024, a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel went into effect, under which Israel was to halt offensive operations and gradually withdraw from positions inside southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah was to pull back heavy weaponry north of the Litani River. However, Israel has continued to strike targets in Lebanon, citing Hezbollah violations of the truce, claims the group has denied.

    The Lebanese Army said in a short statement Thursday that despite the Israeli strikes, “it remains in close coordination” with UNIFIL and insisted that their partnership still functions on a “high level of trust and cooperation.”

    The Israeli security cabinet was expected to convene Thursday evening, according to two Israeli officials. One of the officials told CNN that Lebanon would be among the topics discussed.

    The officials said Israel has been warning in recent weeks against what they described as “Hezbollah attempts to rearm and reestablish its offensive capabilities.”

    Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened security consultations with some cabinet ministers to discuss Israeli reactions. According to an Israeli source with knowledge of the discussion, the military recommended launching a wide scale operation against Hezbollah’s alleged rearming attempts.

    Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also said last week that Israel “cannot bury its head in the sand” as Hezbollah “continues to intensify its efforts to rebuild and rearm.”

    The Lebanese president made headlines in recent days after suggesting that his country had “no choice” but to negotiate with Israel directly.

    “Lebanon has no choice but negotiation, because in politics there are three fields of action: diplomacy, economy and war. When war leads to no result, what else can be done?,” he was cited as saying by local media, widely believed to be referring to Israel.

    In a statement on Thursday, Hezbollah accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire reached in November 2024, and of “blackmailing” the Lebanese government into recognizing Israel.

    “(Lebanon) is absolutely not interested in succumbing to aggressive blackmail or being drawn into political negotiations with the Zionist enemy. Such negotiations serve no national interest and pose existential risks to the Lebanese entity and its sovereignty,” it said, affirming the group’s “legitimate right to resist occupation and aggression.”

    Israel’s military action comes days after US Special Envoy Tom Barack said Lebanon was a “failed state” run by “dinosaurs.” Barrack voiced doubts about whether authorities will be able to disarm Hezbollah, which he said had more vastly more weapons than Lebanon’s armed forces.

    “In our opinion, it’s not reasonable to tell Lebanon, ‘Forcibly disarm one of your political parties.’ Everybody’s scared to death to go into civil war. The idea is: What can you do to have Hezbollah not utilize those rockets and missiles,” he said.

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    Dana Karni, Nadeen Ebrahim and CNN

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  • Brazil stumps up billions of dollars for its ambitious rainforest fund at UN climate summit

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    BELEM, Brazil (AP) — Brazil on Thursday unveiled long-awaited details of a plan to pay countries to preserve their tropical forests and announced it had already drawn $5.5 billion in pledges.

    The fund is President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s flagship project as he welcomes world leaders to the edge of the Amazon for the United Nations annual climate summit — an effort to draw attention and money to the imperiled rainforest crucial to curbing global warming.

    Financed by interest-bearing debt instead of donations, the fund, dubbed the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, seeks to turn the economic logic of deforestation on its head by making it more lucrative for governments to keep their trees rather than cut them down.

    Although destroying rainforests makes money for cattle ranchers, miners and illegal loggers, Brazil hopes to convince countries that preserving forests promises richer rewards for the entire world by absorbing huge amounts of planet-warming emissions.

    As senior Brazilian officials walked reporters through the fund’s inner workings, Norway pledged $3 billion — the biggest commitment of the day — raising hopes about Lula’s ambitions becoming a reality.

    Through investments in fixed-rate assets, the fund aims to issue $25 billion of debt within its first few years before leveraging that into a pot worth $125 billion that can pay developing countries to protect their tropical rainforests.

    A list of more than 70 heavily forested countries — from Congo to Colombia — will be eligible for payments as long as they keep deforestation below a set rate. Nations that fail to protect their forests will see their payouts reduced at a punitive rate for every hectare that’s destroyed.

    “I was already very excited about this, but now even more so,” Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said in a press conference.

    But the fine print on Norway’s announcement — contingent on Brazil raising some $9.8 billion in other contributions — has ramped up the pressure on Brazil to deliver. Other pledges include $1 billion from Indonesia and $500 million from France, along with $5 million from the Netherlands and $1 million from Portugal toward setup costs.

    Brazil earlier announced $1 billion to kick off the fund. Officials said they expected to hear about Germany’s contribution on Friday.

    But it remained unclear how many other countries would follow suit. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed support for the initiative on Thursday but declined to declare a pledge.

    Brazil is also banking on the participation of the private sector after the fund reaches $10 billion, considered enough to start preparing bond issuances.

    When asked about possible concerns on Thursday, Norwegian Climate Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen said he thought the risks to the fund were “manageable.”

    “There is perhaps an even bigger risk of not participating,” he said. “Rainforests are disappearing before our eyes.”

    The fund’s rules call for 20% of the money to go to Indigenous peoples.

    “These initiatives demonstrate a massive and welcome shift in recognizing the central role that Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and local communities play in protecting the forests that sustain us,” said Wanjira Mathai, managing director for Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute, a research organization.

    “These commitments could be transformative, but only if governments turn these words into action.”

    ___

    The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org

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  • UN Security Council Removes Sanctions on Syria’s President and Interior Minister

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    UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United Nations Security Council removed sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

    The U.S.-drafted resolution on Thursday also lifted sanctions on Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab. It received 14 votes in favor, while China abstained. 

    Washington has been urging the 15-member Security Council for months to ease Syria sanctions.

    After 13 years of civil war, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December in a lightning offensive by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

    Formerly known as the Nusra Front, HTS was al Qaeda’s official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Since May 2014, the group has been on the U.N. Security Council’s al Qaeda and Islamic State sanctions list.

    A number of HTS members are also under U.N. sanctions – a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo – including its leader Sharaa and Khattab.

    Trump announced a major U.S. policy shift in May when he said he would lift U.S. sanctions on Syria.

    United Nations sanctions monitors have seen no “active ties” this year between al Qaeda and HTS, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters in July.

    (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Daniel Wallis)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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    Reuters

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  • Cameroon Swears in World’s Oldest President After Disputed Vote

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    (Reuters) -Cameroon’s Paul Biya, the world’s oldest ruler, was sworn in for an eighth term as president on Thursday following a disputed election that triggered deadly protests.

    In his inauguration speech, the 92-year-old pledged to restore order to the central African nation and blamed irresponsible politicians and the diaspora for inciting unrest.

    “As I take office, I fully measure the seriousness of the situation our country is going through. I measure the number and severity of challenges we face. I measure the depth of frustrations, the scale of expectations,” Biya told the audience, dressed in a sombre suit.

    Security forces killed 48 civilians during protests against Biya’s re-election, according to data from two U.N. sources.

    The government has not responded to requests for comment or given its own estimates of how many people were killed or injured during the unrest.

    Biya was named winner of the election by a comfortable margin last week, with 53.66% of the vote against 35.19% for opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary, according to the official results.

    His new mandate could keep him in power until he is almost 100.

    Tchiroma had declared himself the winner shortly after the October 12 election, and protests erupted in various locations as early results showed Biya, in power since 1982, was in the lead.

    Tchiroma, a former government spokesperson who resigned from his ministerial post in June, said last week that soldiers who were loyal to him had escorted him to a secure location, suggesting a possible split within the army.

    He did not say how many soldiers were involved.

    (Reporting by Dakar newsroom; Writing by Jessica Donati; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Shout-out for yodeling? Swiss seek recognition from UN cultural agency as tradition turns modern

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    LUCERNE, Switzerland (AP) — Yodel-ay-hee … what?! Those famed yodeling calls that for centuries have echoed through the Alps, and more recently have morphed into popular song and folk music, could soon reap a response — from faraway Paris.

    Switzerland’s government is looking for a shout-out from U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, based in the French capital, to include the tradition of yodeling on its list of intangible cultural heritage. A decision is expected by year-end.

    Modern-day promoters emphasize that the yodel is far more than the mountain cries of yesteryear by falsetto-bellowing male herders in suspenders who intone alongside giant alphorn instruments atop verdant hillsides. It’s now a popular form of singing.

    Yodelling students practise at the HSLU university music department in Lucerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

    Over the last century, yodeling clubs sprouted up in Switzerland, building upon the tradition and broadening its appeal — with its tones, techniques and tremolos finding their way deeper into the musical lexicon internationally in classical, jazz and folk. U.S. country crooners prominently blended yodels into their songs in the late 1920s and 30s.

    About seven years ago, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts became the first Swiss university to teach yodeling.

    “For me, actually, in Switzerland we have four languages but I think really we have five languages. We have a fifth: The yodel,” said Nadja Räss, a professor at the university, alluding to the official German, French, Italian and Romansh languages in Switzerland. Yodeling exists in neighboring Austria, Germany and Italy, but Swiss yodeling is distinctive because of its vocal technique, she said.

    Yodel teacher Nadja Raess laughs at the HSLU university music department in Lucerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

    Yodel teacher Nadja Raess laughs at the HSLU university music department in Lucerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

    In its early days, yodeling involved chants of wordless vowel sounds, or “natural yodeling,” with melodies but no lyrics. More recently, “yodeling song” has included verses and a refrain.

    The Swiss government says at least 12,000 yodelers take part through about 780 groups of the Swiss Yodeling Association.

    In Switzerland, Räss said, yodeling is built on the “sound colors of the voice” and features two types: one centering on the head — with a “u” sound — and one emanating from deeper down in the chest — with an “o” sound.

    And even within Switzerland, styles vary: Yodeling in the northern region near Appenzell is more “melancholic, slower,” while in the country’s central regions, the sounds are “more intense and shorter,” she said.

    Yodel teacher Nadja Raess yodels with students at the HSLU university music department in Lucerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

    Yodel teacher Nadja Raess yodels with students at the HSLU university music department in Lucerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

    What began as mostly a male activity is now drawing more women in a country that adopted universal suffrage in 1971. The Appenzell-Innerrhoden region only gave equal voting rights to women in local elections in 1990, following a high court ruling.

    Julien Vuilleumier, a scientific adviser for the Federal Office of Culture who is spearheading the Swiss request, said it’s tough to trace the origins of yodeling, which factors into the imagery of the Swiss Alps.

    “Some say it’s a means of communication between valleys, using these very distinctive sounds that can carry a long way. Others believe it’s a form of singing,” he said. “What we know is that … yodeling has always been transformed and updated.”

    UNESCO’s government-level committee for Intangible Heritage will decide in mid-December in New Delhi. The classification aims to raise public awareness of arts, craftsmanship, rituals, knowledge and traditions that are passed down over generations.

    Yodelling students stretch with teacher Nadja Raess, 2nd right, at the Music High School in Lucerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

    Yodelling students stretch with teacher Nadja Raess, 2nd right, at the Music High School in Lucerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

    Also among the 68 total nominations this year are traditions like Thanakha face powder in Myanmar; Ghanaian highlife music; the fermented Kyrgyz beverage Maksym; and the El Joropo music and dance tradition in Venezuela.

    The list is different from the UNESCO World Heritage List, which enshrines protections for physical sites that are considered important to humanity, like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

    Last year, Japan’s famed sake — the smooth rice wine — was one of more than 60 honorees in the intangible heritage list, alongside things like the Nowruz spring festival in parts of central Asia, and the skills and knowledge of zinc roofers in Paris.

    Räss of the Lucerne university says that candidates for the intangible heritage list are asked to specify the future prospects of cultural traditions.

    “We figured out some projects to bring it to the future. And one of those is that we bring the yodel to the primary school,” said Räss, alluding to work along with the Swiss Yodeling Association and a folk music center known as the Roothus Gonten. She said 20 Swiss school teachers know how to yodel and are trying it with their classes.

    “One of my life goals is that when I will die, in Switzerland every school child will be in contact with yodeling during their primary school time,” she said. “I think it’s a very good chance for the future of the yodel to be on that (UNESCO) list.”

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  • Hunger Monitor Confirms Famine in Darfur’s Al-Fashir and One Other City

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    (Reuters) -A global hunger monitor on Monday confirmed famine conditions in al-Fashir, the Sudanese city taken by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after a lengthy siege, as well as Kadugli, another besieged city in Sudan’s south.

    The finding is the first time the U.N.-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has determined that the cities are in famine, though in December it had confirmed famine in camps for displaced people in al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur.

    A war that began two-and-a-half years ago between the RSF and the Sudanese army has caused severe hunger and malnutrition to spread across Sudan, as well as displacing millions of people and triggering waves of ethnically charged violence in Darfur. 

    The IPC is the internationally recognised standard for measuring the severity of hunger crises, and its findings have provoked criticism from Sudan’s government, which is backed by the army.

    FOOD SUPPLIES CUT OFF DURING SIEGE     

    The IPC’s first determination of famine during the conflict was for the Zamzam displacement camp south of al-Fashir in August 2024.

    Al-Fashir was subject to RSF assaults and besieged for about 18 months before it fell late last month, deepening a geographical split in Sudan. During the siege, residents said food supplies were cut off, forcing people to eat animal feed and sometimes animal hides. Places where people gathered for community kitchen meals were targeted by drone attacks, they told Reuters.

    As a result, all children arriving in the nearby town of Tawila after fleeing al-Fashir were malnourished, MSF project coordinator Sylvain Pennicaud told Reuters on Monday, while adults arrived emaciated.

    International Criminal Court prosecutors said on Monday they were collecting evidence of alleged mass killings and rapes after al-Fashir’s fall. The head of the Red Cross said history was repeating itself in Darfur.  

    Monday’s IPC report, based on analysis for September 2025, said Tawila, as well as Mellit and Tawisha, two other destinations for people fleeing al-Fashir, were at risk of famine.

    The IPC said the overall number of Sudanese facing acute food insecurity declined by 6% to 21.2 million people – or 45% of the total population – due to gradual stabilisation and improved access in central Sudan, where the Sudanese army took control at the start of the year. 

    However, the situation deteriorated in the Darfur and Kordofan regions as fighting concentrated there, depriving people of livelihoods, increasing prices, and driving displacement, IPC said.

    Global aid cuts and bureaucratic impediments hobbling the ability of the United Nations and other aid agencies to provide food and other services have increased the humanitarian challenge in Sudan.

    KORDOFAN ANOTHER FOCAL POINT OF WAR

    Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan state, has been under siege by the RSF-allied SPLM-N armed group, though hunger has been spreading there since the start of the war. 

    The wider Kordofan region has increasingly become a focus of the war as it lies between RSF-dominated Darfur and the rest of the country, where the army holds sway. The IPC said the nearby city al-Dalanj could also be in famine, but a lack of data prevented a determination.

    On Monday, a Red Crescent official said three volunteers in a city in North Kordofan state that was taken over by the RSF, who were shown being beaten in a video clip, were later killed.

    The RSF has denied responsibility for alleged summary executions.   

    (Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Australia PM Writes to Turkey’s Erdogan About COP31 Hosting Standoff

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    SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that he wrote to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to resolve a long-running tussle over who will host next year’s COP31 summit.

    Australia and Turkey submitted bids in 2022 to host the United Nations climate conference and both countries have refused to concede to the other ever since.

    Asked on Sunday if he thought Australia would end up as host, Albanese said: “There’s no real process for finalising the matter. I’ve written to President Erdogan of Türkiye, we’re continuing to engage.”

    “It’s hard when there’s no consensus, when you’ve got two bids. Our bid, of course, is in partnership with the Pacific,” Albanese added, according to an official transcript of remarks on Sky News television.

    A regional diplomatic bloc of 18 countries, the Pacific Islands Forum, is backing Australia’s bid. Several Pacific island nations are at risk from rising seas.

    Albanese said Australia wanted to ensure Pacific island nations’ interests are protected.

    “They’re particularly vulnerable to climate change. For them, countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati, this is an existential threat to their very existence, which is why this is such a strong issue in our region,” he said.

    Turkey has previously argued its Mediterranean location would help reduce emissions from flights bringing delegates to the conference, and has pointed out its smaller oil and gas industry compared to Australia.

    In July, the UN urged Australia and Turkey to resolve the hosting standoff, calling the delay unhelpful and unnecessary. It had set a deadline of June for the group to reach consensus.

    The annual talks rotate through five regional groups, with COP31’s host needing to be unanimously agreed upon by the 28 members of the Western Europe and Others Group bloc.

    (Reporting by Sam McKeith in SydneyEditing by Rod Nickel)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • At least 30 dead in Haiti from Hurricane Melissa

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    People walk through a flooded street following Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on Oct. 30, 2025.

    People walk through a flooded street following Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on Oct. 30, 2025.


    CLARENS SIFFROY

    AFP via Getty Images

    The death toll from Hurricane Melissa in Haiti continued to climb Thursday, with authorities saying that at least 30 people are now dead and 20 others are missing.

    The biggest toll occurred in the country’s gang-ridden West region, when a swollen Digue River overflowed its banks and caused widespread flooding in the coastal town of Petit-Goâve, southwest of the capital. At least 23 people died, including 10 children, Haiti’s Office of Civil Protection said in the disaster.

    “The search for victims is still under way,” the disaster office said in its latest report. “The Grise River is also swollen and has swept away a house in Tabarre.”

    The hurricane, which made landfall on Tuesday in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, didn’t make a direct hit on Haiti. But as it battered the southwestern coast of Jamaica, Melissa winds and rains lashed the southern coast of Haiti, causing deadly floods that washed out roads, submerged cars, wiped out crops and buried homes under landslides.

    The head of the United Nations Office for Migration, speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday, said aid agencies still do not yet have a full view of the storm’s devastation after Haitians were forced to endure more than a week of rainfall.

    “We need to do the assessments to really understand the extent of the damage and the human toll,” Gregoire Goodstein, the head of mission for office, said.

    Those assessments require traveling on a World Food Program helicopter to the affected regions due to gangs’ control of key roads. “Because of the weather we’ve had to interrupt a lot of the flights,” Goodstein said.

    But the report from Haiti’s disaster office is starting to give some idea of not just the damages, but also how the deaths and the devastation occurred.

    In the town of Dame-Marie in the Grand’Anse, a man was injured when a tree fell as he rode his motorcycle. “His passenger is missing,” the report said.

    A woman walks past her house that was destroyed by Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 30, 2025.
    A woman walks past her house that was destroyed by Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 30, 2025. CLARENS SIFFROY AFP via Getty Images

    In the Artibonite region one person died, and 250 people were displaced in the town of Saint-Marc, where residents have been fighting against a take-over by armed gangs.

    Several cities were under water, particularly the town of Corail, where the downtown area was flooded. There was also coastal flooding in Anse-d’Hainault and the offshore Cayemites Islands.

    The roofs of schools were blown off and at least 659 homes in the region of the Nippes were flooded.

    Melissa caused significant damage to roads, particularly in the southeast region of the country. The Gosseline River washed away part of a major road that links the town of Jacmel with the capital, Port-au-Prince.

    Blockages were also eeported by local authorities in the towns of Belle-Anse and Marigot in the southeast. Rivers flooded in the regions of the Grand’Anse.

    The impact in Haiti is complicated by its ongoing humanitarian crisis, which Goodstein said is creating “immense suffering.”

    “We have 1.4 million people that are displaced because of gang violence,” he said. “So all of this is coming on top of the very critical situation that we’re facing now.”

    Cars are submerged in mud following Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 30, 2025.
    Cars are submerged in mud following Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 30, 2025. CLARENS SIFFROY AFP via Getty Images

    In addition to the roads, farms in the south have also sustained damage due to flooding.

    That will likely worsen the country’s already dire food crisis. There are currently 5.7 million people, about half the country’s population, who are going hungry every day, Goodstein said. There have also been cases of cholera

    “So we’re also having a public health emergency on top of all the existing vulnerabilities,” he added, stressing that the U.N.’s ongoing humanitarian response plan remains “grossly underfunded.”

    “This is really putting at risk.. our ability to continue with life-saving operations, whether it’s linked to hurricanes or to the existing crisis linked to gang violence,” Goodstein said.

    “What we need right now is the funding,” he said. “We have the teams on the ground, we have the coordination structures with the government, but we don’t have the resources.”

    Jacqueline Charles

    Miami Herald

    Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.

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    Jacqueline Charles

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  • UN Security Council Condemns RSF Assault on Sudan’s Al-Fashir

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    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned an assault by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on al-Fashir in Sudan’s North Darfur, expressing grave concern in a statement “at the heightened risk of large-scale atrocities, including ethnically motivated atrocities.”

    (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Caitlin Webber)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • UN Cybercrime Treaty to Be Signed in Hanoi to Tackle Global Offences

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    HANOI (Reuters) -A landmark U.N. cybercrime treaty, aimed at tackling offences that cost the global economy trillions of dollars annually, is set to be signed in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi by around 60 countries over the weekend.

    The convention, which will take effect after it is ratified by 40 nations, is expected to streamline international cooperation against cybercrime, but has been criticised by activists and tech companies over concerns of possible human rights abuses.

    “Cyberspace has become fertile ground for criminals…every day, sophisticated scams defraud families, steal livelihoods, and drain billions of dollars from our economies,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the opening ceremony.

    “The U.N. Cybercrime Convention is a powerful, legally binding instrument to strengthen our collective defences against cybercrime.”

    The convention targets a broad spectrum of offences from phishing and ransomware to online trafficking and hate speech, the U.N. has said, citing estimates that cybercrime costs the global economy trillions of dollars each year.

    Vietnam President Luong Cuong said the signing of the convention “not only marks the birth of a global legal instrument, but also affirms the enduring vitality of multilateralism, where countries overcome differences and are willing to shoulder responsibilities together for the common interests of peace, security, stability and development.”

    Critics have warned its vague definition of crime could enable abuse.

    The Cybersecurity Tech Accord, which includes Meta and Microsoft, has dubbed the pact a “surveillance treaty,” saying it may facilitate data sharing among governments and criminalise ethical hackers who test systems for vulnerabilities.

    The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which led the treaty negotiations, said the agreement includes provisions to protect human rights and promotes legitimate research activities.

    The European Union, the United States and Canada sent diplomats and officials to sign the treaty in Hanoi.

    Vietnam’s role as host has also stirred controversy. The U.S. State Department recently flagged “significant human rights issues” in the country, including online censorship. Human Rights Watch says at least 40 people have been arrested this year, including for expressing dissent online.

    Vietnam views the treaty as an opportunity to enhance its global standing and cyber defences amid rising attacks on critical infrastructure.

    (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • ‘Transition clock is ticking,’ UN warns Haiti’s leaders as elections appear unlikely

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    Carlos Ruiz Massieu, special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Haiti and head of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti, briefs the Security Council on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 on the question concerning Haiti and the U.N. political office.

    Carlos Ruiz Massieu, special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Haiti and head of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti, briefs the Security Council on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 on the question concerning Haiti and the U.N. political office.


    Eskinder Debebe

    UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

    With three months remaining in Haiti’s rocky political transition, United Nations Security Council members are calling on the country’s leaders and politicians to quickly set aside their differences and avoid a political vacuum.

    The urgent call comes amid the pending end of the current governance arrangement that expires on Feb. 7, 2026— a date by which a newly elected president and Parliament were originally expected to take office but mostly likely will not. In addition to being hampered by a complex and deadly security landscape, Haiti’s ruling transition has also been dogged by corruption allegations, which have undermined its efforts to return the country to constitutional order. Haiti’s last general election was in 2016, and since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, the Caribbean nation has not had one elected leader in office.

    “Critical decisions will be required by national authorities and stakeholders in the weeks to come,” Christina Markus Lassen, the Permanent Representative of Denmark, said. “Sustained inter-Haitian dialogue remains crucial.”

    In his latest report to the Security Council, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres noted that many Haitian political actors have expressed concern about the risk of a political vacuum if elections are not held on time.

    United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.
    United Nations Secretary General António Guterres. Evan Schneider UN Photo/Evan Schneider

    The key people in Haiti hold diverging views on whether to maintain or modify the current transitional governance arrangement, Guterres said. Among the suggestions being discussed in Port-au-Prince: replacing the current nine-member Transitional Presidential Council with a judge from the country’s highest court as transitional president and a prime minister chosen through consultations; amending the arrangement to only three individuals and an oversight body to monitor government action, or extending the current group.

    Several political figures, including a group of former prime ministers, proposed a one-year extension, starting on Feb. 7, 2026, under a new political accord, leading to elections by October 2026, the report said.

    Guterres’s report is part of the regular update he is required to give the Security Council, which after supporting the extension of global sanctions for Haiti and issuing a new 12-month mandate for a Gang Suppression Force is also deciding on the renewal of the mandate of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti. The renewal of the political office received wide support from the council.

    The United Kingdom’s deputy representative, highlighting the recent support for the U.S.-backed suppression force and continued sanctions, said it’s time for Haiti’s transitional presidential council “to step up and match the international community’s efforts.

    “The Haitian authorities must work at pace to lay the necessary legislation to enable free and fair elections,” Ambassador Archibald Young said. “We call on all Haitian political actors to put their differences aside and work together in good faith to improve governance in Haiti, particularly ahead of the seventh of February.”

    Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Guterres’ new special representative in Haiti, told Security Council members that “the transition clock is ticking” and Haiti could not afford a political vacuum, especially amid its ongoing gang-driven violence.

    “I am concerned that a steady path towards the restoration of democratic governance is yet to emerge,” he said. “However, I welcome the steps taken by national authorities to consult with political stakeholders to reach agreements on the necessary conditions under which elections should be held and to avoid a political vacuum beyond 7 February 2026.”

    Since arriving in Port-au-Prince on Aug. 2, Ruiz Massieu said he has visited national authorities, civil society leaders, human rights advocates, political parties and Haiti’s international supporters.

    “I have been able to witness firsthand the brutal reality of everyday life in the country, especially in Port-au-Prince,” he said. “There is no doubt that the circumstances are dire, but the Haitian people have not given up.”

    Still, the scale and impact of the crisis is disturbing: More than 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes, while human rights abuses by gangs continue, Ruiz Massieu said as he highlighted the grim reality the secretary-general provided in his report.

    Between July and August, gangs increasingly targeted farming communities on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and in other areas of the country, and staged multiple attacks against the national police. In the West region, a gang assault on the village of Labodrie in Cabaret resulted in more than more than 40 deaths, including six children. In the Artibonite, attacks during the same period left 42 residents dead and 29 injured, with two police stations set on fire.

    Though gang violence has slowed down in the capital, farmers in Kenscoff, located in the hills, continue to be targeted, while killings have risen dramatically in the Artibonite and Center regions, the report said. The U.N. recorded 1,303 victims of homicides between January and August, compared with 419 during the same period in 2024.

    Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said while the United States will do its part to support Haiti, the countrys political class and private sector “must do their parts as well in support of a democratically elected government.”

    Waltz said Washington will remain relentless in pursuing individuals who undermine Haitian security and arm and finance terrorist gangs. This includes expanding its use “of all available tools, using all means necessary, including indictments, arrests, financial sanctions, arms seizures, visa and other immigration restrictions, to counter the impunity that robs Haitian children of their futures.”

    A number of U.N. diplomats, including the representatives of Panama and Russia, expressed concerns about civilian casualties resulting from security operations in Haiti. The issue was raised by Guterres and tied it to the Haitian government’s use of armed drones through a contract with the firm Vectus Global to fight gangs. Vectus Global is owned by former Blackwater founder Erik Prince.

    In August, two police officers were killed and six others injured when a government drone accidentally exploded. In September at least 21 people were killed, including a pregnant woman, a boy and three girls, Guterres’ report said. Another 41 others, including 7 children, were injured.

    “We are extremely concerned about the recent increase in activity in Haiti of foreign mercenaries operating outside the legal framework,” Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya, who presided over the meeting, said. He added that the uncontrolled use of drones, “which has already resulted in several confirmed civilian casualties, is completely unacceptable, and we hope that this problem is not going to migrate into the new mission.”

    Ruiz Massieu told the Security Council that despite the hostile environment the U.N. finds itself working in in Haiti, he is “leading efforts to swiftly complete the return of all its international personnel to Port-au-Prince, with the goal of achieving 100% staff presence in the capital as a matter of urgency at this critical stage of the political transition.”

    Haiti’s ambassador to the U.N., Ericq Pierre, said that building peace requires the implementation of a national disarmament, demobilization and reintegration policy that is focused both on the removal of illegal arms and on the reintegration of young people.

    “In this regard, the government invites [the U.N. Integrated Office] to strengthen its technical and institutional support for this policy, which is essential in order to bring about lasting security that is rooted in reconciliation, social cohesion and respect for human rights,” he said.

    Pierre took note of the Secretary General’s report and said “the restoration of security” is the government’s top priority.

    “The report does, however, indicate that the government is making great efforts to overcome these many challenges,” he said. “Despite a worrying security context and difficult socio-economic circumstances, the Haitian authorities are stepping up their actions to re-establish the state, to consolidate the Republic’s institutions and to create the conditions for a return to constitutional order.”

    Jacqueline Charles

    Miami Herald

    Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.

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  • World Food Prize Winners Call for Doubling of Aid to Combat Hunger

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) -International food aid must double to meet the needs of about 2 billion people worldwide who struggle to get enough to eat, winners of an annual prize recognizing contributions to reducing global hunger said on Wednesday.

    The World Food Prize was started in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug, a U.S. agronomist whose work with high-yield crops in the 1960s has been credited with saving 1 billion lives.

    A group of 28 prize winners, including Brazilian microbiologist Mariangela Hungria who received the award this year, issued the call on Wednesday during the Norman Borlaug Dialogue, an annual conference in Des Moines, Iowa.

    The U.N. World Food Program recently reported global food aid was cut by 40% in 2025. The United States, previously a top donor, slashed aid under President Donald Trump, and other governments such as the United Kingdom and France also reduced assistance.

    WFP cut aid in Democratic Republic of Congo by 75% and halved a hot meal program in Haiti due to lack of funds, WFP Assistant Executive Director Valerie Guarnieri said during the conference.

    “Donors are slashing their donations, for a variety of reasons,” she said. “There will be lives that will be lost, and global instability will increase.”

    David Beckmann, the 2010 prize winner and former president of nongovernmental organization Bread for the World, said famine was a problem in Sudan, Yemen, Gaza and Haiti, among other places.

    “When the need for help increased, the money was not there,” he said.

    Chef Jose Andres, founder of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, has not won the World Food Prize, but he joined the appeal.

    “Immigration is increasing and will keep increasing. The main reason people leave their countries is hunger,” he told reporters.

    The World Food Prize honors work in fields like nutrition, environmental conservation, policy advocacy, rural development and plant and soil science.

    (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Factbox-What’s Being Discussed in the Next Phase of Trump’s Gaza Ceasefire Plan

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    CAIRO (Reuters) -Gaza mediators — the United States, Egypt and Qatar — stepped up their efforts this week to stabilise the early stages of the truce between Israel and Hamas and to push forward U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan.

    WHAT IS THE STATUS OF TALKS?

    A Hamas delegation led by the group’s exiled Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, has been in Cairo for talks with Egypt since Saturday. 

    U.S. Vice President JD Vance is in Israel on Tuesday after envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Egyptian officials have also met Netanyahu.

    The first phase of the ceasefire involved stopping fighting, returning hostages, increasing aid flows and a partial pull-back of Israeli forces to a “yellow line”.

    WHAT HAS EACH SIDE DONE UNDER THE TRUCE?

    Israel’s forces have pulled back from some parts of Gaza, but around half of the strip remains under Israeli control. On Monday, the military said it began marking the withdrawal line, warning Hamas and residents to stay away.

    Hamas has released all 20 living hostages it was holding and 13 bodies, leaving 15 deceased hostages still in Gaza. Hamas says rubble and other factors may complicate the retrieval of a number of bodies. Israel believes Hamas can quickly return around five more bodies and is stalling. An international task force is meant to locate the rest. 

    Israel has released around 2,000 Palestinians, including 250 long-serving inmates, but vetoed the release of some prominent militant leaders. It has returned 165 bodies of Palestinians to Gaza. 

    Israel has also facilitated the entry of more aid trucks through two crossings into Gaza, but UN and Palestinian officials said it remains far from sufficient.

    WHAT PROBLEMS HAVE HIT THE TRUCE ALREADY?

    There have been continued flashes of violence, particularly around the “yellow line” demarcating Israel’s partial pullback inside Gaza.

    Israel began marking out the line on Monday with yellow concrete blocks after repeated incidents of shootings. Israel says it has fired at suspected militants crossing the line. Gaza residents say it has not been clear where the line runs. 

    On Sunday, Palestinian militants killed two Israeli soldiers in Rafah. Israel responded with airstrikes that Gaza health authorities said killed 28 people. Hamas and Israel later recommitted to the truce. 

    Inside Gaza, Hamas has reimposed control, killing members of rival groups and those it accuses of collaborating with Israel. Trump signalled his endorsement of that but the U.S. military has said it must stop.

    Hamas has said aid is flowing in too slowly. Israel says it is sticking to agreements. 

    The Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza is also meant to reopen but has not yet done so.

    WHAT’S BEING DISCUSSED FOR THE COMING PHASES?

    A U.S.-backed stabilisation force is meant to ensure security in Gaza. Its composition, role, chain of command, legal status and other issues are yet to be agreed. 

    The United States has agreed to provide up to 200 troops to support the force without being deployed in Gaza itself. U.S. officials have said they are also speaking to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute. 

    Trump wants Hamas and other factions to disarm and Gaza to be demilitarised. The group has never accepted this and says mediators have not yet officially started discussing the issue with it. 

    Gaza is to be governed by a transitional committee of apolitical Palestinian technocrats. The composition of this body has not been agreed. Hamas has accepted the formation of this body, but says it would have a role in approving it. 

    The panel would be supervised by a new international transitional body called the “Board of Peace” headed by Trump. Its formation, and the possible inclusion of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is still to be agreed.  

    Hamas wants employees of the existing Gaza government it has run since 2007 to stay in their jobs. Israel says Hamas can have no role.

    The phasing of further Israeli pull-backs is yet to be agreed, and will depend partly on Israel’s own assessment of how much of a threat Hamas still poses. Hamas says the war will only end when Israel has fully withdrawn.

    The Trump plan calls for the Palestinian Authority to be reformed. It is not clear what this would involve or what role it would take in future. 

    The plan says the truce could ultimately create the conditions for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination. Netanyahu has so far refused to accept the possibility of a Palestinian state. 

    (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Factbox-What Is ‘Taiwan Independence’ and Is Taiwan Already Independent?

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    TAIPEI (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he expects to reach a fair trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping and downplayed risks of a clash over the issue of Taiwan.

    Asked by a reporter whether the U.S. might adjust its position on Taiwan independence in order to reach a trade deal with China, Trump said: “We’re going to be talking about a lot of things. I assume that will be one of them, but I’m not going to talk about it now.”

    Below are some questions and answers about what is meant by the term “Taiwan independence”.

    WHAT IS TAIWAN’S HISTORY AND FORMAL NAME TODAY?

    Previously known as Formosa, the island has been home to indigenous people for thousands of years, before the Dutch and Spanish briefly ruled parts of it in the 1600s.

    The Qing dynasty incorporated Taiwan as part of Fujian province in 1684 and only declared it a separate Chinese province in 1885.

    Following the Qing’s defeat in a war with Japan, it became a Japanese colony in 1895. In 1945, it was handed over to the Republic of China government at the end of World War Two.

    In 1949 after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s communist forces, the Republic of China government fled and moved its capital to Taiwan, and Republic of China remains the island’s formal name. Mao set up the People’s Republic of China, and claimed it was the only legitimate Chinese government for the whole of China, including Taiwan, as the Republic of China’s successor state.

    WHAT IS TAIWAN’S INTERNATIONAL STATUS?

    For decades, the Republic of China in Taipei also claimed to be the legitimate Chinese government, but in 1971 Beijing took over the China seat at the United Nations from Taipei.

    Currently only 12 countries maintain formal ties with Taipei, mostly small and poorer developing nations such as Belize and Tuvalu.

    Most major Western countries and U.S. allies maintain close unofficial ties with Taiwan by recognising the Republic of China passport and having de facto embassies in each other’s capitals. Taiwanese citizens can freely travel to most countries using its passport.

    The U.S. severed official ties with Taipei in 1979 but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself. The U.S. officially takes no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty under Washington’s “One China” policy.

    China says it will not renounce the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Beijing has offered Taiwan a “one country, two systems” model similar to Hong Kong, which promised the city a high degree of autonomy, though no major political party in Taiwan supports that.

    Opinion polls in Taiwan have repeatedly shown most Taiwanese wish to maintain the current status quo in relations with China.

    China also says that United Nations resolution 2758, passed in 1971 which stated that the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government of China and which resulted in Taipei losing China’s U.N. seat to Beijing, means that legally the world recognises Taiwan belongs to China.

    The government in Taipei says that is nonsense given the resolution made no mention of Taiwan or its status.

    IS TAIWAN ALREADY AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY?

    Taiwan, whose people elect their own leaders and whose government controls a defined area of territory with its own military, passport and currency, enjoys de facto independence even if that is not formally recognised by most countries.

    Taiwan’s government says the Republic of China is a sovereign state and that Beijing has no right to speak for or represent it given the People’s Republic of China has no say in how it chooses its leaders and has never ruled Taiwan.

    COULD TAIPEI DECLARE A “REPUBLIC OF TAIWAN”?

    It would be very difficult and require parliamentary approval of a constitutional amendment and then a referendum, rather than a simple declaration by President Lai Ching-te.

    At least 75% of lawmakers would need to pass that amendment, and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) currently have an equal number of seats.

    The DPP, which has been in power since 2016, has not made an attempt to change the constitution. The KMT strongly opposes any attempts to change the name of Republic of China.

    WHAT DOES TAIWAN’S PRESIDENT SAY ABOUT INDEPENDENCE?

    China detests Lai and calls him a “separatist”. Before Lai was elected president he made comments about being a “practical worker for Taiwan independence”. Lai maintains he simply meant Taiwan is already an independent country.

    Since taking office in 2024, Lai has said on several occasions that the Republic of China and People’s Republic of China are “not subordinate to each other”, which Beijing says means he believes the two are separate countries and so he is therefore pushing an independence narrative.

    DOES CHINA HAVE A LEGAL FRAMEWORK TO PREVENT FORMAL INDEPENDENCE?

    In 2005, China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament passed the Anti-Secession Law that gives the country the legal basis for military action against Taiwan if it secedes or if the “possibilities for a peaceful reunification should be completely exhausted”, but the law is vague and does not give details.

    (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • “Complex repair plan” underway to restore power at Ukrainian nuclear plant, U.N. watchdog says

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    Work has begun to repair the damaged power supply to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said Saturday. The repairs are hoped to end a precarious four-week outage that saw it dependent on backup generators.

    Russian and Ukrainian forces established special ceasefire zones for repairs to be safely carried out, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a social media statement attributed to head Rafael Grossi. The agency hailed the restoration of off-site power as “crucial for nuclear safety and security.”

    “Both sides engaged constructively with the IAEA to enable the complex repair plan to proceed,” the statement said.

    Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk confirmed that Ukrainian specialists were involved in restoring power lines to the plant and said that its stable operation and connection with the Ukrainian power grid were essential to prevent a nuclear incident. She also said that it was the 42nd time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 that power lines to the plant had to be
    restored. Ukraine has previously accused Russia of targeting the nation’s power grid. 

    The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, has been operating on diesel back-up generators since Sept. 23, when its last remaining external power line was severed in attacks that Russia and Ukraine each blamed on the other, officials said.

    Firefighters on duty following the Russian drone attack in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine on September 16, 2025. 

    Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Adm./Anadolu via Getty Images


    The plant is in an area under Russian control since early in Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is not in service, but it needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.

    Elsewhere, Russia continued its aerial bombardment of Ukraine, launching three missiles and 164 drones overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force said Saturday. It said that Ukrainian forces shot down 136 of the drones.

    Two people were injured after Russian drones targeted a gas station in the Zarichny district of Sumy in northeast Ukraine, local officials said Saturday. They were two women, ages 51 and 53, according to regional Gov. Oleh Hryhorov.

    Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Saturday that its air defenses had shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight.

    The work began one day after President Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House and two days after he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone. Mr. Trump called the meeting with Zelenskyy “very interesting, and cordial” in a post on Truth Social and urged the two leaders to end the war. 

    Zelenskiy Readies List Of Promises To Win Over Trump On Weapons

    President Trump, left, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, shake hands outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. 

    Aaron Schwartz / Sipa / Bloomberg via Getty Images / Sipa USA


    Their discussions concerned the U.S. giving Ukraine Tomahawk missiles, possibly in exchange for Ukrainian drones, CBS News previously reported.  Details of the discussions were not shared, though Mr. Trump indicated that he believed sending the missiles could escalate the war. 

    Mr. Trump announced earlier this week that he would meet with Putin in Budapest soon. As Zelenskyy arrived at the White House on Friday, Mr. Trump told a reporter that he believed he could persuade Putin to end the war. Mr. Trump later said in the Oval Office that he believes he and Zelenskyy are making “great progress” in ending the war. 

    Russia has not indicated that it wants to end the war, and Mr. Trump has expressed frustration with Putin in recent months. First Lady Melania Trump said last week she had worked with the Russian leader to return Ukrainian children to their families, an initiative that Mr. Trump said she took on on her own. 

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  • Opinion | The U.N. Blinks on Its Carbon Tax

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    Leaders delay a vote on its taxation-without-representation scheme.

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  • Exclusive-WTO Chief Urges US, China to De-Escalate Trade War, or Risk Long-Term Hit to Global Growth

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    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The head of the World Trade Organization said she is urging the U.S. and China to de-escalate trade tensions, warning that a decoupling by the world’s two largest economies could reduce global economic output by 7% over the longer term.

    WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters in an interview the global trade body was extremely concerned about the latest spike in U.S.-China trade tensions and had spoken with officials from both countries to encourage more dialogue.

    “We’re obviously worried at any escalation of U.S.-China tensions,” she said, noting the two sides had backed away from their first tariff escalation earlier this year, averting more serious consequences and she hoped that would happen again.

    “Similarly, we are really hoping that the two sides will come together and they will de-escalate, because any U.S.-China tensions and U.S.-China decoupling (would) have implications not just for the two biggest economies in the world, but also for the rest of the world,” she said.

    Both sides, Okonjo-Iweala said, understand the importance of good relations, given the implications for the global economy and other countries.

    Any kind of decoupling that divides the world into two trading blocs would result in “significant global GDP losses in the longer term – up to 7% global GDP losses and double-digit welfare losses for developing countries,” she said.

    ESCALATING TENSIONS REMAIN ‘SERIOUS RISK’

    The WTO last week sharply lowered its 2026 forecast for global merchandise trade volume growth to 0.5% from its previous estimate of 1.8% growth in August, citing expected delayed impacts from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. It raised its forecast for global goods trade growth to 2.4% for 2025.

    Those forecasts were issued before the relative calm of recent months was shattered last week when China imposed new export controls on rare earth metals needed for the technology sector, and Trump responded by imposing new 100% duties on Chinese imports starting next month.

    Okonjo-Iweala said she told officials from the Group of 20 major economies on Wednesday evening that there could be no global financial stability without global trade stability.

    “Pressures on the system have not eased and may intensify,” she told the group. “The full effects of recent tariffs are still to be felt. Trade diversion is fueling protectionist sentiment elsewhere. And escalating tensions between the United States and China remain a serious risk.”

    Okonjo-Iweala said most WTO members had refrained from joining in the tariff war, and 72% of global trade was still following WTO rules despite a series of bilateral trade deals signed by the U.S. with other countries.

    The rules-based multilateral system was proving resilient despite the most severe policy shock in eight decades, she said.

    But Okonjo-Iweala said organizations like the WTO should use the current multilateralism crisis to undertake long-sought reforms and make the global trade body more flexible and efficient, and able to take advantage of new trade opportunities in digital trade, services and green trade.

    “There’s absolutely no doubt that there are global problems that cannot be solved by any one country alone, and you will need global cooperation to do it, and that’s where multilateralism will still be very, very relevant,” she said. “But to make sure that the organizations are really appreciated, we have to reform, and at the WTO, we are ready to work on this.”

    Okonjo-Iweala said she had a good meeting on Wednesday with Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Joseph Barloon, who was confirmed last week as the U.S. ambassador to the WTO.

    She said she was very appreciative that the U.S. had removed the WTO from its list of planned spending cuts to international organizations, and efforts were underway to settle U.S. arrears to the trade body.

    (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Simao)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Gaza Father Hopes Reopening of Medical Corridor Can Save His Injured Son

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    KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (Reuters) -The father of 18-year-old Hassan who says his son was shot in the head over two months ago in Gaza while out seeking food hopes that the reopening of the Rafah border point will save him.

    “The Rafah crossing is our lifeline, for patients and for the Gaza Strip,” Ibrahim Qlob told Reuters in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis where Hassan lies motionless in bed, his eyes covered with bandages.

    “I’m waiting. One day passing for me feels like a year.”

    The injury caused a brain haemorrhage, necessitating the removal of part of his skull. A later infection caused him to lose sight in his right eye, his father said.

    Now that a fragile ceasefire is taking hold between Israel and Hamas after two years of war, Hassan is just one of 15,600 Gazan patients waiting evacuation, including 3,800 children, according to the World Health Organization.

    Many like him suffer from injuries sustained during the conflict. Others have chronic conditions like cancer and heart disease which the decimated health system cannot cope with.

    Israeli officials have said the Rafah crossing previously used for patients to exit via Egypt would reopen for transfers.

    Two sources told Reuters people could start crossing on Thursday. COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into Gaza, said on Wednesday the date for reopening for people will be announced later.

    During the conflict more than 7,000 patients have been evacuated from Gaza, with Egypt taking over half of them.

    The rate of transfers slowed, however, when Rafah shut in May 2024 and Israel seized control. Since a previous ceasefire collapsed in March, fewer than four patients have exited daily, meaning it would take over 10 years to finish the list, WHO data shows.

    “What we need is more countries to accept patients from Gaza, and we need the restoration of all the medical evacuation routes,” the WHO’s Tarik Jasarevic told reporters this week.

    Mohammed Abu Nasser, 32, who survived a strike on his home in Zeitoun, Gaza City with severe injuries to both legs, said he has been on the waiting list over a year.

    “My condition is getting worse every day,” he said from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.

    Hundreds have already died waiting, medical groups and Palestinian health authorities say. The WHO, which took over management of the process last year, said 740 people including 137 children on the list have died since July 2024.

    One of them was a girl called Jana Ayad who died from severe acute malnutrition in September, the WHO told Reuters, saying no country accepted her.

    Médecins Sans Frontières project coordinator Hani Isleem said that 19 of its patients on the transfer list had died during the war, including 12 children.

    “Seeing those patients’ files, being in direct touch with these children, and then you know that you lost them because of all these challenges and difficulties, that is really painful,” he said.

    Israeli rejections have sometimes prevented transfers, Isleem added. COGAT did not respond to a request for comment. It has previously said that approvals are subject to security checks.

    “The mortality rate is tragically rising, as would be expected given the decimation of health systems and infrastructure on the ground,” said Kate Takes, a solicitor with Children Not Numbers, a UK-based charity working in Gaza and overseeing cases of children needing evacuation.

    For Hassan, there are worrying signs. His malnutrition is worsening and he now weighs just 40 kilograms (88 lbs), or nearly half his former body weight, his father said.

    “If things stay like this, it will be too late for him.”

    (Reporting by Ebrahim Hajjaj and Ramadan Abed in Gaza and Emma Farge in Geneva; Additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva and Nidal Al Mughrabi in Cairo; editing by Diane Craft)

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  • Bessent Says US Expects Japan to Stop Buying Russian Energy

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    (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he told Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato that the Trump administration expects Japan to stop importing Russian energy.

    “Minister Kato and I also discussed important issues pertaining to the U.S.-Japan economic relationship and the Administration’s expectation that Japan stop importing Russian energy,” Bessent said on X, after the two met on Wednesday.

    Bessent and Kato met on the sidelines of the annual International Monetary Fund meeting, and the G7 and G20 finance leaders’ gatherings held this week in Washington.

    “Japan will do what it can based on the basic principle of coordinating with G7 countries to achieve peace in Ukraine in a fair manner,” Kato told reporters, when asked whether Japan was urged to stop importing Russian energy from Bessent.

    The Group of Seven (G7) nations – the U.S., Japan, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy – agreed earlier this month to coordinate and intensify sanctions against Moscow over its war in Ukraine by targeting countries that buy Russian oil and thereby enable sanctions circumvention.

    (Reporting by Ismail Shakil, additional reporting by Leika Kinara in Washington; Editing by Costas Pitas and Sonali Paul)

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  • UN Agency Says 13.7 Million People Face Severe Hunger Due to Global Aid Cuts

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    ROME (Reuters) -Almost 14 million people in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan risk severe hunger due to cuts in global humanitarian aid, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday.

    The WFP’s biggest donor, the United States, has slashed its foreign aid under President Donald Trump, and other major nations have also made or announced cuts in development and humanitarian assistance.

    “WFP’s funding has never been more challenged. The agency expects to receive 40% less funding for 2025, resulting in a projected budget of $6.4 billion, down from $10 billion in 2024,” the Rome-based agency said.

    A WFP report, titled “A Lifeline at Risk”, warned that cuts to its food assistance could push 13.7 million people from “crisis” to “emergency” levels of hunger, one step away from famine in a five-level international hunger scale.

    “The gap between what WFP needs to do and what we can afford to do has never been larger. We are at risk of losing decades of progress in the fight against hunger,” WFP executive director Cindy McCain said.

    “It’s not just the countries engulfed in major emergencies. Even hard-won gains in the Sahel region, where 500,000 people have been lifted out of aid dependence, could experience severe setbacks without help, and we want to prevent that,” she added.

    (Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gavin Jones)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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