UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday unveiled the UN80 Initiative to enhance the organization's efficiency and effectiveness as it approaches its 80th anniversary.
Speaking at a press conference in New York, Guterres stressed the urgency of reforms, citing global challenges and financial struggles. "The United Nations has never been more needed," he said, emphasising its role in peace, development, and human rights.
He acknowledged the UN's ongoing liquidity crisis due to delayed and incomplete payments from member states. To address this, he announced a task force led by Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder to focus on efficiency, mandate reviews, and structural reforms.
"Budgets at the United Nations are not just numbers on a balance sheet -- they are a matter of life and death for millions around the world," Guterres said, vowing to work with General Assembly President Philemon Yang on reform proposals.
Welcoming proposed Ukraine ceasefire
Guterres welcomed a US-backed 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as a "positive step" toward peace. Talks in Jeddah, attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and Saudi officials, resulted in Ukraine’s conditional acceptance of the proposal.
US President Donald Trump expressed hope that Russia would agree, with further discussions expected soon.
On trade tensions, Guterres warned against economic conflicts, stating, "When we enter into a trade war, I believe, all will lose."
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran warns the key waterway will not reopen while Washing...
An overnight drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk killed a child, injured two people and damaged residential buildings and k...
Large parts of Libya’s fourth largest city have been left without power following a drone attack on a power station, the country's state energy comp...
One hundred years after the First World War and more than eighty years after the devastation of the Second World War gave rise to the United Nations, humanity once again finds itself living in an age of permanent crisis.
Flights arriving at Catania airport in eastern Sicily were suspended after volcanic ash from a new eruption of Mount Etna drifted into the airspace around the airport, disrupting operations at one of Italy’s busiest aviation hubs.
Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the U.S. must meet other conditions.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has surpassed $1.1 billion at the global box office, becoming the highest-grossing film of the director’s career.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
An overnight drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk killed a child, injured two people and damaged residential buildings and key port infrastructure, Russian officials and companies said on Wednesday.
Large parts of Libya’s fourth largest city have been left without power following a drone attack on a power station, the country's state energy company has said. The incident in Zawiya is the latest in a spate of strikes on energy infrastructure in the city since Saturday.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 12th of August, covering the latest developments.
A U.S. federal judge has halted a key part of President Donald Trump's effort to tighten rules around mail-in voting, dealing another legal setback to the administration's attempts to expand federal involvement in election oversight ahead of November's congressional elections.
Lebanon has become the first country in the Middle East to formally abolish the death penalty, marking a significant shift in the region's human rights landscape after years of debate over capital punishment.
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