Advertisement
Advertisement
TOPIC

United Nations

United Nations
The UN is an international organisation founded after World War II that aims to provide a dialogue platform between countries, fortifying international corporation and preventing future wars. There are currently 193 members led by five permanent members of the Security Council - US, Russia, UK, France and China. The organisation currently has six principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, and the Trusteeship Council.
A view of the newly commissioned Fanling Bypass (Eastern section), the first major transport infrastructure in the Northern Metropolis border town development project, is seen on May 3. Photo: Eugene Lee
Hong Kong society

Opinion | Northern Metropolis is Hong Kong’s chance to show the best of urbanism

Hong Kong has an opportunity to affirm that, rather than being opposites, technological advancement and human-centric design go hand in hand.

European Union

Pope calls for ‘disarming’ of AI, technology should be ‘human friendly’

videocam
China’s military

China boosts peacekeeping budget share amid warnings UN may be sidelined

videocam
War and conflict

Global tensions, funding crisis threaten peacekeeping missions, SIPRI warns

Alarm as peacekeeping deployments fall to lowest levels in at least 25 years.

UN peacekeepers operating in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2025. The country has been one of several flashpoints in recent times. Photo: Reuters
Middle East

Yemen family eats boiled tree leaves as aid dies out

‘We have no sugar, no flour, nothing.’ The nation, ravaged by civil war for over a decade, is seeing less and less humanitarian funding.

China education

‘Natural’ choice: why Unesco’s new STEM education centre is based in Shanghai

China is working with the UN agency to help the world’s least developed countries advance technical education and grow their talent pools.

16
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Iran

UN event on nuclear non-proliferation treaty stumbles, US and Iran clash

There was no consensus among the 191 parties to the NPT, the third failure in a row at a conference reviewing the treaty.

A plenary session of the review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty held on Friday at the UN headquarters in New York. Photo: Kyodo
US-China relations

China’s top diplomat to visit US and Canada to boost ties, pave way for Xi trip

Wang Yi set to chair UN Security Council meeting in New York this month before travelling to Ottawa for talks with Canadian counterpart.

videocam
Africa

WHO raises risk assessment as DR Congo’s Ebola outbreak spreads ‘rapidly’

Chief of the UN health agency said the risk remains high for regional spread and low at global levels.

Indonesia

‘So rough’: father of Indonesian on Gaza flotilla claims Israeli mistreatment

Nine Indonesians were among those detained when Israeli forces intercepted the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla on Monday.

videocam
Alliance of Independent Journalists members rally for the return of Indonesians on board the Global Sumud Flotilla in Surabaya on Thursday. Photo: Andre Yuris
Asean

Over 4,300 Southeast Asian species face extinction threat

Tigers, giant catfish, gibbons and pangolins are among the thousands of ‘critically endangered’ or ‘endangered’ species in the region.

A critically endangered Sumatran rhino calf with its mother at the Way Kambas National Park Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia. Photo: AFP/Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry
Afghanistan

New Taliban law in Afghanistan implies that child marriage is permitted, UN says

UN says the new family code tacitly permits union with minors, despite Kabul claiming forced weddings are banned.

Africa

DR Congo police fire warning shots as protesters burn Ebola patient tents

Angry residents torch a medical facility in a town hit hard by the outbreak as mistrust deepens over burials.

War and conflict

Opinion | Malacca Strait could be the next hinge point if Asia isn’t careful

Straits like Hormuz and Malacca are pressure points where commerce and power converge. What once defined success now defines vulnerability.

videocam
A motorcyclist passes by liquefied natural gas tankers in the Malacca Strait off the coast of Malaysia on April 15. Photo: EPA
Hong Kong politics

China will actively help to resolve international conflicts, diplomat says

Han Zhiqiang delivers pledge at Global Prosperity Summit, where political heavyweight Regina Ip also calls for creating Apec think tank council.

Chinese diplomat Han Zhiqiang delivers his keynote speech at the Global Prosperity Summit in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Photo: Edmond So
China-Russia relations

Putin hails ‘unprecedented’ ties ahead of China visit hot on Trump’s heels

Russian leader’s trip is widely seen as a move to boost energy relationship with Beijing as the Iran war disrupts global supply.

videocam
13
World Health Organization (WHO)

‘Crises’: WHO kicks off annual assembly amid Ebola, US withdrawal

Aid cuts ‘have disrupted health systems, widened inequalities’ said UN chief Antonio Guterres, with WHO budget down by almost US$1 billion.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
India

India has 1.42 billion people – but some Modi allies want bigger families

India’s fertility rate has been dropping, prompting calls for more babies with cash incentives.

Commuters crowd on a train platform in Mumbai. The UN projects India’s population will keep rising for ‌about four decades, peaking at around 1.7 billion. Photo: Reuters
Israel-Gaza war

Israel says close to killing all architects of October 7 attack

Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration follows Israel’s killing of the commander of Hamas’ armed wing in a Gaza strike.

US, Israel war on Iran

Is China’s new mediation body gaining steam as Western brokers’ influence wanes?

Summit encourages countries to join Beijing-led initiative as stalled US-Iran peace talks reveal limits of traditional solution mechanisms.

videocam
Israel-Gaza war

‘No nation’: Palestinians in Gaza mark anniversary of 1948 mass expulsion

Some say an even greater catastrophe is happening now, ‘because our displacement has happened multiple times’.

videocam
Palestinian Yusuf Abu Hamam, centre, who was expelled from his town during the first Israeli-Arab war, in 1948, poses for a photograph on Wednesday with his grandchildren at his home in a refugee camp in Gaza. Photo: AP
Africa

Africa calls multi-nation health meeting amid fatal Ebola outbreak

There have been 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths recorded so far in the DRC, around five months after the last outbreak was declared over.

videocam
Health workers dressed in protective gear work at an Ebola treatment centre in Beni, Congo, in 2019. File photo: AP
Diplomacy

Opinion | North Korea is not Iran. The same pressure tactics won’t work

North Korea’s nuclear reality and the overlapping interests of the US, China and Russia make tension reduction a prerequisite.

videocam
European Union

EU won’t ban LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy’ but will push states to act

Such bans already exist in eight of the EU’s 27 nations.

Singapore

Strong international sea laws ‘vital’ for small nations like Singapore: Wong

The prime minister warns of a direct impact on Singapore’s trade if the international law framework is weakened.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the SGLaw200 Youth Forum held at the Singapore Management University on Wednesday. Photo: Jacky Ho for SGLaw200
US-China relations

Opinion | US maximum pressure tactics unlikely to work with China

As the Trump-Xi summit approaches, China will be going into negotiations with a new diplomatic posture.

videocam
A US Air Force C-17 lands at Beijing Capital Airport on May 11, ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP
My Take

My Take | The path to the future is renewables, but not in Donald Trump’s America

China is leading the world to make the transition but Washington is stalling under a president whose energy motto is ‘drill, baby, drill’.

10
United States

Opinion | Thanks to Trump, the gloves are off. There may be no new global order

With the UN, IMF and World Bank mired in old power structures, universities could be the platform to shape how the global future unfolds.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement