Everyone on the planet should be covered by an early warning system against extreme weather and climate-related disasters within five years, the United Nations (UN) secretary general has said.About a third of people around the world are not now covered by early warning systems, but in Africa the problem is greater, with about six in 10 people lacking such warnings.As climate breakdown takes hold, more people are likely to be affected by extreme weather, including flash floods, heatwaves, more

The world has responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with sanctions, travel bans, and deliveries of humanitarian and military aid, all of which have been stepped up as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war crimes claim more lives every day. Now, with the Ukrainian people’s courage and solidarity having stirred the collective conscience of Europe and much of the world, pressure is growing to complement these measures with criminal indictments of Putin and his closest associates.&a

35 generic drug manufacturers will make a more affordable version of Pfizer's anti-COVID pill for the world's poorer nations, in licensing deals announced Thursday by a United Nations (UN)-backed organisation.The global Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) signed agreements with three dozen manufacturers to produce the oral COVID-19 treatment nirmatrelvir for supply in 95 low- and middle-income countries.United States (US) pharmaceutical giant Pfizer signed a licence agreement with the MPP i

A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Ukraine, and the rest of the world is an eyewitness. Vladimir Putin is waging an indiscriminate war on Ukraine’s civilian population. Russian forces’ devastating siege of Mariupol, including the deliberate bombing of a children’s and maternity hospital, is part of a pattern. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says, it is further evidence that genocide is taking place in our country.

Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had met face-to-face in Beijing, culminating in a joint document – and then they went off to see the opening of the Winter Olympic Games. Days after the Games ended, Russia invaded Ukraine.China's government has neither condemned nor condoned the attack and has even refrained from calling it an "invasion" in the first place.

Ukraine accused the Kremlin of "nuclear terror" and the West expressed fury on Friday after Europe's largest atomic power plant was attacked and seized by invading Russian forces, which continued to shell major cities.Fighting and a fire at the Zaporizhzhia plant triggered an emergency United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting, after which President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ready for talks – if all Russia's demands were first met.The six reactors at Zaporizhzhia,

Some weeks can feel like decades, and this week has been one of them. With Russia’s naked act of aggression against Ukraine, the tragedy of war has erupted in Europe once again. Russian forces have shelled residential housing, schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure. The Kremlin’s propaganda machine has been pushed into overdrive in its effort to justify the unjustifiable.

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that "demands" Russia "immediately" withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow's invasion by a vast majority of the world's nations.After more than two days of extraordinary debate, which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 UN member states voted for the non-binding resolution.China was among the 35 countries which abstained, whi

The Ukraine-Russia crisis is posing a major challenge for China on many fronts.The ever-closer diplomatic relationship between Russia and China could be seen at the Winter Games with Mr Putin coming to Beijing as one of only a handful of known world leaders to attend.Significantly, Mr Putin waited until just after the Games were over to recognise the two breakaway regions of Ukraine and send in troops to back them.In its public pronouncements, the Chinese government has urged all sides to de-

Myanmar hit out Monday at a genocide case brought against it by The Gambia for alleged persecution of Rohingya Muslims, urging the United Nations’ (UN) highest court to drop the claim on legal grounds.Banjul dragged Myanmar before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2019, accusing the predominantly Buddhist country of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority after a bloody 2017 military crackdown.When the case opened in December 2019 Aung San Suu Kyi personally represented Myanma