Stockpiles of nuclear weapons available for use increased in 2022
Nuclear warheads available to nations for deployment reached 9,576 at the start of 2023, up from 9,440 a year earlier.
China
China is a global power with the world’s second-largest economy and an increasing geopolitical rivalry with the United States. As the U.S. has reduced its engagement with certain multilateral institutions, China has increasingly sought to fill that vacuum by increasing its funding to the U.N. and placing its nationals in leadership roles.
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Study says bottled water industry undercuts safe drinking water for all
The bottled water industry is expected to grow to $500 billion a year in sales but isn't aligned with the U.N.'s Global Goals.
WHO chief calls 3-year pandemic 'a chaotic patchwork of responses'
WHO's chief offered three lessons the world must learn to be able to effectively cope with future global health crises.
U.N. raises concerns about human rights records in over 40 nations
A quarter of all humanity lives today in places that are affected by conflict and usually it's the civilians 'who suffer the most.'
Lost childhoods: Ukraine's most innocent victims in Putin's war
The global demands for peace grow as humanitarian aid workers emphasize the war's devastating effect on children.
Western leaders' tensions with Russia, China dominate summit
U.S. and Chinese diplomats met for the first time since the U.S. shot down what officials called a Chinese surveillance balloon.
Group of nations back first call for 'responsible' military uses of AI
The agreement emerged from high-level political talks among 85 countries on the sidelines of an international summit.
WHO's chief wants the pandemic declared over. Not all experts agree.
Despite the temptation to end the pandemic, some leading health experts say it would be better to keep up the pressure.
World's aging dams lose storage capacity at alarming rate
Storage loss by 2050 will equal the combined yearly water use of Canada, China, France, a U.N. University report shows.
U.N. reauthorizes Turkish aid route into Syria's rebel-held northwest
The border crossing allows the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations to provide food, medicine and other basic items to the 4.1 million mainly displaced inhabitants of Syria's northwest Idlib province.
WHO presses Chinese health officials for data on COVID-19 spike
The U.N. health agency sought information from Beijing about the COVID-19 surge as nations impose travel restrictions.
New multilingual tool helps organizations monitor threats
Journalists, lawyers, activists, fact checkers, regulators and others have been using a new tool to fight disinformation.
U.N. summit clinches 196-nation deal to halt biodiversity loss
Negotiators reached a 30% by 2030 or '30 by 30' deal just as the almost two-week U.N. Biodiversity Conference was ending.
Biodiversity summit poses call to act, decade of protections on line
UNEP's chief describes the summit as an opportunity to 'secure our life-support system, to make peace with nature.'
Researchers seek greater Indigenous peoples' voice in climate policy
Indigenous communities have long coped with climate uncertainties. Researchers suggest tapping that knowledge.
American elected as successor to Chinese head of U.N. telecom agency
ITU's next secretary-general will take over a key agency that regulates and sets standards for global telecommunications.