Interviews

The continuing battle for control of Sudan between rival militaries has had a destabilizing effect on the contested area of Abyei claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, for both the UN mission there, UNIFSA, and the civilians they are mandated to protect.

That’s according to Major General Benjamin Sawyerr, acting head and Force Commander for UNIFSA, who said the months-long clashes have seen close to 6,000 flee into Abyei and forced the mission to switch all its supply routes to South Sudan, increasing costs and logistical challenges.

Climate-related court cases around the world are growing fast, and on Thursday the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) together with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, highlighted the trend in their new Global Climate Litigation Report. 

Andrew Raine, Head of the Frontiers in Environmental Law Unit of UNEP, spoke to UN News’s Anton Uspensky about the report’s findings, which show cases are surging in the Global South with human rights emerging as a powerful driver behind climate litigation. 

As the UN weather agency WMO declared on Thursday that July is likely to be the hottest on record, UN News reporter Katy Dartford had other problems on her mind: filing her news bulletin from Greece, where forest fires have been raging.

Speaking from Corfu - where the wildfires have thankfully calmed down a bit since Monday – Katy puts the WMO’s announcement into context.

Here she is now, talking to Daniel Johnson.

As technology becomes increasingly accessible across the globe, more must be done to ensure its use in education remains equitable, scalable, and sustainable.

That’s according to Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, produced by the UN agency specializing in education, science and culture, UNESCO.

Climate-induced disasters in Asia and the Pacific have become increasingly frequent and severe, resulting in loss of lives and livelihoods, hampering the post-pandemic recovery and potentially derailing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The effects of devastating floods, severe droughts and rising sea levels are not confined within national borders; they have international implications too, including for trade, communal tensions and forced migration. Climate change is only making things worse.  

Artificial Intelligence may be the buzzword of the day, but before we know it, two new concepts may soon steal the limelight: Disruptive-tech and Artificial General Intelligence. 

That’s according to Janet Adams, chief operating officer of AI experts SingularityNet, who maintains that these up-and-coming technologies have massive potential to combat inequality, in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda. 

To find out more, UN News's Elma Okic caught up with Ms. Adams at the AI For Good Summit in Geneva earlier this month.

The artificial sweetener aspartame that’s widely used in fizzy drinks has just been classified as “possibly” cancer-causing by UN scientists - but there’s no cause for alarm.

That’s the key message from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), whose assessment of aspartame was carried out on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), by an expert panel of nutritional epidemiology and nutritional toxicology scientists.

• Sudan: Thousands may die due to healthcare disruptions: WHO
• Children’s deaths on central Mediterranean route have doubled this year: UNICEF
• 165 million newly impoverished in past three years: UNDP