This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Flood-hit China region saw a year’s worth of rain in under a week

The central Chinese province of Henan which has been hit by devastating flooding, received more than a year’s worth of rain in under a week, UN weather experts said on Wednesday.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), between 17 and 21 July the national meteorological observation station in Zhengzhou recorded 720 millimetres of rainfall, compared to the annual average of 641.

More than half of this deluge fell in the space of six hours, while more than 200 millimetres fell in the space of just one hour.

The UN weather agency noted that more than 600 stations recorded precipitation over 250mm. The maximum was 728mm. Henan’s Meteorological Administration initiated the second highest level emergency response to deal with the flooding.

According to reports, more than 10,000 people have been evacuated to shelters in Henan – home to 94 million people. 

Liverpool’s historic waterfront removed from World Heritage List

Historic docklands and buildings in the UK city of Liverpool have been removed from the UN cultural body UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites, it announced on Wednesday.

The move follows concerns raised in 2012 about the proposed development of disused dockland near the city centre, which a UNESCO committee decided were “detrimental to the site’s authenticity and integrity”.

Liverpool was added to the World Heritage List in 2004 in recognition of its role as one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries – and its pioneering dock technology, transport systems and port management.

It is only the third location to lose its World Heritage status after the decision was announced by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at a virtual conference in China.

Media reports have indicated that Liverpool city leaders are disappointed with the news and may consider lodging an appeal.

WHO’s Tedros backs Tokyo Games' ‘power to inspire’

To Tokyo, where the head of the UN World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has welcomed the Olympic and Paralympic Games as a chance to spread “hope to the world”.

“More than any other event (the Games) have the power to bring the world together; to inspire; to show what is possible,” Tedros told the International Olympic Committee, with the Olympic flame in his hand.

He warned that the world was now in the early stages of another wave of infections and deaths, and he urged all countries to embark on a “massive global push” to vaccinate at least 10 per cent of their populations by September.

Today, 75 per cent of vaccines have been administered in just 10 countries, Tedros said, while in low-income countries, only one per cent of people have received at least one dose.

The development comes as the WHO reported a 12 per cent increase in global new cases last week compared to the previous seven days, with over 3.4 million new cases.

Since the start of the pandemic 19 months ago, there have been more than 190 million confirmed infections and more than four million deaths.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.