More than 100 Rohingyas are known to have drowned in shipwrecks and boat incidents since the start of the Rohingya crisis on August 25, says the UNHCR. Over the past 10 days UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has received reports…
Category: Environment
Interactive map shows air quality in real time across Europe
An interactive map that makes it possible to check air quality in real time across Europe, where air pollution has been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths every year, went live on Thursday. Dubbed the “European Air Quality…
UN asks Burma to end attacks against Rohungya
UN member-states on Thursday urged Myanmar authorities to end a military campaign against the Muslim Rohingya in a resolution adopted despite opposition from China, Russia and some regional neighbours. The General Assembly’s human rights committee overwhelmingly endorsed the measure presented…
Darkness: Investigating mass rape in Burma: HRW
Interview: November 16, 2017 12:00AM EST The Burmese military is carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine State. Scores of people have been murdered and hundreds of villages destroyed, and more than 600,000 Rohingya…
Climate change: The world’s poorest will judge us by action
By Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu Bonn, Nov 16(IPS) – Two years ago, 197 parties came together in Paris and agreed to the historical Paris Framework. Since that December 2015, we all have seen countless pictures of utterly devastating floods, wildfires, hurricanes…
Myanmar Army committed widespread rape in Rakhine: HRW
Myanmar security forces have committed widespread rape against women and girls as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Thursday.
Chinese climate envoy stresses south-south cooperation at COP23
China’s special representative on climate change affairs Xie Zhenhua stressed south-south climate cooperation, and expressed hopes that the ongoing United Nations (UN) climate talks here would generate substantial results addressing issues that concern developing countries and an unequivocal arrangement for…
COP23 parties agree on way forward on pre-2020 action
Bonn, 16 Nov (Meena Raman)- Parties to the UNFCCC have arrived on a way forward on pre-2020 climate action. In a closed-door informal consultation held on the morning of 15 Nov, COP22 Presidency representative Ambassador Aziz Mekouar from Morocco presented…
Climate change is already upon us & will only worsen
By António Guterres Bonn, Nov 15 (IPS) – It is fitting that this year’s conference of parties (on climate change, COP 23) is led by Fiji, a nation on the frontlines.
EU High Representative Mogherini travels to Myanmar
Brussels, Nov 15 – High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini travels to Myanmar for the ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and to Bangladesh.
Pacific Islands call to limit oil, gas, coal to achieve Paris Goals
Bonn, Germany Nov 15 – High-level officials from Pacific Islands have called for a reining in of fossil fuel production in order to stay within the climate limits agreed to in Paris. They were joined in their call by civil…
Heads of state arrive as COP23 parties iron out differences
Bonn, 15 Nov (TWN)- With three days left for the climate talks to conclude in Bonn, Germany, Parties are hard at work to iron out the remaining differences, as Heads of States and Government have arrived for the high-level segment…
BD in crisis over aid to Rohingyas: PM Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said Bangladesh is now on the verge of an unprecedented crisis over providing humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of Rohingyas and repatriating them to their own country. “The present situation is very much…
Merkel, Macron to front diplomatic push at UN climate talks
The leaders of France and Germany will lead a diplomatic charge Wednesday to reinvigorate UN climate talks clouded by Washington’s rejection of a planet rescue plan backed by the rest of the world. Despite announcing it will withdraw from the…
UberMOTO launched in Dhaka
Dhaka, Nov 14 – Uber, the ridesharing app that connects riders with drivers to provide convenient, reliable and affordable rides at the push of a button, on Tuesday announced the launch of its bike-sharing product, uberMOTO. With this launch, Uber…
Climate change poses threat to food security in Pacific islands
By Razeena Raheem ROME, Nov 12 (IPS) – A high-level meeting of political leaders -– hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) -– sounded an ominous warning: that climate change poses an “alarming threat to food systems and food…
For ‘equity’ in global stocktake under Paris Deal
Bonn, 14 Nov — On 11 Nov, Parties to the UNFCCC’s Ad hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) had an interesting exchange on how equity can be operationalized in the global stocktake (GST) that will take place in…
Smart City Week from Nov 22
The Smart City Week 2017 will be observed in the country on November 22-28 next, aiming to promote people-centric smart cities for all.
UN chief raises alarm over Rohingya before ASEAN leaders
The United Nations chief expressed alarm over the plight of Rohingya Muslims in remarks before Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders from a Southeast Asian bloc that has refused to criticize her government over the crisis. U.N. Secretary-General…
Global 2% rise in CO2 ‘giant leap backwards for humankind’
The carbon dioxide emissions that drive global warming, flat since 2014, are set to rise two percent this year, dashing hopes they had peaked, scientists reported at UN climate talks Monday. “This is very disappointing,” said Corinne Le Quere, director…
COP23: Nations concerned at lack of progress on finance issues
Bonn, 13 Nov (Prerna Bomzan) – Developing countries, led by the Group of 77 and China, expressed concerns over the lack of progress on all finance related issues due to the lack of political will by developed countries, adding that…
Illegal extensions of 20 Uttara houses demolished
Dhaka – The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) on Monday demolished illegal stairs, ramps and extension portions of 20 houses at Uttara in capital Dhaka.
BD gets 125 thousand acres of land from sea in a decade
A total of 26 islands or chars emerged in the Bay of Bengal, near the coasts of three districts –Noakhali, Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong— in the last 10 years, Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sherif told Parliament on Monday.
Bangladesh-Myanmar guards hold border confce at Nay
The six-day border conference between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Myanmar Police Force (MPF) started today at Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar today.
Parents angry as Delhi schools reopen despite smog
Angry parents accused Delhi authorities on Monday of “playing with children’s health” as schools reopened despite a fresh surge in pollution to emergency levels. Doctors declared a public health emergency last week when choking smog descended on the capital and…
BD experts against indiscriminate groundwaer extraction
Rajshahi, Nov 13 – Water experts at a workshop here on Sunday called for stopping indiscriminate extraction of groundwater for lessening the gradually mounting pressure on it in the vast Barind area.
Delhi smog shortening lives, say doctors as hospitals fill up
In the emergency ward of a Delhi hospital, men and women gasp for breath as they wait to be treated for symptoms triggered by the choking blanket of smog that descended on the Indian capital this week. Doctors at the…
US cities, states defy Trump, still back Paris climate deal
Bonn, Germany (AP) — A group of U.S. states, cities, businesses and universities said Saturday they are still committed to curbing global warming even as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is walking away from the Paris climate accord.
People, planet and the climate talks: Poles apart?
By: Tetet Nera-Lauron November 10, Bonn – The 23rd Conference of Parties (COP 23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is happening from November 6-17, 2017 in Germany, with the Government of Fiji presiding. The 2-week…
‘Dhaka close to Rohingya repatriation deal with Yangon
Remained focused on having a ‘bilateral’ solution to the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh is very close to reaching a repatriation agreement with Myanmar, said Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque here on Saturday. “Currently, we’re focusing on signing a bilateral arrangement for the…