United Nations

North Korea continued nuclear and missile programmes in 2020 thanks to cyber hacking money, UN says

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North Korea continued its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes throughout 2020 in violation of international sanctions and funded them with £220m ($300m) stolen through cyber hacks, according to a confidential United Nations report.  Kim Jong-un’s regime ‘produced fissile material, maintained nuclear facilities and upgraded its ballistic missile infrastructure’ while continuing to seek material and technology … Read more

Boris Johnson’s father Stanley lands new eco role that could see him pushing PM on green taxes

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Boris Johnson’s father Stanley lands new eco role that could see him pushing the Prime Minister on green taxes Stanley Johnson will attend the Glasgow UN COP26 climate change conference  PM’s father said he will ‘constructively’ call for policies including carbon taxes New role is as international ambassador of Conservative Environment Network  By Colin Fernandez … Read more

Grant Shapps pushes plan for driverless cars 

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Britons could be the first drivers allowed to take their hands off the wheel on motorways to watch films, send texts or check emails as Grant Shapps pushes plan for driverless cars New lanekeeping technology introduced was introduced to Britain on Friday Introduction is stage three of five needed to see self-driving cars on the road   Grant … Read more

Political scientist who ‘secretly worked for Iran’ is arrested by the FBI 

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A Massachusetts-based political scientist and author is accused of secretly working for the government of Iran while lobbying US officials and advising Tehran how to retaliate when America killed Gen Qasem Soleimani, federal authorities said Tuesday. Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, 63, was arrested by FBI agents at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts, on Monday, officials said. He … Read more

Greta Thunberg ‘doesn’t care’ about jet-setting exploits of celebrities who preach about the planet 

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Greta Thunberg has said she ‘doesn’t care’ about the jet-setting exploits of celebrities who preach about the environment in an interview ahead of her 18th birthday. The teenage activist became the face of the youth climate movement after launching a solo ‘school strike’ outside the Swedish parliament aged just 15. Since then, Miss Thunberg – who will … Read more

UN aid agency Unicef will help feed BRITISH children for the first time in its history after Covid

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The United Nations humanitarian aid agency Unicef has launched an emergency response in the UK for the first time in its 70 year history.  Unicef will help feed children left in difficulty as a result of the coronavirus crisis by providing food boxes to struggling families .   The UN agency launched the domestic emergency response in … Read more

Coronavirus: WHO considers e-vaccination certificates to ease travel

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The World Health Organisation is looking at ‘e-vaccination’ certificates to allow people given the coronavirus vaccine to travel, a representative said on Thursday. But the UN’s health body also said antibodies in people who have recovered from Covid-19 should not qualify for so called ‘immunity passports’.   Therefore, the WHO recommended countries do not issue such … Read more

Japan was WRONG to detain Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, UN human rights panel declares

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Japan was WRONG to detain Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn and should pay him compensation, UN human rights panel declares The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called on Japan’s government  Found that detention of Carlos Ghosn, 66, between 2018 and 2019 was ‘arbitrary’ Led Japanese carmaker Nissan for 20 years and rescued it from near-bankruptcy … Read more

Korean War commemoration: China’s President Xi calls the US an ‘insufferably arrogant invader’

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping condemned ‘unilateralism, protectionism and extreme egoism’ in a jab at the United States made during a rally Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of China’s entry into the 1950-53 Korean War.   Xi slammed the US as an ‘insufferably arrogant invader’ and hailed the Chinese and North Korean soldiers for defeating the … Read more

North Koreans are raped and systematically tortured in jail before trial, former captives say 

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Torture, humiliation and coerced confessions are rampant in North Korea’s pretrial detention system which treats people as worth ‘less than an animal’, a rights group said on Monday in a report on the country’s opaque legal processes. US-based Human Rights Watch drew on interviews with dozens of former North Korean detainees and officials to highlight … Read more