Positions hardened over two competing approaches to preventing an outer space arms race — one promoting responsible behaviours through voluntary commitments and the other calling for an early start of negotiations on a legally binding instrument — as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its thematic debate on the subject today.
Outer space is becoming a contest for supremacy, drawing on space-based communications and intelligence assets, and the early development of anti-satellite weaponry, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as its thematic debate opened on preventing an arms race in that realm.
Taking up the agenda item on the responsibility of international organizations, speakers in the Sixth Committee (Legal) were divided about the future of the related International Law Commission’s draft articles, debating whether to codify those texts into an international instrument, keep the topic on the Committee’s agenda or utilize the drafts as guidelines.
As the global environmental crisis inflicts despair on millions of people worldwide, States must implement and enforce stronger climate and environmental laws, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as they also engaged in a series of interactive dialogues on equitable order, coercive unilateral measures and the right to safe drinking water.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), acting without a vote, approved two draft resolutions today, focused on press freedom, access to information in developing States and the work of the Department of Global Communications, as it concluded its debate on questions related to information.
The Government of Somalia has made considerable progress on multiple priorities, including State-building and restoring security through the military offensive against Al-Shabaab, senior officials told the Security Council today, as members underlined the need for coordination and support for the Government as it prepared to shoulder the responsibility for its own security, amid the impending drawdown of international presence on the ground.
The Security Council today authorized the renewal for one year of the sanctions regime on Haiti, continuing a targeted arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze established in October 2022 to address the widespread violence, criminal activity and human rights abuses plaguing the country.
The Security Council today extended the authorization of measures to stop the illicit export of petroleum products from Libya and the mandate of the panel of experts helping to oversee this process.
In the aftermath of an air strike on a northern Gaza hospital that marked a sharp escalation in the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis, the Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution put forth by Brazil that would have called for humanitarian pauses to allow full, safe and unhindered access for United Nations agencies and their partners, due to a veto cast by a permanent member of the Council, the United States.
Delegates in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today traded allegations over non-compliance with treaties banning biological and chemical weapons, which some called “morally repugnant” and a “breeding ground” for terrorists.
