Pointing to ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements, demolition of Palestinian structures, daily violence and continued inflammatory rhetoric by their Government representatives, a senior United Nations official reiterated to the Security Council the Secretary-General’s appeal for an end to the occupation and a resolution of the conflict in pursuit of the two-State solution, as members echoed those calls and underlined a need to return to peace negotiations.

With the catastrophic potential inherent in nuclear weapons hanging over the fate of humankind, the only way to prevent the use of such arsenals — and the Armageddon such an act would unleash — is to completely eliminate them, speakers said today during the General Assembly’s annual high-level commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

On the first anniversary of the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, speakers in the Security Council today reiterated their calls for objective and impartial investigations — carried out with a heightened sense of urgency — into the explosions.

Following consideration of a recommendation contained in the 2022 midterm update of the Panel of Experts on Yemen, submitted in accordance with paragraph 16 of resolution 2624 (2022), the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) agreed to take follow-up action in relation to the recommendation.

With women and girls continuing to suffer oppressive conditions amounting to “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan due to intensifying and comprehensive restrictions imposed on their rights and freedoms, speakers today urged the Security Council and the international community to wield all available measures to induce the Taliban de facto authorities to reverse course.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Older Persons, observed on 1 October:

Cuts in donor funding have forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to reduce its life-saving assistance for the entire Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar, where each person receives just $8 per month. WFP needs another $175 million to provide the Rohingya with full rations through December 2024.

While small island developing countries have contributed the least to climate change, they are at the front lines of its repercussions, speakers in the General Assembly said today, as they concluded the annual high-level general debate by calling for a just and equitable multilateral system and a seat at the table for small States.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, in New York today:

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today released a report analysing methane emissions in livestock and rice systems. The report outlines how methane emissions can be measured as well as mitigation strategies. Methane emissions are one of the main drivers of the climate crisis.