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.

On 20 October 2023, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2653 enacted the amendments, specified with strikethrough and/or underline, in the entry below on its Sanctions List of individuals and entities.

Against the backdrop of a raging conflict between Israel and Hamas and a nearly two-year war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations must further strengthen their cooperation and promote among Member States full use of the diplomatic tools and mechanisms set forth in the UN Charter to peacefully resolve conflicts, and foremost prevent them, delegates told the Security Council today.

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.

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.

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.

In Libya, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that, five weeks after Storm Daniel brought catastrophic flooding to the country’s north-east, more than 43,000 people are still displaced.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Andrea Cook of the United Kingdom as the first Executive Director of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group System-Wide Evaluation Office.  The Secretary-General wishes to extend his appreciation to Matthew Varghese, who served as Acting Executive Director.