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NEW YORK, Jul 28 (APP): Amid deteriorating Afghan security situation, Prime Minister Imran Khan emphasized Tuesday that the best choice was a negotiated political settlement to the long-running conflict in Afghanistan, saying Pakistan would remain helpful in the peace process.

“So, the Taliban sit down with the other side and they form an inclusive government — This is the best outcome; there is no other outcome because the military solution has failed,” he said in an interview with Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) ‘Newshour’, a primetime television programme.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 27 (APP): Three UN human rights experts have called on the Palestinian Authority and Israel, the occupying power, to reschedule elections for the Palestinian presidency, legislature, and municipalities within a reasonable time to ensure “free, fair, democratic, peaceful, and credible” polls.

The Palestinian parliamentary elections had been scheduled for May and the presidential polls for July, but were postponed indefinitely on April 29 by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas due to concerns about Palestinians’ ability to vote in East Jerusalem.

NEW YORK (AP) — Mandating either COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing for the virus should give vaccine-hesitant New York City employees a strong incentive to get inoculated, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

“I want to emphasize that that either-or really creates a positive pressure for vaccination because it will be the responsibility of the employee to get tested on a regular basis, and that comes with its own challenges,” de Blasio said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

UNITED NATIONS, July 25 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for leadership of the Group of 20 (G20) on global climate action.

"The world urgently needs a clear and unambiguous commitment to the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement from all G20 nations. There is no pathway to this goal without the leadership of the G20," he said in a statement on the G20 ministerial meeting on environment, climate and energy.

UNITED NATIONS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's UN ambassador, Collen Vixen Kelapile, who became the new president of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Friday, saw a more important role of the council in the challenging times.

"In my view, as we continue our concerted efforts to deal with the challenges we face, ECOSOC's role has become even more critical, and is no less important than the other peer principal organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council and the General Assembly," he said in his capacity as ECOSOC president for the first time.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly approved its first-ever resolution on vision Friday, calling on its 193 member nations to ensure access to eye care for everyone in their countries which would contribute to a global effort to help at least 1.1 billion people with vision impairment who currently lack eye services by 2030.

The “Vision for Everyone” resolution, sponsored by Bangladesh, Antigua and Ireland, and co-sponsored by over 100 countries, was adopted by consensus by the world body.

NEW YORK, Jul 23 (APP): A former United Nations official, who has served in Afghanistan, holds the Afghan leaders responsible for the deteriorating situation there, saying they had enough time to transform the country, but did nothing much except indulging in “rapacious corruption,” according to an article published in The Diplomat, a Washington-based online magazine.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 23 (APP): Water-related hazards dominate the list of disasters in terms of both the human and economic toll over the past 50 years, according to a comprehensive analysis by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO),a Geneva-based UN agency.

‘The Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970-2019)’ – which will be published in September – finds that of the 10 disasters, causing the most human fatalities in the past five decades, droughts top the list with some 650,000 deaths across the globe.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 22 (APP): The head of the UN World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has welcomed the start of the Olympic and Paralympic Games as a chance to spread “hope to the world”.

Speaking in the Japanese capital Tokyo, he said the world must unite with “determination, dedication and discipline” to triumph over the coronavirus pandemic.

“More than any other event (the Games) have the power to bring the world together; to inspire; to show what is possible,” Tedros told the International Olympic Committee, with the Olympic flame in his hand.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II, public health officials said Wednesday. The decrease for both Black Americans and Hispanic Americans was even worse: three years.