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UNITED NATIONS, Aug 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN member states ended two weeks of negotiations without a treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas, an agreement that would have addressed growing environmental and economic challenges.

“Although we did make excellent progress we still do need a little bit more time to progress towards the finish line,” said conference chair Rena Lee, adding that a plenary session had nonetheless approved resumption of the
negotiations at a future unspecified date.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 26 (NNN-XINHUA) – UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, yesterday called for the revival of a real political process, to address the underlying drivers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The cease-fire independently declared by Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, following three days of military escalation in early Aug remains in effect, and a fragile calm has been restored in Gaza, he told the Security Council in a briefing.

NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) - An effort by the United Arab Emirates to convince the United States with the help of a wealthy real estate investor to name former congressman Stephen Stockman as U.S. ambassador to that country during Donald Trump's presidency unraveled with the lawmaker's 2017 arrest on fraud charges, prosecutors said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are ending sharply lower after the head of the Federal Reserve dashed Wall Street’s hopes that it may soon ease up on rate hikes in its effort to tame inflation. The S&P 500 lost 3.4% Friday, its biggest drop in two months, after Jerome Powell said the Fed will likely need to keep interest rates high enough to slow the economy for some time in order to beat back the high inflation sweeping the country. Tech stocks led the way lower, pulling the Nasdaq composite down even more. Higher rates help corral inflation, but they also hurt asset prices.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned of the dangerous situation in and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

"I remain gravely concerned about the situation in and around Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. The warning lights are flashing," he told the UN Security Council.

NEW YORK (AP) — Two Florida residents have pleaded guilty in a scheme to peddle a diary and other items belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter to the conservative group Project Veritas for $40,000, prosecutors said Thursday.

Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ office said.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24 (APP): The United Nations is boosting support to Pakistani authorities dealing with the devastating floods in the most affected provinces of Balochistan and Sindh, a UN spokesman said Wednesday.

Responding to a question at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the UN team, led by Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Julien Harneis, has mobilized $7 million to respond to the floods.

UNITED NATIONS, August 24. /TASS/: Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzya on Wednesday expressed regret that the UN Security Council allowed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to speak by video link in violation of the council’s rules.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor expressed frustration over the lack of accountability for crimes committed during the Darfur conflict, telling the UN Security Council that survivors in Sudan need “action, not words.”

Karim Khan addressed the council by video during a visit to Sudan, describing trips to Darfur, where the UN says 300,000 people were killed and two and a half million fled their homes during the conflict that began in 2003.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday stressed the need to reforge a global consensus around the cooperation required to ensure collective security.

"Our collective security demands that we seize every moment to forge a common understanding of the threats and challenges before us -- and most importantly, to shape united responses to them," he told a Security Council briefing on promoting common security through dialogue and cooperation.