New York

NEW YORK (AP) — An Iranian intelligence officer and three alleged members of an Iranian intelligence network have been charged in Manhattan with plotting to kidnap a prominent Iranian opposition activist and writer in exile and take her back to Tehran, authorities said Tuesday.

An indictment in Manhattan federal court alleges that the plot was part of a wider plan to lure three individuals in Canada and a fifth person in the United Kingdom to Iran. Victims were also targeted in the United Arab Emirates, authorities said.

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for efforts to protect people's reproductive health rights as the world marks the World Population Day, which falls on July 11 annually.

"As we mark World Population Day, let us pledge to ensure the reproductive health rights of everyone, everywhere," said the UN chief in his message for the international day.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on the Justice Department to investigate the National Rifle Association for bankruptcy fraud, saying the financially stable gun-rights group abused the system when it sought bankruptcy protection in the wake of a New York lawsuit seeking to put it out of business.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 (APP): The President of United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram, has warned that by 2050 more than half of the world’s population would be at risk due to water stress, and called for a multilateral response to deal with the challenge.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 10 (APP): Pakistan and China will continue to work hand-in-hand at the United Nations to advance the noble cause of peace and development, Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram has said.

NEW YORK, Jul 10 (APP): Pakistan’s Consul General in New York, Ayesha Ali, has praised Asad Ali Memon, a young Pakistani mountaineer, for his attempt to climb North America’s highest peak Denali in Alaska.

Memon, who hails from Larkana, Sindh, had to give up his expedition late last month after suffering injuries on both of his ankles in subzero temperatures.

The consul general said she was “proud” of Memon’s pursuit to scale the 20,310 feet high Denali in two days, when he called on her.

UNITED NATIONS, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Russian and U.S. ambassadors at the United Nations on Friday saw the adoption by the Security Council of a resolution on Syria as an important moment for their countries' relations.

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on the re-authorization of the cross-border aid mechanism for Syrians after Russia and the United States reached compromise in last-minute talks.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 09 (APP): UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said that the world was running out of time to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius, saying that it was a matter of life or death for climate vulnerable countries.

Speaking to the first Climate Vulnerable Finance Summit of 48 nations systemically exposed to climate related disasters, the UN chief said they needed reassurance that financial and technical support will be forthcoming.

UNITED NATIONS, July 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia have submitted a draft resolution to its 14 UN Security Council partners providing for a six-month extension of the authorization of cross-border aid to Syria, UN and diplomatic sources said.
 
This Russian text — tabled following the formalization of the draft proposed by Ireland and Norway calling for an extension of one year — suggests a “possible prolongation” later, one of the sources said.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Egypt and Sudan urged the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to undertake “preventive diplomacy” and call for a legally binding agreement to resolve a dispute with Ethiopia over the availability of water from its dam on the Nile River, but Ethiopia insisted the matter can be solved by the African Union and many council members agreed.