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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Hunger is growing and the world is not on track to end extreme poverty by 2030 and meet other U.N. goals, mainly because progress is being undermined by the impact of climate change and increasing inequality, a U.N. report said Tuesday.

The report on progress toward achieving the 17 U.N. goals notes achievements in some areas, including a 49% fall in child mortality between 2000 and 2017 as well as electricity now reaching nearly 90% of the world’s population.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump lost a major Twitter fight Tuesday when a federal appeals court said that his daily musings and pronouncements were overwhelmingly official in nature and that he violated the First Amendment whenever he blocked a critic to silence a viewpoint.

The effect of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision is likely to reverberate throughout politics after the Manhattan court warned that any elected official using a social media account “for all manner of official purposes” and then excluding critics violates free speech.

Nicki Minaj has decided to pull out of Jeddah World Fest, a concert in Saudi Arabia, to show support for freedom of expression. Minaj was originally scheduled to headline the concert on July 18 in Jeddah.

“After careful reflection I have decided to no longer move forward with my scheduled concert at Jeddah World Fest.”, said Minaj.

Other performers in Jeddah World Fest include former One Direction member Liam Payne and DJ-producer Steve Aoki.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 09 (APP): Some 464,000 people across the world were victims of homicidal violence in 2017, more than five times the number killed in armed conflict over the same period, according to a UN study.

The study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said that Central America is the most dangerous region to live, where the number of homicides – or unlawful killings – rises in some “hotspots”, to 62.1 per 100,000 people.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 09 (APP): Over 460,000 suspected cholera cases have been recorded in war-torn Yemen so far this year — a sharp rise from the 380,000 cases for all of 2018, according to a UN spokesman .

Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq says 705 suspected cholera deaths have been recorded since January — a dramatic increase from the 75 deaths in the same period last year.

Moreover, approximately 200,000 children are suspected of contracting the disease in 2019, Farhan Haq said.

New York, Jul 9 (PTI) An Indian national in the US has been extradited to Germany after it emerged that he was wanted in the European nation for allegedly raping a minor.

Identified with his single name Talwar, he lawfully entered into the US as a visitor, with authorisation to remain until October 6, 2019, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement.

However, his visa was cancelled by the State Department.

UNITED NATIONS, July 8. /TASS/: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has confirmed that all chemical weapons production facilities in Syria have been destroyed, as follows from an OPCW report for May-June 2019.

NEW YORK (AP) — In a startling reversal of fortune, billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein was charged Monday with sexually abusing dozens of underage girls in a case brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors to dispose of nearly identical allegations.

The 66-year-old hedge fund manager who once socialized with some of the world’s most powerful people was charged in a newly unsealed federal indictment with sex trafficking and conspiracy during the early 2000s. He could get up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

NEW YORK (AP) — The parents of Otto Warmbier have filed a claim for a seized North Korean cargo ship, seeking to collect on a multimillion-dollar judgment awarded in the American college student’s death.

The Warmbiers filed court papers Wednesday in New York federal court saying they have a right to the assets after North Korea failed to respond to a wrongful death claim that accused it of abducting Warmbier, who had traveled there for a guided tour ahead of a study abroad program in Hong Kong.

UNITED NATIONS, July 6 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday he was “encouraged” by reports of a newly-inked power-sharing deal between the Forces for Freedom and Change -– a coalition of opposition and protest groups -– and Sudan’s ruling military council.

According to media reports, the two sides have reportedly agreed to share power for three years, and then hold elections for a return to full civilian government.