UN rights office in ‘very serious’ financial situation

UN rights office in ‘very  serious’ financial situation
Swiss daily Le Temps reported on Thursday that “a wind of panic” was sweeping over the agency, suggesting it was considering relocating away from pricey Geneva to Vienna, Nairobi and other sites. (AFP/File)
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Updated 17 May 2025
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UN rights office in ‘very serious’ financial situation

UN rights office in ‘very  serious’ financial situation
  • The rights agency, which counts 2,000 employees, including around 900 in Geneva, has yet to announce any layoffs

GENEVA:The UN rights office based in Geneva says it is facing a dire financial situation amid deep US funding cuts, but its chief insisted there is no “panic.”
News reports this week suggested that the funding chaos gripping the United Nations had left its human rights agency panicked over a dramatic budget shortfall.
“I have seen and read all sorts of unfounded rumors: that we are all moving to Vienna, that 70 percent of staff will move to the field except management,” UN rights chief Volker Turk told a town hall meeting with staff on Thursday, according to excerpts seen by AFP.
“None of this is true.”
Swiss daily Le Temps reported on Thursday that “a wind of panic” was sweeping over the agency, suggesting it was considering relocating away from pricey Geneva to Vienna, Nairobi and other sites.
Reports of mass layoffs and cuts to operations have become commonplace at UN agencies since US President Donald Trump’s return to power in January.
He has moved to slash the amount of money his country gives to UN agencies — reversing America’s previous status as the largest contributor to many of their budgets.
The rights agency, which counts 2,000 employees, including around 900 in Geneva, has yet to announce any layoffs, but Turk acknowledged it was facing “a very complex time.”
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani also told AFP the agency was “in a very serious financial situation,” but stressed: “We are not in a state of panic.”
“That was a regrettable and unfair characterization,” she said.
“We are clearly facing unprecedented crises, but it is our response to these difficult times that defines us as an organization,” she said.
In his remarks at Thursday’s town hall, Turk stressed that the agency had had an “organizational effectiveness exercise” in the works for a while, denying that plans to relocate more staff from Geneva were sparked by a UN-wide overhaul.
“We had already foreseen decentralization of certain functions,” he said.
“We remain committed to this approach of shifting relevant functions and posts to the regional offices, so that we can deliver more effectively worldwide. This includes moving managerial posts.”
Turk stressed that “the move to strengthen our regional presences has already been endorsed by the General Assembly, most recently in relation to our presences in Brussels, Beirut, Bangkok, Panama City, Dakar, Pretoria, Nassau and Yaounde.”
The UN-wide initiative launched by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in March to streamline operations as world body grapples with new budget realities “can help us build on this momentum,” Turk said.


Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Daesh group

Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Daesh group
Updated 1 min 3 sec ago
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Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Daesh group

Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Daesh group
  • Daesh operatives were trained in neighboring Somali Puntland region
  • Ethiopia is part of AUSSOM combating the Al-Shabab group in Somalia

NAIROBI: More than 80 suspected members of Daesh have been arrested across Ethiopia, state media said, claiming they intended to carry out a “terror mission.”
The 82 individuals were trained in neighboring Somali Puntland region, according to state outlet Fana Media Corporation, which cited a statement from the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).
Ethiopia shares a long border with Somalia, which for months has been experiencing a resurgence of attacks by the militant Al-Shabab group.
Fana said late Tuesday the suspected Daesh group members were “identified and arrested,” but did not give any further details.
The suspects “had been recruited for a terror mission,” Fana said, noting the arrests took place in several regions across the country, including capital Addis Ababa.
Somalia and Ethiopia have had tense relations for months after Addis Ababa announced an agreement with the breakaway Somaliland region last year, angering Mogadishu and raising fears of regional destabilization.
Relations between Somalia and Ethiopia have since normalized.
Ethiopia is part of the African Union Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) combating the Al-Shabab group in Somalia.
The AUSSOM mission faces funding difficulties, even as fears of the groups resurgence are stoked by attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.


Palestinian Authority warns of Israeli plan to transfer control over Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque to settlement council

Palestinian Authority warns of Israeli plan to transfer control over Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque to settlement council
Updated 9 min 56 sec ago
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Palestinian Authority warns of Israeli plan to transfer control over Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque to settlement council

Palestinian Authority warns of Israeli plan to transfer control over Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque to settlement council
  • Ministry calls on UNESCO, which had designated the Ibrahimi Mosque as a World Heritage site in 2017, to intervene and halt the plan
  • Tayseer Abu Sneineh, mayor of Hebron, said the municipality “rejects the decision in full, and considers it a political, cultural and religious aggression”

LONDON: The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has warned about the consequences of imposing Israeli settler control over the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron city, south of the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday.

The ministry said that Israel’s decision to transfer the management of the mosque, known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, to a settlement council is “an unprecedented move to impose control over it, Judaize it, alter its identity, and a blatant violation of international law and UN resolutions.”

Israeli media reported on Wednesday that the Israeli Civil Administration, which operates under the Ministry of Defense and governs the West Bank, has transferred the management and supervision of the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Hebron municipality to the religious council of the Kiryat Arba settlement.

The ministry called on UNESCO, which had designated the Ibrahimi Mosque as a World Heritage site in 2017, to urgently intervene and halt the implementation of this plan.

Tayseer Abu Sneineh, mayor of Hebron, stressed that “the transfer of the powers of the Ibrahimi Mosque administration (to the settlement’s religious council) is an assault on the civilization of the city and a blatant violation of international law.”

Abu Sneineh said that the Israeli Civil Administration, officially known as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, has not yet officially handed over the decision to the city’s municipality.

He said that Israeli violations of the Ibrahimi Mosque’s sanctity began shortly after the city and West Bank were occupied in 1967, when settlers held a collective wedding at the site.

“We reject the decision in full, and consider it a political, cultural and religious aggression against the city of Hebron,” Abu Sneineh told Wafa news agency.

Sheikh Moataz Abu Sneineh, director of the Ibrahimi Mosque, said they have not received official notification about the transfer of administration powers, emphasizing that the mosque is a purely Islamic site and part of Islamic endowment property.

The Ibrahimi Mosque is in Hebron’s Old City, where about 400 settlers are protected by around 1,500 Israeli soldiers and surrounded by numerous military checkpoints.

Since 1994, Israel has spatially divided the Ibrahimi Mosque into 63 percent for Jews and 37 percent for Muslims, after a massacre by an extremist settler that killed 29 Palestinian worshipers at the site.


A key coalition partner of Netanyahu is quitting, leaving him with minority in Israeli parliament

A key coalition partner of Netanyahu is quitting, leaving him with minority in Israeli parliament
Updated 14 min 58 sec ago
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A key coalition partner of Netanyahu is quitting, leaving him with minority in Israeli parliament

A key coalition partner of Netanyahu is quitting, leaving him with minority in Israeli parliament
  • A second ultra-Orthodox party quit earlier this week over the same issue
  • Leading a minority government would make governing a challenge for Netanyahu

TEL AVIV: A key governing partner of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday it is quitting the government, leaving him with a minority in parliament.

The Shas ultra-Orthodox party said it was leaving over disagreements surrounding a proposed law meant to grant wide military draft exemptions to its constituents.

A second ultra-Orthodox party quit earlier this week over the same issue.

Leading a minority government would make governing a challenge for Netanyahu. But Shas said it wouldn’t work to undermine the coalition once outside it and could vote with it on some laws. It also wouldn’t support its collapse.

The political turmoil comes as Israel and Hamas are negotiating on a US-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

While the shakeup in Netanyahu’s government won’t necessarily derail the talks, the Israeli leader will be more susceptible to the demands of his far-right coalition partners, who oppose ending the 21-month war while Hamas remains intact.


Three killed, 12 injured as gunmen target passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan

Three killed, 12 injured as gunmen target passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan
Updated 29 min 36 sec ago
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Three killed, 12 injured as gunmen target passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan

Three killed, 12 injured as gunmen target passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan
  • Armed men shot indiscriminately at bus traveling from Karachi to Quetta at N-25 highway, say police
  • Gunmen last week abducted, killed nine people after stopping two passenger buses in Balochistan

QUETTA: Three people were killed while 12 others were injured in Pakistan’s southwestern Kalat district on Wednesday, police and an official confirmed, after unidentified men opened fire on a passenger bus headed toward Quetta.

Kalat Station House Office (SHO) Habibullah Baloch said unidentified armed men shot indiscriminately at a passenger bus from Karachi headed toward Quetta on Wednesday. The attack took place near Nimragh Cross in Kalat district, located on the N-25 highway connecting Balochistan to the southern port city of Karachi.

“Three passengers, residents of Karachi, were killed in the attack and 12 others were wounded,” Baloch told Arab News, adding that the injured were shifted to the District Hospital Kalat for treatment.

The police official said the attackers did not stop the bus to check the National Identity Cards (NICs) of the passengers before firing at them, adding that the gunmen “sprayed” the vehicle with bullets.

He said dozens of passengers were traveling in the bus, adding that most of them were residents of Karachi.

Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind condemned the attack in a statement.

“The security forces have surrounded the area and a hunt for the attackers is underway,” Rind said.

The latest attack has taken place after gunmen abducted and killed nine people last week when they stopped two passenger buses on a highway in Balochistan’s Zhob and Loralai districts. Those buses were traveling from Quetta to the eastern Punjab province.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but most impoverished province, has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants attacking security forces, government officials and installations and people from other provinces, particularly Punjab, the country’s most populous and prosperous province and a major recruitment base for the military.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the strongest of a number of insurgent groups operating in the mineral-rich region bordering Afghanistan and Iran. The group accuses the central government of stealing their resources to fund development in Punjab and other parts of the country. The federal government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan, where China has been building a deep-sea port as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.

Pakistan accuses India of backing separatists in Balochistan as well as religiously motivated militant groups, like the Pakistani Taliban, in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. New Delhi denies the allegations.

Balochistan has seen a rise in militant attacks since last year. Last August, nearly two dozen passengers were killed after BLA militants forcibly removed them from Punjab-bound buses in a string of coordinated attacks in Balochistan. Another seven Punjabi commuters were offboarded from buses and killed in Balochistan’s Barkhan district in February this year.

In March, BLA separatists hijacked a train that carried hundreds of passengers near Balochistan’s Bolan Pass, which resulted in the deaths of 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers. At least 33 insurgents were also killed.


At least 15 injured in Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine

At least 15 injured in Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine
Updated 38 min 32 sec ago
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At least 15 injured in Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine

At least 15 injured in Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine
  • Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as one ballistic missile, during the night
  • “Russia does not change its strategy,” Zelensky said

KYIV: Russian weapons pounded four Ukrainian cities overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, injuring at least 15 people in an attack that mostly targeted energy infrastructure, officials said.

The latest bombardment in Russia’s escalating aerial campaign against civilian areas came ahead of a Sept. 2 deadline set by US President Donald Trump for the Kremlin to reach a peace deal in the three-year war, under the threat of possible severe Washington sanctions if it doesn’t.

No date has yet been publicly set for a possible third round of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. Two previous rounds delivered no progress apart from prisoner swaps.

Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as one ballistic missile, during the night, the Ukrainian air force said. The strikes targeted northeastern Kharkiv, which is Ukraine’s second-largest city, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, Vinnytsia in the west and Odesa in the south.

“Russia does not change its strategy,” Zelensky said. “To effectively counter this terror, we need a systemic strengthening of defense: more air defense, more interceptors, and more resolve so that Russia feels our response.”

Trump on Monday pledged to deliver more weapons to Ukraine, including vital Patriot air defense systems, and threatened to slap additional sanctions on Russia. It was Trump’s toughest stance toward Russian President Vladimir Putin since he returned to the White House nearly six months ago.

But some US lawmakers and European government officials expressed misgivings that the 50-day deadline handed Putin the opportunity to capture more Ukrainian territory before any settlement to end the fighting.

Other US ultimatums to Putin in recent months have failed to persuade the Russian leader to stop his invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed in the war, many of them along the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, and Russian barrages of cities have killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, the United Nations says.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said Tuesday that “Putin holds a theory of victory that posits that Russia can achieve its war aims by continuing to make creeping gains on the battlefield indefinitely and outlasting Western support for Ukraine and Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.”

Trump said the US is providing additional weapons for Ukraine but European countries are paying for them. While Ukraine and European officials were relieved at the US commitment after months of hesitation, some hoped Washington might shoulder some of the cost.

“We welcome President Trump’s announcement to send more weapons to Ukraine, although we would like to see the USshare the burden,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday. “If we pay for these weapons, it’s our support.”