Humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons in Beirut, Lebanon, Top stories of the day | Thursday: Lebanon, SCP, nuclear weapons, innovation UN
The top stories of the day at the UN and around the world: a humanitarian crisis is unfolding on the Lebanon-Syria border, world leaders have adopted a political declaration to combat antibiotic resistance, a high-level meeting on the elimination of nuclear weapons, and investment in innovation is falling around the world.
Crisis in Lebanon
A humanitarian crisis is unfolding on Lebanon’s border with Syria, where thousands of people are fleeing Israeli shelling, UN humanitarian agencies said on Thursday. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said both the Lebanese and Israeli populations were in extreme danger: hundreds of people had been killed and thousands wounded in recent days alone. Regional security and stability were at risk, Lacroix stressed. Citing Lebanese authorities, the UN Refugee Agency said more than 90,000 people had fled their homes since September 23, a number that was increasing by the minute.
Antimicrobial Resistance
On Thursday, at the UN headquarters in New York, world leaders adopted a political declaration in which they committed to achieving specific goals in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, including reducing deaths from it by 10 percent by 2030. The high-level meeting on antibiotic resistance was held as part of the 79th session of the General Assembly. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the direct cause of 1.3 million deaths each year and a factor in another five million deaths. The declaration calls for $100 million in funding to combat antimicrobial resistance.
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear weapons do not provide real security or stability – only danger and constant threats to the existence of humanity. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned about this during a high-level meeting dedicated to the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which is marked on September 26. He called on the Russian Federation and the United States to return to the process of reducing nuclear weapons, stressing that the leadership of these two countries is crucial to preventing a new arms race.
Investing in innovation
The most innovative economies in the world are Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, Singapore and the United Kingdom, while the positions of China, Turkey, India, Vietnam and the Philippines have improved the fastest over the past ten years, according to a new report prepared by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The 2024 edition notes a significant decline in the main indicators of innovation activity in the world. Of the post-Soviet countries, Estonia occupies the highest position in the ranking – 16th place.