Protest in Minsk in August 2020. Top news of the day | Friday: Palestine, Belarus, Ukraine, temperature records UN
The main news of the day in the UN and in the world: Palestine received more rights at the UN, torture is a “systematic practice” in Belarus, the Forum for the restoration of inclusive communities in Kyiv, temperature records in April.
Palestine at the UN
During a meeting of the UN General Assembly on Friday, delegates adopted a resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates on Palestinian membership of the UN. It was supported by 143 countries, nine voted against and 25 delegations abstained. The document expands the rights of the State of Palestine in the General Assembly, but does not give it the right to vote or stand as a candidate for United Nations bodies. In the resolution adopted today, the General Assembly notes that the State of Palestine qualifies for membership and recommends that the Security Council “reconsider this matter positively.”
Torture in Belarus
The use of torture is a systematic practice in Belarus. This is stated in the annual report of the UN Committee against Torture. The report contains the results of a confidential investigation into the Belarusian authorities’ policies regarding detainees and prison inmates. The authors of the document came to the “irrefutable conclusion” that the use of torture is a systematic practice in Belarus. The findings of the Committee against Torture will be presented to the UN General Assembly.
Reconstruction in Ukraine
Despite the war and the humanitarian crisis, active reconstruction work is underway in Ukraine: housing and schools are being repaired, life goes on. This was stated by the UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown, speaking on Friday at the Forum on Restoring Inclusive Communities in Kyiv. The event was organized on the eve of the Berlin Conference on Reconstruction in Ukraine. Brown emphasized that when planning and implementing such measures, all circumstances must be taken into account – first of all, safety. The most important condition for success, according to her, is also the availability of appropriate funding.
Temperature records
Last April was the warmest on record – meteorologists recorded record global temperatures for the eleventh month in a row. This was reported from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) with reference to data from the European Climate Change Service of the Copernicus program. Sea surface temperatures have been at record highs for the past 13 months. Record temperatures were accompanied by extreme weather events. Persistent heavy rains in East Africa and southern Brazil intensified in the first week of May, leading to devastating and deadly floods.