A plane with 21 people on board crashed in South Sudan on Wednesday, leaving 18 people dead, including two pilots, South Sudan Eagles Media reported.

It added that three others are in critical condition.

“A plane carrying 21 passengers, including the pilot, has crashed while departing from Unity Oil Field, killing 18 people and leaving three others in critical condition.

“The pilot and co-pilot are among the dead,’’ South Sudan Eagles Media said on X.

Among the passengers were 16 South Sudanese, two Chinese and one Indian, the Eye Radio broadcaster reported, citing multiple sources.

Operated by the Light Air Services logistics company, the plane was reportedly transporting engineers from the Unity oilfield to the capital of Juba.

The plane took off from the oilfield, but its wing broke off, causing it to crash 10 minutes later, an eye witness told the broadcaster. (RIA/NAN)

The United States has officially notified the Secretary-General of its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, effective  January 27, 2026, UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, has said.

Dujarric said this at a news briefing on Tuesday in New York.

The historic accord reached by 193 countries in December 2015 in a bid to keep temperature rises to below 1.

During the first Trump administration the U.S. withdrew from the Agreement effective  November 4 2020, before his successor took the country back into the accord on  February 19, 2021.

The UN spokesperson said the latest withdrawal would not lead to any slowdown in the UN’s efforts to combat climate change.

“We reaffirm our commitment to the Paris Agreement and to support all effective efforts to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” Dujarric said.

The international community continues to work towards the goals set by the Agreement, despite the U.S.’s decision to withdraw.

In a related development, UN World Health Organisation (WHO) has appealed for concerted action to tackle neglected tropical diseases, which impact more than one billion people – often with devastating health, social and economic consequences.

Every year, around 800 to 900 million people are treated for at least one neglected tropical disease, according to the UN health agency, which warned that global warming has emerged as a threat in this field of medicine.

The list of tropical diseases is a long one and includes Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, dengue, chikungunya and dracunculiasis.

They tend to thrive among vulnerable people who live in poverty and are caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins.

Progress in tackling these diseases remains hampered by a lack of investment and conflict, the WHO said, ahead of World Neglected Tropical Disease Day on Thursday.

Today, 54 countries have successfully eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease; WHO’s goal is for 100 countries to do the same by 2030. (NAN)

 Israel on Friday said the UN’s Palestinian aid agency UNRWA has until the end of January to leave Jerusalem.

UNRWA must “cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city, no later than 30 January 2025,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon wrote in a Friday letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres seen by dpa.

Israel accuses UNRWA, which has supported Palestinians since 1949, of employing staff who participate in terrorist activity.

Last year, the Israeli parliament passed a law banning UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli officials from cooperating with the organisation.

Danon then notified Guterres “of the termination of cooperation” between Israel and the UN aid organisation.

Observers fear that the law will make providing for the Palestinian civilian population more difficult, while Israel wishes to provide humanitarian aid through other organisations.

“Preventing @UNRWA to operate might sabotage the #Gaza #ceasefire, failing once again hopes of people who have gone through unspeakable suffering,” UNRWA boss Philippe Lazzarini said on Friday in a post on X.

“The work of UNRWA must continue in Gaza + across the occupied Palestinian territory.”

The UN established UNRWA in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the 1948 and 1967 wars, and their descendants – some 5.9 million people – the aid organisation said.

UNRWA has more than 30,000 employees, most of them Palestinians.

In the Gaza Strip alone, the agency employs around 13,000 people, most of whom are refugees themselves.

The aid organisation provides Palestinian refugees with basic services such as education and health care and has also provided shelter for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons

It has also provided humanitarian aid since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. (dpa/NAN)