Foreign News
UN Suspends Two Employees Over Viral Sex Video
The United Nations said it has suspended two male staff members involved in a recent viral sex video in Israel.
Mr Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General, disclosed this in a note to UN correspondents in New York on Thursday.
Dujarric said both employees had been identified and placed on “Administrative Leave Without Pay” pending the conclusion of ongoing investigation into the allegation.
The video, which surfaced online last week, shows a couple apparently having sex on the back seat of a UN official car in Tel Aviv.
On Friday, Dujarric told correspondents that the organisation was “shocked and deeply disturbed” by the footage, and that investigation had been launched.
He confirmed that the video featured a 4×4 vehicle, containing personnel “likely assigned to the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO)” headquartered in Jerusalem.The short video shows a white woman in a red dress straddling an equally white man in the back seat of the white SUV bearing the “UN” inscription.With them in the moving vehicle were the driver and a bald-head man sitting on the passenger side, in front.
Media reports say the footage was recorded on HaYarkon Street, a major thoroughfare in Tel Aviv, Israeli capital.The UN spokesman said in Thursday’s note that the investigation was being handled by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
He said: “Two male international staff members, who were in the UN vehicle in Tel Aviv have been identified as having engaged in misconduct, including conduct of sexual nature.“Given the seriousness of the allegation of failing to observe the standards of conduct expected of international civil servants, the two staff members have been placed on Administrative Leave Without Pay.
“This is pending the results and conclusion of the ongoing OIOS investigation. “UNTSO has re-engaged in a robust awareness-raising campaign to remind its personnel of their obligations to the UN Code of Conduct.“The OIOS investigation continues, and we will keep you informed,” he said.
According to the organisation, UNTSO is the first ever peacekeeping mission established by the UN in 1948.It says the mission comprises military observers to monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements and prevent military escalation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that sexual misconduct is not new among employees of the global body.
In 2019, the UN said it received and investigated 175 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against its staff.Out of the total, 16 were substantiated, 15 unsubstantiated and all others still being investigated. (NAN)
Foreign News
Russian Army Fires Ballistic Missiles at Kiev from Crimean Peninsula
The Russian Army has hit the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with ballistic missiles, injuring four people and damaging an uninhabited three-storey building, according to officials.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that two of the injured people were in a central neighbourhood and had been taken to hospital.
Rocket debris also fell in two other neighbourhoods.
According to the Ukrainian air force, two ballistic missiles were fired at the city of millions, from the Russian-controlled Crimea Peninsula.
Both were shot down.Half a dozen explosions from anti-aircraft missiles had previously been heard in the city centre.
The air raid warning was only triggered a few seconds beforehand, it said.
Ukraine has been facing Russian invasion for over two years.
Since then, the Ukrainian air defence system has been massively reinforced with Western systems. (dpa/NAN)
Foreign News
Cambodia Arrests 2 Foreigners for Smuggling 2.27 kg Narcotics
Cambodian customs police at the Phnom Penh International Airport said they have arrested two South Korean nationals for an attempt to smuggle 2.27 kg narcotics to South Korea.
The duo, a man and woman, were caught Sunday night while they checked in for a ZA215 flight bound for Seoul.
The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia said in a news release on Monday.
In their body searches, our customs officials found many packs of drugs wrapped around their waists, the news release said.
“As a result, some 1.29 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 0.98 kg of ketamine were seized from the two suspects’ possession.’’
The Southeast Asian country has no death sentence for a drug trafficker.
Under its law, someone found guilty of trafficking more than 80 grammes of illicit drugs could be jailed for life.
According to the country’s Anti-Drug Department (ADP), Cambodia nabbed 3,899 drug-related suspects, including 106 foreigners, in 1,659 cases from Jan. 1 to March 3, 2024.
According to the report they confiscated a total of 2.79 tonnes of narcotics.
Most of the seized drugs were ketamine, crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine tablets, heroin, ecstasy, and cocaine. (Xinhua/NAN)
Foreign News
February Ends with Extreme Heat – WMO
The UN weather agency, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), says February saw more extreme heat and unusually high temperatures in both hemispheres.
Summarising the state of the climate, it said the month ended with extreme heat in the southern hemisphere where it is summer, while high temperatures atypical of the northern hemisphere winter prevailed.
Parts of North and South America, northwest and southeast Africa, southeast and far eastern Asia, western Australia and Europe all saw record-breaking temperatures, either on a daily basis or for all of February.
“The anomalous heat is consistent with the persisting warming observed since June 2023, with seven consecutive new global monthly temperature records, including January 2024,” Alvaro Silva, a climatologist working with the WMO, said in a statement.
Global sea surface temperatures were record high. While the El Niño weather pattern “has stoked temperatures in some parts of the world, human induced climate change is the long-term major contributing factor,” he added.
Conversely, a large part of northwestern Canada, central Asia – and from southern central Siberia to southeastern China – witnessed exceptional cold during the last week of the month.
The meteorological winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern hemisphere finished officially at the end of February.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) raised increasing concern on Friday that more refugees would cross into Chad from Darfur in the coming weeks amid a worrying lack of food and other essentials.
Almost a year since the start of the civil war between rival militaries in Sudan, neighbouring Chad urgently needs more humanitarian aid and significant development investment, the agency reported, especially in its eastern areas which are hosting the refugee influx.
This investment will allow the country to continue its generous open-door stance towards refugees.
“Chadian officials are concerned that many more hungry Sudanese families will come in the next weeks,” said Kelly Clements, UNHCR’s Deputy High Commissioner, who is in the country to review the relief operation.
“The country is committed to keeping its borders open, despite the fragility of this region.
“But, doing so will put even more strain on Chad, which has so graciously been hosting refugees from Sudan’s war – now raging almost a year – and other refugees still here from earlier emergencies.” (NAN)