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☆ U.N. Expert Tells Philippines to Act on Media Killings, Abolish Anti-Communist Task Force
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

Irene Khan, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, spent almost two weeks in the Philippines to assess the state of free speech and media rights. "The Philippines remains a dangerous country for journalists," Khan said, adding "much more needs to be done to attack impunity". A U.N. special rapporteur who visited Manila last year had a similar recommendation. The task force has been accused of "red-tagging", the practice of accusing government critics of being rebel sympathisers as a pre-text to silence, arrest or even kill them. The task force will "transition to a different body", given the weakening communist insurgency, Malaya said.

Persons: Irene Khan, Khan, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Jonathan Malaya, Mikhail Flores, Timothy Heritage Organizations: United, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, UNESCO, World Press Locations: MANILA, United Nations, Philippines, Manila, Malaya

☆ Fact Check: UN has not been granted ‘powers to regulate all internet content’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The United Nations has not been granted “powers to regulate all internet content,” as claimed in an article circulating online. The article cites a report published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November that outlines guidelines on governing the internet as proof. The report (archived) does not grant the U.N. authority to regulate the internet, however. Nowhere in the objectives does it say that the document gives power to the U.N. to govern the internet. The U.N. has not been granted powers to regulate all internet content.

Persons: “, ”, ’, Lorna Woods, Woods, Read Organizations: United Nations, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, UNESCO, UN, Reuters, Internet Law, University of Essex, Thomson

☆ The global treasures in the running for UNESCO’s World Heritage status
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

This year, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is reviewing nominations from both 2022 and 2023, with participants from across the world attending the session in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to examine almost 50 contenders. According to UNESCO, sites must be of “outstanding universal value” to be included on the World Heritage List. So far, the World Heritage Committee has inscribed approximately 1,157 sites in 167 different countries onto the World Heritage List. Seo Heun Kang/UNESCO World Heritage Nomination OfficeOnly those countries that sign the convention creating the World Heritage Committee and list are permitted to nominate sites. Gordion, the capital city of ancient Phrygia in Ankara, Turkey, is also nominated for a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Persons: John E, Seo Heun Kang, Bale, Gordion, Mustafa Ciftci, Midas, Morten Rasmussen, Sarah Langrand, Dominique Marck, Bani Ma’arid, Bani Ma'arid, Hamad Al Qahtani, Koh Ker, Mount Pelée, Canada Bale, Francesca Street Organizations: CNN, UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, UNESCO World Heritage, Heritage, World, Anadolu Agency, Danish Agency for Culture, Fine Arts Department, de Nîmes, National Center for Wildlife, Architectural Museum, Kazan Federal University, Khinalig, Tunisia ESMA Museum, Clandestine Center of Detention, Wooden Posts, Greece Historic Center of Guimarães Locations: Gaya, Denmark, Thai, Ohio, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Hancock, United States, Goryeong, South Korea, Addis Ababa, Phrygia, Turkey, Ankara, B.C.E, Madagascar, Si Thep, Thailand, Si, Nîmes, France, Gorokhovets, Russia, Vladimir Oblast, Erfurt, Germany, Cambodia, Khmer, Courland, Latvia, Kaunas, Lithuania, Ab’aj, Guatemala, India, Karakum, Tajikistan, Menorca, Spain, Ethiopia, Iran, Klondike, Canada, Czech, Odzala, Kokoua, Congo, Mount, Northern Martinique, Benin Ha Long, Ba Archipelago, Vietnam, Forests, Azerbaijan, Jericho, Palestinian Territories, Kazan, Tunisia, Argentina, Belgium, Suriname Royal, Netherlands, Anatolia, Bisesero, Rwanda, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Masouleh, Turan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Northern Apennines, Italy, Tajikistan Highlands, Mongolian, Mongolia, Greece, Portugal

[1/2] AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration taken June 23, 2023. Some have expressed concern that students might similarly rely on AI to produce work and effectively cheat - especially as AI content gets better with time. Passing off GenAI as original work could also raise copyright issues, prompting questions over whether AI should be banned in academia. It has provided that tool free to more than 10,000 education institutions globally, although it plans to charge a fee from January. So far, the AI detection tool has found that only 3% of students used AI for more than 80% of their submissions and that 78% did not use AI at all, Turnitin data shows.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, OpenAI, ChatGPT, Bard, Leif Kari, Rachel Forsyth, Sophie Constant, Stefania Giannini, Kirsten Rulf, Deepa Babington Organizations: REUTERS, Lund, University of Western, University of Hong, Microsoft, Royal Institute of Technology, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, UNESCO, Strategic, Lund University, England's University of Oxford, Reuters, European Union, EU, Boston Consulting Group, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, University of Western Australia, Perth, University of Hong Kong, Stockholm, Sweden, Britain, Singapore

☆ Australia's Great Barrier Reef stays off UNESCO danger list, still under 'serious threat'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A colony of mushroom leather coral grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File PhotoSYDNEY, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A UNESCO heritage committee on Tuesday stopped short of listing Australia's Great Barrier Reef as a site that is "in danger" but warned the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem remained under "serious threat" from pollution and the warming of oceans. The UN panel has asked the government to submit a progress report by February 2024. The World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia said UNESCO could place the reef on the endangered list if the government failed to demonstrate progress on existing commitments. "There's an opportunity for Australia to lift its game before it is required to provide a progress report ... next year."

Persons: Lucas Jackson, Anthony Albanese, Richard Leck, Renju Jose, Lincoln Organizations: REUTERS, UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, Labor, UN, Fund, Nature, Australia, Thomson Locations: Cairns, Australia, Queensland, Sydney

☆ UN warns that implanting unregulated AI chips in your brain because could threaten your mental privacy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The United Nations is warning about "potentially harmful" advances in neurotechnology. Some tech could allow AI to compromise a person's mental privacy, UNESCO officials said. "It's like putting neurotech on steroids," Mariagrazia Squicciarini, an economist from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, told the AFP. I didn't like it at all," Galvin, who eventually had the device removed, told UNESCO. It could threaten our rights to human dignity, freedom of thought and privacy," UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay said in June, when she proposed a "common ethical framework at the international level."

Persons: Gabriela Ramos, Ramos, Antonio Guterres, Hannah Galvin, Galvin, " Galvin, Squicciarini, Audrey Azoulay Organizations: UNESCO, UN, Morning, United Nations, Agence France, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, AFP Locations: neurotechnology

☆ UNESCO member countries ready to welcome US back to organisation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The member states will make their decision at an extraordinary session on Thursday and Friday. "This comes after a lot of work to persuade, educate and explain on the current realities of UNESCO," Azoulay, who is French, told reporters, adding that she had personally lobbied U.S. lawmakers for several months. At this stage there are no negotiations for its return, Azoulay said. Its return to UNESCO was enabled after a waiver from the U.S. Congress earlier this year. Azoulay said China had responded at UNESCO to the potential U.S. return by saying it should be constructive and not oppose one state.

Persons: Donald Trump, Audrey Azoulay, Washington's, Azoulay, John Irish, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Trump, PARIS, United Nations, U.S . State Department, UNESCO, Reuters, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, U.S, Congress, Thomson Locations: States, US, United States, Israel, Paris, U.S, Timbuktu, Jerusalem, Washington, Palestine, China

☆ Putting salt in tap water and drilling wells in parks: one city’s desperate quest to avoid running dry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The situation has become so bad that residents are being forced to drink salty tap water and workers are drilling wells in the center of the capital to reach the water beneath the ground. Another, the Paso Severino, which normally serves 60% of the country’s population with fresh water, has seen the largest decrease in water levels on record. Water levels could be depleted completely in early July, according to local media reports. Low water levels at the Canelón Grande reservoir on March 13, 2023. As well as tasting salty, Uruguayan officials say the tap water also has a high level of chlorides, sodium, and trihalomethanes.

Persons: Luis Lacalle Pou, It’s, Paso Severino, Ernesto Ryan, Carlos Santos, “, ”, Karina Rando, Lacalle Pou, Santos, Eitan Abramovich, ‘, Daniel Panario, Panario, OSE, Ana Ferreira, ” Friederike Otto, Miguel Doria, hydrologist, Uruguay “, Doria, ” Gerardo Amarilla, ” Doria Organizations: CNN —, National Commission, Defense of Water, University of, CNN, of Public Health, ”, Getty, Parque, of Ecology, University of the, Bloomberg, United Nations Educational, Cultural Organization, UNESCO, Uruguay’s Ministry of, United, Montevideo don’t Locations: CNN — Uruguay, American, Uruguay, country’s, Montevideo, Republic, la Plata, Paso, South America’s, San, ”, University of the Republic, America, Argentina, Caribbean, United Nations

☆ The World Faces an Imminent Water Crisis, U.N. Warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Gareth Vipers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

People collect water from a mountain runoff to take home in Caracas, Venezuela. The world is facing an imminent risk of a global water crisis, a United Nations agency warned in a report that casts a dim view of government cooperation on the issue. Around two billion people, roughly 26% of the world population, don’t have access to safe drinking water, according to a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization report published Wednesday. An additional 3.6 billion people, or 46%, lack access to safely managed sanitation, it said.

☆ Great Barrier Reef should be put on 'in danger' list, UN panel says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Australia's Great Barrier Reef should be listed as a world heritage site that is "in danger", a UN panel recommended on Tuesday, saying the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem was significantly impacted by climate change and warming of oceans. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the government would push UNESCO to not list the reef as endangered because climate change was threatening all coral reefs across the world. "We'll clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way," Plibersek said during a media briefing. The independent Great Barrier Reef Foundation said it was already aware of the series of threats identified in the UN report but the recommendation to add the reef to the endangered list was premature. "The Great Barrier Reef is a wonder, she's got her challenges, but she's definitely not on her last legs in any case," Managing Director Anna Marsden told Reuters.

The repatriation is part of a worldwide movement by cultural institutions to return artifacts that were often stolen during colonial wars. African nations and scholars have put pressure on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, to return stolen African artifacts for years, according to Chika Okeke-Agulu, program director of African studies at Princeton University. But he said most African artifacts tend to remain in Europe. The following year, he commissioned a report focusing on restitution efforts, which commenced a repatriation movement of African artifacts throughout Europe. Abba Isa Tijani, director-general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, agrees, hoping the recent transfer of the African bronze sculpture inspires more museums to return African artifacts, opening the door for better relationships.

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