With nearly half the global population under 30, the UN continues to emphasise the indispensable role young people play in decision-making towards achieving a just, equitable and sustainable future for all.

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday, declaring that his people were enduring a “war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement” at the hands of Israel’s military in Gaza.

In his address to the General Assembly, the President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud outlined global challenges and shared the progress his country has made in the fight against terrorism, promoting inclusive governance and economic development.

Nuclear weapons continue to pose an existential threat to humanity. On Friday in New York as high-level week draws to a close, world leaders will revisit the grave dangers these weapons pose and push for renewed global efforts to eliminate them.

While the Israeli military’s assault on Gaza City ramps up, conditions in the south of the war-torn enclave are so cramped that displaced and starving Gazans are sleeping on rubble-strewn open ground, UN aid teams said on Thursday.

For the first time, mental health is the focus of an official meeting of the General Assembly on Thursday, with world leaders expected to agree on a set of principles designed to drive global action to help alleviate the symptoms of those living with a complex variety of disorders.

The explosive growth of AI tools around the world has yet to be matched by effective, internationally agreed rules on how this powerful technology is governed. A high-profile event at UN Headquarters on Thursday is designed to bring effective global AI governance a step closer to reality.

KABUL, September 24 (IPS) - In normal times, women in Afghanistan face dire living conditions relative to their counterparts in other parts of the world, given the iron grip of Taliban repression. However, the powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman at the end of August was out of the ordinary.

VICTORIA, September 24 (IPS) - Like so many problems besetting the world, the existential threats facing small island states are all too obvious. Island nations are surrounded by the sea, and they depend on it for their livelihood and for their security. The sheer power of the sea can never be tamed but islanders have learnt to work with it and in doing so, there has always been a productive balance. But this balance, however, has been cast aside – the relationship has broken down. Our mighty ocean is in poor shape.

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania , September 24 (IPS) - On a hot afternoon in Kariakoo, Dar es Salaam’s bustling commercial hub, the air is a swirling mix of diesel exhaust, charcoal smoke and dust kicked up by the shuffle of feet. Traders tie handkerchiefs over their noses to deter haze from drifting into their throats and lungs.