Climate-related court cases around the world are growing fast, and on Thursday the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) together with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, highlighted the trend in their new Global Climate Litigation Report. 

Andrew Raine, Head of the Frontiers in Environmental Law Unit of UNEP, spoke to UN News’s Anton Uspensky about the report’s findings, which show cases are surging in the Global South with human rights emerging as a powerful driver behind climate litigation. 

As the UN weather agency WMO declared on Thursday that July is likely to be the hottest on record, UN News reporter Katy Dartford had other problems on her mind: filing her news bulletin from Greece, where forest fires have been raging.

Speaking from Corfu - where the wildfires have thankfully calmed down a bit since Monday – Katy puts the WMO’s announcement into context.

Here she is now, talking to Daniel Johnson.

• July set to be hottest month on record: WMO

• ‘Surge in diplomacy for peace’ needed on Korean Peninsula
• Niger: Guterres condemns ‘unconstitutional’ coup declaration

As technology becomes increasingly accessible across the globe, more must be done to ensure its use in education remains equitable, scalable, and sustainable.

That’s according to Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, produced by the UN agency specializing in education, science and culture, UNESCO.

In an interview for UN News, he’s been outlining the advantages and disadvantages of using technology in education, how to improve safety online, the future of artificial intelligence (AI), and describing how online education resources can be tailored to a more diverse, global audience.

Jordan Larrabee spoke with Mr. Antoninis just ahead of the launch of this year’s GEM Report in Uruguay on Wednesday.

• UNESCO calls for global ban on smartphones in schools
• UN calls on Uganda to repeal Anti-Homosexuality Act, condemns killings of Indigenous in Brazil
• FAO: Rate of mangroves loss slowed in last decade

Climate-induced disasters in Asia and the Pacific have become increasingly frequent and severe, resulting in loss of lives and livelihoods, hampering the post-pandemic recovery and potentially derailing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The effects of devastating floods, severe droughts and rising sea levels are not confined within national borders; they have international implications too, including for trade, communal tensions and forced migration. Climate change is only making things worse.  

Against this backdrop, Vibhu Mishra from UN News spoke to Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), who outlined how countries can reduce disaster risk, and strengthen climate action. 

• Yemen: UN starts high-risk operation to prevent catastrophic oil spill from decaying tanker
• IAEA: Anti-personnel mines found in Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine
• UN warns of looming disaster emergency in Asia-Pacific region

Artificial Intelligence may be the buzzword of the day, but before we know it, two new concepts may soon steal the limelight: Disruptive-tech and Artificial General Intelligence. 

That’s according to Janet Adams, chief operating officer of AI experts SingularityNet, who maintains that these up-and-coming technologies have massive potential to combat inequality, in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda. 

To find out more, UN News's Elma Okic caught up with Ms. Adams at the AI For Good Summit in Geneva earlier this month.

• UN chief lends support to tackle global hunger.
• Sudan: At least 435 children killed and 2025 injured says UNICEF
• WHO: 20,000 deaths a year from drowning are ‘entirely preventable’ in Europe

• UN expert demands end to mass detention and child separation in northeast Syria 
• WHO warns of Dengue increase amidst changing climate patterns
• WFP warns of ripple effects of Sudan across West and Central Africa