Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs
Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs

BLUE SMOKE: A new monthly newsletter, from PassBlue and UNA–UK, which shines a spotlight on senior appointments at the UN

Refugees

LEAVE A COMMENT
Lyuba Maksymovych never imagined she would be rescuing women and children amid a hot war. She also never foresaw that a war could unite her country and induce deepening respect for women there — a “big step,” she said,…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
There’s a new sheriff in town! This week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed a new man to lead the Department of Peace Operations as the police adviser. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
Food prices may still be soaring in crisis-prone countries, but Germany is poised to slash its 2023 contribution to global humanitarian and crisis prevention by nearly $400 million. According to data compiled by the United Nations Food and Agriculture…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
WARSAW, Poland — Olena’s journey begins in the smoldering shadow of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, but whether her escape to safety will end in a suburb of Warsaw, Poland, or thousands of miles away in Dublin,…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
Russia’s war on Ukraine is not only increasing the cost of delivering aid to the world’s most vulnerable people, but European donors’ and American interests in the war are also reducing the ability of those countries to fund global…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
This week, we focus on the progress in discussions about elections in Libya and the drastic call for help in Afghanistan after the recent earthquake. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization….

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
Britain’s new five-year asylum partnership arrangement with Rwanda is showing the rest of Europe how countries can possibly lock refugees out of their borders. And Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, is worried about this precedent….

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
When he needs to unwind amid Russia’s disastrous invasion of his country, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, takes long bike rides in Manhattan with his dog, Dezi (Dez, for short), a sprightly Jack Russell terrier. Her…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
HARARE, Zimbabwe — In Zimbabwe’s city townships, where high food prices exact a toll on poor households, grocery shops run by entrepreneurial Congolese refugees defend against hunger. “The Congolese shops, they feed my family!” said Sara Moyo, 27, a…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
PassBlue probes the global body granting licenses to mine the deep seas; UN staff detained in Ethiopia; global famine rises. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
Mexico has only one chance in its two-year term to shine as president of the Security Council, and it’s this month. While all eyes are now focusing on Glasgow, Scotland, and the United Nations-led COP26 meeting on climate change,…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
Nearly 200 students from Afghanistan, escaping the Taliban’s tightening grip on education, have been safely evacuated from Kabul under an ambitious plan led by the American University of Central Asia and the Kyrgyzstan government. About 60 percent of the…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
As the world inches closer to catastrophic global heating and vulnerable communities from Mali to Myanmar are already suffering the consequences, the United Nations Refugee Agency has been grappling with the growing role of climate change as a driver…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
A decade after the first democratic reforms began taking shape after long years of harsh military rule in Myanmar, its citizens are preparing to vote in a national election on Nov. 8. It will be an important test for…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
LEAVE A COMMENT
US asylum seekers pushed back into Mexico in unprecedented numbers amid Covid-19; an investigation into the mysterious work of the richly financed UN counterterrorism operations; chastising India for its support of fossil fuels; and a UN envoy’s assessment of…

LEAVE A COMMENT

 
Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs

THIS WEEK'S MOST POPULAR

Global Connections Television - The only talk show of its kind in the world

Don't Miss a Story:

Subscribe to PassBlue

Sign up to get the smartest news on the UN by email, joining readers across the globe.​

We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously​