UN

About 400 refugees are still refusing to leave the former detention centre on the Papua New Guinea island after it was closed at the end of October when essential services were cut.

The deputy regional representative of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Nai Jit Lam, said Australia remained responsible for the refugees and should engage them in constructive dialogue.

"This is a man-made and entirely preventable humanitarian crisis. It is a damning indictment of a policy meant to avoid Australia's international obligations," the UNHCR added.

The sector was being encouraged to move away from carbon intensive investment.

The UN said finance for climate projects was flowing at a greater pace, with vibrant markets now for renewable energy, electric vehicles, green buildings and climate-smart agriculture.

The World Bank said funding needed to flow so people everywhere could benefit from low-carbon and climate resilient investments.

It hopes the UN can attract public, private, and philanthropic investors.

The pro-independence FLNKS movement has told the UN decolonisation committee that problems persist with the Noumea Accord which is the territory's roadmap to next year's self-determination referendum.

Speaking to the committee, a FLNKS delegate Mickael Forrest said the Accord was not respected in a number of ways.

Mr Forrest also said the use of natural resources was not profiting the local population.

The petition, presented by the independence leader Benny Wenda on Tuesday, asked the UN to appoint a special representative to investigate abuses and to put West Papua back on the decolonisation agenda.

But the UN decolonisation committee says the West Papua cause is outside its mandate, which extends only to the 17 states identified by the UN as "non-self-governing territories."

The committee's chair and Venezuela's representative to the UN, Rafael Ramírez, says he had received no formal petition document, and his office had been "manipulated" for political purposes.

The petition, presented by the independence leader Benny Wenda on Tuesday, asked the UN to appoint a special representative to investigate abuses and to put West Papua back on the decolonisation agenda.

But the UN decolonisation committee says the West Papua cause is outside its mandate, which extends only to the 17 states identified by the UN as "non-self governing territories."

The committee's chair and Venezuela's representative to the UN, Rafael Ramírez, says he had received no formal petition document, and his office had been "manipulated" for political purposes.

In his address Frank Bainimarama urged world leaders to strive for more than just the two degrees’ target set in Paris in 2015.

In November, Mr Bainimarama will take up the presidency COP23 UN climate change conference in Germany.

He told leaders at the General Assembly they should commit to limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels.

"It may be tempting for political leaders to show that they are protecting some national industry or near term economic goal," he said.

After meeting in an emergency session, the United States, China, and Russia were united in their opposition to North Korea for firing a missilie over the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

In a joint statement, members of the council appealed for North Korea to take part in a peace process and reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula.

There was no mention in the UN statement of further sanctions.

Last week, the Security Council agreed on fresh economic sanctions, which the US estimates will cut trade with North Korea by 90 per cent.

The fact-finding mission by chemical weapons watchdog Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded Sarin, a banned nerve agent, was used in the attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province.

The attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province was the deadliest in Syria in more than three years. It prompted a retaliatory US missile strike against a Syrian air base the US said had launched the attack.

The OPCW, which is based in The Hague, reached that conclusion after interviewing witnesses and examining samples.

Some 65,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh as the military searched for those behind attacks on police border posts.

Many of those who fled described rapes, killings and other abuses by the army.

But the military said its own investigation found the claims were "false and fabricated".

The global leaders will head to the United Nations for the conference focusing on the protection and sustainable use of the planet’s oceans in June.

At a joint press briefing at UN Headquarters, Penny Abeywardena, the Commissioner of the (New York City) Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, joined Peter Thompson, President of the UN General Assembly, to announce the first ever Festival which will be held on Sunday, June 4, the day before the opening of The Ocean Conference, which will run from June 5 to 9.