BAKU, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijan plans to increase the number of annual foreign visitors from 2.57 million in 2025 to 3.8 million by 2030, an average annual growth rate of 8.1 percent, according to the country's 2026-2030 State Program for Tourism Development approved Thursday.Tourism revenues from foreign visitors are projected to nearly double to 6.3 billion manats (about 3.7 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030, up from 3.3 billion manats in 2025.The program calls for diversifying tourism markets, improving transport and visa accessibility, strengthening international marketing and developing new tourism products, including nature, cultural, winter, health and gastronomic tourism.Tourism-related sectors are expected to generate about 12.2 billion manats in value added by 2030, representing roughly 40-percent real growth from 2025. Their share of the country's non-oil and gas gross domestic product is projected to rise to 8.6 percent from 7.5 percent in 2025.Planned measures include expanding visa-free travel, introducing a digital nomad visa, broadening international flight connections, developing new tourism products, and building a unified national tourism information system.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two national staff members of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) who were detained by the Taliban have been released, a UN spokesman said Thursday.The two staff members gained freedom Thursday morning. They appear to be in good health, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general.We understand that the charges against them have been dropped, so we are delighted they are out, Dujarric said at a daily press briefing.When asked what charges the two staffers faced, he said, The circumstances of their detention, what they had been accused of, and all that remains very unclear, and we're trying to get more details.Dujarric said that UNAMA has not been formally notified of the reasons for their initial arrest and detention.The United Nations is continuing to follow up with the Taliban, with a focus on ensuring respect for the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, as well as the safety, security, and freedom of movement of the UN staff and associated personnel as they go about their mandated work, he said.The two staffers were detained on Aug. 9 by officials of the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence in Herat, a city in western Afghanistan.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday and Thursday held respective interactive dialogues with two candidates for the next UN secretary-general.In Wednesday's dialogue, Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu, who was nominated by his country, said the immediate priority must be given to the proliferation of increasingly deadly conflicts that threaten to engulf entire regions and the world.He promised to support UN member states to end the Ukraine crisis, address the Gaza crisis, support the peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, work with the African Union and other global partners to end the conflict in Sudan, support ongoing diplomatic efforts to bring about a comprehensive peace agreement in the Iran conflict, and support a more coordinated and concerted counter-terrorism response in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel.Otunnu also vowed to rebuild consensus on human rights, reform UN, alleviate the fiscal crunch and innovate UN financing, harness the unprecedented opportunities of artificial intelligence, deepen cooperation between UN and regional organizations, and reconnect the global public to UN.In Thursday's dialogue, Ecuadoran diplomat Ivonne A-Baki said she wants to be a leader rather than a manager, if selected as the next UN secretary-general.A manager is someone who follows a mission statement. A leader is someone who follows a north star, said A-Baki, who was nominated by Tonga. My north star for this world body is not necessarily reform. It's renewal. Renewal of the promise of building peace and preventing war. Renewal of the promise to promote human dignity and social progress and renewal of the vision that the UN can be the one body where nations of the world can work together to achieve more than nations working alone.She promised to commit to direct and delegated peacekeeping and peacemaking, Security Council modernization, resolving development debt and unlocking finance, and safeguard...

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Amid continuing Israeli attacks, 94 percent of the Gaza Strip's 2.1 million people need shelter and basic household assistance, UN humanitarians said Thursday.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than four out of five families face critical or catastrophic living conditions in their current shelters, which lack fuel, energy and essential household items, affecting people's ability to sleep, cook, wash, store food and water, have adequate lighting, and cope with heat and cold.Nearly two in three families live in tents or makeshift shelters that rapidly deteriorate in harsh weather because they are designed for short-term use only, the office said.Last winter, more than 70 percent of families experienced flooding, OCHA said. Ahead of the cold and rainy season, humanitarian partners are working to ensure adequate shelter for families. However, restrictions on the entry of materials and equipment, combined with funding shortfalls, have kept assistance far below the level of need.Shelter partners estimated that 562 million U.S. dollars is needed for the emergency response. Of this amount, they have requested 165 million dollars to address the most acute cases, but just over a quarter of the funding has been secured.The UN Development Programme said Monday that, along with its partners, it has expanded pest control activities since May to more than 3,000 displacement sites, markets and hospitals across Gaza. Sustained access to rodenticides remains critical. It is also urgent that heavy machinery, lubricants and essential equipment be allowed into Gaza to facilitate trash removal.OCHA said it continues to receive reports of civilians in Gaza being killed, injured or otherwise affected by airstrikes, shelling and gunfire. On Wednesday, a 13-year-old girl was reportedly among those killed in airstrikes.The bodies of 50 people, including those of 19 children, killed over two years ago, were l...