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UN independent expert Agnès Callamard today welcomed a report published earlier this week by U.S. authorities that named Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman as the person who gave the go ahead to the operation to kill or capture journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Khashoggi was assassinated in the Saudi consular offices in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018.
While welcoming the finding, which corroborates previous work done by her as the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Ms. Callamard said she was "disappointed" that there was no new factual evidence in the report, and that there were no plans for holding the Saudi royal accountable.
“The fact that the report named the quasi-head of a state, Mr. Mohammed bin Salman, as being responsible for the operation that killed Mr. Jamal Khashoggi, is an important demonstration as well on the part of United States to be transparent”, Ms Callamard said.
“On another level I was disappointed, and I am disappointed," she added. "First of all, factually speaking, the report provided nothing new. It is an analysis of circumstantial evidence and a judgment that is being brought forward, important but I would have expected more material evidence and presumably they exist, but they have not been declassified,” Ms. Callamard said.
The Special Rapporteur called on the U.S. government to commit to the promises of the election campaign and to put human rights, and particularly the freedom of the press, at the forefront of its agenda.
U.S. officials have announced visa restrictions affecting 76 Saudi citizens involved in harassing activists and journalists. They have so far declined to apply sanctions to the crown prince, however.
“So far, the government of the United States has not announced any actions to build on their findings and liability and responsibility on the part of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, " Ms. Callamard said. "It is extremely problematic in my view, if not dangerous to acknowledge someone’s culpability and then to tell that someone ‘but we don’t do anything, please proceed as if we had said nothing’. That to me is an extremely dangerous move on the part of the USA,” she added.
“What President Biden has announced during his campaign to protect the freedom of the press, to announce a new era in terms of human rights based policy, then to refuse to held to account, to sanction the man who is ultimately responsible for killing Jamal Khashoggi, that to me is extremely worrisome”, Agnes Callamard said. “I am calling on the US government to act on its public findings and to sanction Mohammed bin Salman for what he has done”.
Ms Callamard was supported by her colleague Irene Khan, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
“I am pleased that the report has been published, but very disappointed, very disappointed, that on the issue of accountability," Ms. Khan said. "The US has not seen it fit to take a stronger action at this stage. They have announced Khashoggi sanctions, and I hope they will be used”.
Speaking directly to the importance of the case for the media, Ms. Khan told reporters at a press conference in Geneva, Ms. Khan said that “only 12 percent, only 12 percent, of killings of journalists ever get investigated, prosecuted."
"That is an appalling number around the world and the U.S. should take the lead in pushing for accountability,” Ms. Khan argued.
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
- Wide shot, press briefing room, UN Palais
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: “The fact that the report named the quasi head of a state, Mr. Mohammed bin Salman, as being responsible for the operation that killed Mr. Jamal Khashoggi is an important demonstration as well on the part of United States to be transparent”.
- Medium shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: “On another level I was disappointed, and I am disappointed. First of all, factually speaking, the report provided nothing new. It is an analysis of circumstantial evidence and a judgment that is being brought forward, important but I would have expected more material evidence and presumably they exist, but they have not been declassified”.
- Medium shot, journalist with laptop
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: “So far, the government of the United States has not announced any actions to build on their findings and liability and responsibility on the part of the Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. It is extremely problematic in my view, if not dangerous to acknowledge someone’s culpability and then to tell that someone ‘but we don’t do anything, please proceed as if we had said nothing’. That to me is an extremely dangerous move on the part of the USA”.
- Medium shot, journalist in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: “What President Biden has announced during his campaign to protect the freedom of the press, to announce a new era in terms of human rights based policy, then to refuse to held to account, to sanction the man who is ultimately responsible for killing Jamal Khashoggi, that to me is extremely worrisome. I am calling on the US government to act on its public findings and to sanction Mohammed bin Salman for what he has done”.
- Medium shot, podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression: “I am pleased that the report has been published, but very disappointed, very disappointed, that on the issue of accountability, the US has not seen it fit to take a stronger action at this stage. They have announced Khashoggi sanctions and I hope they will be used”.
- Medium shot, podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression: “Only 12 %, only 12 % of killings of journalists ever get investigated, prosecuted. That is an appalling number around the world and the US should take the lead in pushing for accountability”.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
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- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
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“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
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Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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