India, July 23 -- The United States announced on Tuesday that it will leave the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which will take effect at the end of December 2026.

"I deeply regret President Donald Trump's decision to once again withdraw the United States of America from UNESCO," Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the Paris-based agency, said in a statement.

In New York, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that the Secretary-General joins Ms. Azoulay "in deeply regretting the decision by the United States."

The US first withdrew from UNESCO in 1984 under President Ronald Reagan and didn't rejoin for two decades. Fourteen years after re-entry, the first Trump administration withdrew from the organizati...