You are hereNews / Categories / Top Stories

Top Stories


Syria: Ban voices deep regret after Security Council fails to agree on resolution

United Nations - 22 hours 8 min ago

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced deep regret after Security Council members were today unable to agree on a resolution backing an Arab League plan to resolve the crisis in Syria, where thousands of people have been killed over the past year since authorities crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising.

Categories: Top Stories

Civilian casualty numbers in Afghanistan rise again, UN reports

United Nations - 22 hours 8 min ago

The number of civilian casualties resulting from the conflict in Afghanistan has risen for a fifth consecutive year, the United Nations reported today, blaming a change in tactics by the Taliban and other anti-Government forces for the higher death toll.

Categories: Top Stories

For World Cancer Day, UN stresses early diagnosis to reduce mounting deaths

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

Early diagnosis is the key to reducing the nearly eight million deaths caused by cancer across the globe annually, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said today, stressing the importance of screening programmes for healthy people to detect the disease promptly for easier treatment.

Categories: Top Stories

UN court rules against Italy in case over Nazi compensation claims

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled today that Italy has violated its obligation to respect Germany’s immunity under international law by allowing civil claims seeking reparations for Nazi war crimes to be brought against it in Italian courts.

Categories: Top Stories

UN says Somali famine over, but warns action needed to forestall new crisis

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The UN declared an end to famine conditions in Somalia today, but warned that the crisis in the Horn of Africa is not over and requires continued efforts to restore food security and help people resume normal lives.

Categories: Top Stories

UN-backed court sentences key Khmer Rouge figure to life in prison on appeal

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The appeals chamber of the United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia trying cases of mass murder and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime today sentenced the former head of a notorious detention camp to life in prison, upholding an earlier conviction and extending the existing jail term.

Categories: Top Stories

UN alarmed by reported new atrocities against displaced civilians in DR Congo

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations refugee agency said today it is alarmed by recent reports that displaced people have been tortured and killed in their camps by armed elements in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Categories: Top Stories

Mozambique: UN agency begins food distribution to flood victims

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distributing rations in Mozambique, where an estimated 70,000 people are in urgent need of assistance after the country was pounded by two tropical storms.

Categories: Top Stories

As floods continue in Fiji, UN stresses need to boost preventive measures

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations disaster risk reduction agency stressed today the need to boost preventive measures in Fiji, as heavy rains are predicted to occur more frequently in the archipelago nation, which has been ravaged by severe floods over the past week.

Categories: Top Stories

After ferry sinking in Papua New Guinea, UN agency voices deep sympathy

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The head of the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) today expressed deep sympathy to the victims of a ferry sinking off the coast of Papua New Guinea that may have claimed more than 100 lives.

Categories: Top Stories

UN voices concern over fresh round of killings in South Sudan

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations human rights office today voiced concern over a cattle raid in a northern state of South Sudan earlier this week, which has led to 78 deaths and numerous injuries among civilians, most of whom were women and children.

Categories: Top Stories

UN backs vaccination campaign after yellow fever outbreaks hit Cameroon and Ghana

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations is backing a mass vaccination campaign under way in northern Cameroon, where a new outbreak of yellow fever has killed at least seven people.

Categories: Top Stories

UN political team to visit Maldives for talks on democratic transition

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

A United Nations political team heads to the Maldives next week for talks on how to help support the Indian Ocean archipelago in its transition to democracy.

Categories: Top Stories

Philippines: UN and partners seek more funding to help tropical storm survivors

United Nations - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations and humanitarian partners today revised upwards an appeal for funding to continue relief work for six months among the more than 300,000 people in the Philippines island of Mindanao who were affected by last year’s tropical storm Washi.

Categories: Top Stories

Sustainable development the focus of talks between Assembly chief and French officials

United Nations - Thu, 02/02/2012 - 00:00

Sustainable development and the environment topped the agenda during talks today in Paris between General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser and senior French Government officials.

Categories: Top Stories

Ban thanks outgoing head of UN peacebuilding office in Sierra Leone for his work

United Nations - Thu, 02/02/2012 - 00:00

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced his appreciation of the work of the outgoing United Nations envoy to Sierra Leone, Michael von der Schulenburg, including his initiatives to boost donor cooperation and efficient aid use in the West African country.

Categories: Top Stories

UN official voices concern about possible excessive use of force by Senegalese forces

United Nations - Thu, 02/02/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations human rights chief today voiced concern about the possible use of excessive force by Senegalese authorities amid the protests that have erupted ahead of the presidential election scheduled for later this month.

Categories: Top Stories

Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism laws must not be misused to curb rights - UN

United Nations - Thu, 02/02/2012 - 00:00

A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today spoke out against the ongoing use of anti-terrorism laws to curb freedom of expression in Ethiopia, where several journalists were recently given prison sentences under such legislation.

Categories: Top Stories

In Middle East, Ban urges stepped-up efforts to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict

United Nations - Wed, 02/01/2012 - 00:00

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on Israelis and Palestinians to take steps that will build trust and ensure an environment conducive to sustained negotiations, voicing his hope that the nascent talks begun last month between the two sides will continue.

Categories: Top Stories

South Sudan: UN relief chief stresses vast scale of humanitarian needs

United Nations - Wed, 02/01/2012 - 00:00

The United Nations relief chief today underlined the enormity of the humanitarian challenges facing South Sudan on the first day of her three-day visit to the fledgling country, highlighting the needs of returnees, an influx of refugees, internal displacement as a result of ethnic conflict and endemic poverty.

Categories: Top Stories