The Council – the UN’s foremost human rights forum – also heard updates on allegations of ongoing abuses in Belarus, North Korea and Myanmar. According to the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, enforced disappearances of civilians committed by Russian authorities have been “widespread and systematic” and likely amount to crimes against humanity....
The Caribbean island nation is facing humanitarian, economic and political crises in addition to the break-down of law and order. In the last week, three media houses were targeted, in what appears to be a change in gang tactics in order to isolate the population. UN News asked Frantz Duval, the...
“We will not give up on these objectives,” António Guterres said during a press encounter at the UN Office in Geneva. Airstrikes resume, aid blocked In a statement issued earlier in the day, UN Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said Mr. Guterres was “shocked” by the Israeli strikes, which reportedly killed...
The UN Security Council met in New York on Tuesday on the Middle East crisis, exactly two months since the start of the fragile Gaza ceasefire and hostages deal came into effect. That’s been shattered by deadly Israeli airstrikes overnight following a two-week aid blockade which has strained critical supplies....
Council-appointed experts pointed to grave violations of fundamental rights in Iran, linked to popular protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Sara Hossein, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, said that during peaceful protests, “children were killed and severely injured after being fired at with ammunition containing metal...
In a statement released to correspondents in New York, the UN denounced the Houthis’ targeting of merchant and commercial vessels in the key waterway which includes the Suez Canal and reported attacks against military vessels. The UN is concerned about the continued threats by the Houthis to resume their attacks targeting...
Briefing Member States in Rome, FAO officials called for urgent action to strengthen biosecurity, surveillance and rapid-response mechanisms to curb the outbreak. FAO Deputy Director-General Godfrey Magwenzi stressed that the crisis threatens to have “serious impacts on food security and food supply in countries, including loss of valuable nutrition, rural...
Unanimously adopting resolution 2777 (2025), the 15-member council stressed the “critical importance” of a continued presence of UNAMA and other UN agencies across Afghanistan. The council also expressed appreciation for the UN’s long-term commitment to the country and its people, reiterating its full support for UNAMA and the Special Representative...
In a video message to the conference Standing with Syria: Meeting the Needs for a Successful Transition, organized by the European Union in Brussels, he underlined the gravity of the situation. “This is a watershed moment,” said the UN chief, stressing that the future of Syria depends on ensuring access...
Obeida Dabbagh’s brother Mazen, and nephew Patrick – both Syrian-French nationals – were arrested by Air Force Intelligence officials in November 2013. Held for years and tortured, there were falsely declared dead in 2018 “years after they disappeared,” Mr. Dabbagh told the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which meets at the UN...
The announcement comes as Syria marks 14 years since peaceful protests were met with brutal repression, igniting a conflict that has displaced millions and left the country in ruins. While the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024 initially raised hopes for stability, fresh violence is threatening these fragile...
The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Sadyr Japarov and Emomali Rahmon, signed the agreement at a meeting in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, earlier today, according to media reports. Closed since 2021, two checkpoints on the nearly 1,000-km-long Tajik-Kyrgyz border have now resumed operation, and flights from Bishkek to Dushanbe and...