Europe

Chernobyl nuclear disaster-affected areas spring to life, 33 years on

More than three decades after the devastating explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, parts of Belarus’ adjoining regions have sprung back to life and the biggest of them, Homiel, has become a leading destination for domestic and international investors.

UNESCO experts ready to assist reconstruction of iconic Notre Dame, following devastating blaze

Two-thirds of the largely medieval roof of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris have “gone” after the devastating fire in Paris on Monday evening, but UN cultural experts are standing by to offer help where it is needed in rebuilding the iconic structure.

‘I don’t like to give up': veteran UN envoy reveals how two decades of quiet diplomacy gave birth to North Macedonia

Last June, a historic agreement settled a 27-year-long name dispute between two countries, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece. One man, Matthew Nimetz,  patiently led the negotiations on behalf of the United Nations for over two decades and he told UN News, in an exclusive interview, that his faith in a positive outcome never faltered.

Measles in Europe: infection rates highest in a decade, says UN health agency

Although more children than ever before are being vaccinated against measles across Europe, overall infection rates are the highest in a decade, and a three-fold increase on last year, according to new data published on Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Brexit poses ‘particular risk’ to British people in poverty: UN independent expert

Brexit – the United Kingdom’s impending exit from the European Union – will drive more UK citizens into poverty unless the Government takes action to shield the most vulnerable, warned Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, in a damning statement released on Friday.

EU migration deal welcomed by UN agencies

UN humanitarian agencies on Friday broadly welcomed a freshly-inked deal on migration by European Union leaders which calls for more Member States to take responsibility within their borders for those in need of protection, amid a hardening stance by some since 2015.

UN calls for ‘new political energy’ to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine

The United Nations top political affairs official on Tuesday stressed the need to breathe life back into ongoing efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, now in its fifth year, which has killed and injured thousands of civilians, plunging the country into a humanitarian crisis.

UN chief notes ‘with concern’ report holding Russia liable for downing airliner

Following the conclusion of an investigation that holds Russia responsible for the downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane in 2014, the United Nations chief said on Friday that he “has taken note with concern of the latest report”.

Ukraine: 200,000 children forced to learn in bullet-riddled classrooms

Some 200,000 girls and boys in eastern Ukraine are commuting to schools whose classroom walls are often riddled with bullets, and playgrounds scattered with metal remnants of war.

One in four thyroid cancer cases registered near Chernobyl site likely caused by radiation exposure – new UN study

A quarter of all thyroid cancer cases among patients who were children at the time of the Chernobyl accident 32 years ago, are “probably” due to high doses of radiation received during and after the event, the United Nations body reviewing the effects of atomic radiation on human health and the environment has said.