After receiving reports of heart inflammation cases due to myocarditis and pericarditis following vaccination with COVID-19 Pfizer and Moderna shots, World Health Organization (WHO) experts on Friday said that the benefits of the vaccines still outweigh the risks in reducing hospitalizations and deaths due to infection.

The UN chief has welcomed a decision on Friday by the Security Council to extend the UN cross-border aid operation in northwest Syria for another 12 months, providing a lifeline for more than 3.4 million people in need, including some one million children.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday urged the world’s largest economies to spearhead a global COVID-19 vaccination plan, expand debt relief to developing countries battered by the pandemic, and step up funding for climate action. 

The UN Special Representative for Haiti on Thursday, acknowledged the legitimacy of Prime Minister Claude Joseph to lead the Caribbean nation, following the “cowardly” assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on Wednesday, and welcomed his government’s commitment to hold national elections later this year.