Middle East

Palestinians wait in a queue at Beit Iba checkpoint in Gaza

UN voices concern over rift preventing patients leaving Gaza for treatment

31 March 2009
United Nations agencies operating in the Gaza Strip have expressed serious concern over the halting of patients leaving the area for specialised hospital treatment after Hamas took control of the health department tasked with making referrals abroad.
Iraqi artist Wadhah Mahdi next to one of his colourful creations.

Iraqi painters’ work showcased by UN refugee agency

26 March 2009
The United Nations refugee agency is giving nearly two dozen Iraqi painters, most of whom are refugees, an opportunity to show their work and tell their stories to a wide audience.
Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Antonio Cassese of Italy

UN-backed tribunal for Lebanon killings swears in officials, adopts rules

25 March 2009
The United Nations-backed tribunal to try the perpetrators of a massive car bomb blast that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri has appointed its main officials and adopted rules of procedures and evidence, the court announced today.
The main commercial Karni Crossing

Efforts to end current Gaza ‘impasse’ imperative – UN political chief

25 March 2009
A top United Nations official today called for progress to be made in implementing a January Security Council resolution – which calls for a durable ceasefire in Gaza, free access for relief workers and the re-opening of crossings – to break the current impasse and lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the region.
The aftermath of a suicide bombing in Iraq

UN envoy in Iraq condemns bomb attack on Kurdish mourners

24 March 2009
The top United Nations envoy in Iraq today condemned “in the strongest terms” a suicide bomb attack that killed and injured dozens of people at a house filled with Kurdish funeral mourners yesterday.

Ban condemns Lebanon terrorist attack

23 March 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned today’s terrorist attack that killed Kamal Medhat, the deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon, and several of his bodyguards.
The boat carrying Somalis and Ethiopians reaches the pier at Steamer Point in Aden

At least seven dead in latest smuggling tragedy off Yemeni coast – UN

23 March 2009
At least seven Africans drowned over the weekend when the smugglers’ boat they were travelling in capsized shortly after docking in the Yemeni port of Aden, the United Nations refugee agency has reported, adding that 85 passengers survived thanks to rescue efforts by local officials and the French Navy.
Iraqi women standing in line, ready to enter a polling station (file photo)

Strategies to improve situation of Iraqi women aim of UN Baghdad forum

19 March 2009
With the illiteracy rate among Iraqi women twice as high as that of men and women making up only 18 per cent of the country’s labour force, a United Nations conference that opened in Baghdad today is seeking ways to improve the situation of women in the fledgling democracy.
Humanitarian aid for Gaza at the Rafah border gate

Greater access for goods and people into Gaza a must, stresses UN

18 March 2009
The overall levels of humanitarian assistance allowed into Gaza remain below what is urgently required, the United Nations reports, adding that lengthy clearance procedures for aid workers are also hampering vital relief efforts.
Passport to a new life. Germany will be accepting 2,500 Iraqis under its resettlement programme.

First Iraqi family departs for resettlement in Germany, UN refugee agency says

17 March 2009
Germany's plans to resettle 2,500 Iraqi refugees has begun with a young couple who flew out of Jordan with a son who needs urgent medical treatment for a heart defect, the United Nations refugee agency announced today.