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As tens of thousands of people continue to flee fierce fighting in the Ramadi district of Iraq, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is rushing food assistance there, a spokesperson confirmed in Geneva today, as she appealed for $108 million to continue operations in the country until October 2015.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he is deeply troubled by Boko Haram’s “continuing indiscriminate and horrific attacks” against the civilian populations of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, according to the United Nations.

As the number of civilian casualties in the Yemen conflict tops 1,000, the United Nations human rights office today urged all parties – coalition forces, the Yemeni armed forces, Houthis and other non-State armed groups – to adhere strictly to their obligations under international law and do all in their power to protect civilians.

A $100 monthly housing stipend per family for Palestine refugees who have fled war-torn Syria for Lebanon will be suspended because of lack of funds, prompting the UN agency assisting those refugees in the Middle East to urgently appeal to donors “to provide the bare minimum assistance” to protect Palestinians from “disastrous” risks such as detention, abuse and deportation.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations Security Council have strongly condemned the terrorist attack earlier today that killed more than 20 people in a Shia mosque in the town of al-Qudaih in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations refugee agency and its partners are preparing aid for some 11,000 people fleeing the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra and surrounding villages, which have been overrun by militant forces this week.

The escalation of fighting in South Sudan has resulted in “alarming gross violations” of international human rights and humanitarian law as well as having exacted a terrible toll on the young nation’s civilian population, the United Nations human rights chief confirmed today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today began a two-day visit to Viet Nam and commended President Trương Tấn Sang for the “increasingly important role” his country is playing at the United Nations, including his efforts to combat climate change and in helping shape a new development agenda.

Nearly one month after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, flattening large swathes of the country’s Kathmandu valley and affecting millions of people, the United Nations health agency is continuing its emergency response aimed at saving lives and addressing the urgent health needs of the Himalayan nation.

More than a billion people – one in five globally – lack electricity to light their homes or conduct business, according to a recent World Bank report. Nearly three billion rely on dangerous, polluting fuels – such as wood, charcoal and animal dung – to cook and heat their homes.