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The United Nations peacekeeping operation in South Sudan reports that the situation in the town of Wau remains tense, following the arrival of some 5,000 people seeking safety at a UN base there yesterday, a spokesperson for the world body said today.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, today announced the appointment of Mohamed Ibn Chambas of Ghana as their Joint Special Representative for Darfur, and head of the joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission in the west Sudanese region, known by the acronym UNAMID.

A trial chamber of the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda today sentenced a former government minister, Augustin Ngirabatware, to 35 years imprisonment for genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide and rape as a crime against humanity.

The Security Council today authorized the deployment of an African-led International Support Mission in Mali, to be known as AFISMA, for an initial period of one year to assist the authorities in recovering rebel-held regions in the north and restoring the unity of the country.

The United Nations emergency relief arm announced today it has signed up to an initiative designed to make information about aid spending easier to find.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners today appealed for $1.5 billion to assist civilians affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria over the next six months, including those inside the country as well as those taking refuge beyond its borders.

“The gains of 2012 position us for further advances in the years ahead. We have seized some opportunities, but failed on many others. Too much of our progress is lost to conflict or remains fragile for want of investment and commitment. There is too little emphasis on prevention, people and global citizenship. Far too often, short-term thinking trumps long-term vision.”

United Nations officials today underscored the urgency of getting the Middle East peace process back on track, noting that the momentum for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has slipped amid recent events and a resumption of meaningful talks is needed more than ever.

As the United Nations winds down its peacekeeping operation in Timor-Leste, the Security Council today applauded the “remarkable achievements” made by the small south-east Asian country as it transitioned over the past decade from a colonial enclave to an independent and democratic State.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today warmly congratulated Park Geun-hye on her election as the next President of the Republic of Korea, and voiced his readiness to work with the new Government, according to his spokesperson.