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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Philippe Lazzarini of Switzerland as his new Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, a spokesperson for the Organization said today.

Militants in South Sudan have handed over to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) a final group of 283 children in what the agency described as “a small piece of good news in what is otherwise a terrible situation for children in other parts of [the country],” where many boys and girls have been abducted and forcibly recruited as child soldiers.

The Syrian crisis is getting worse and civilians are paying the price, senior United Nations humanitarian officials said today as they called for an end to the “numbness to the senseless violence”, while the Security Council demanded parties to the conflict facilitate expanded aid operations and immediate delivery of life-saving supplies to hard-to-reach and besieged areas.

The United Nations human rights office said today that civilians are continuing to die in Yemen, with the total number killed between 26 March and 22 April now estimated at 551, including 31 women and at least 115 children.

The United Nations refugee agency welcomed the European Union's (EU) mobilization of resources in response to the ongoing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, while also urging increased efforts aimed at saving lives and integrating asylum seekers in accordance with human rights.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today condemned the “successive horrific incidents” in Libya this past week – ranging from the appalling loss of life in the Mediterranean of those escaping violence, the execution of Christians and the killings of several members of a prominent family by the so-called ‘Islamic State in Libya.’

After decades of “sustained and unrestrained anti-foreigner abuse,” and in the wake of a recent article in the Sun newspaper calling migrants ‘cockroaches,’ the United Nations human rights chief today urged British authorities and media to take steps to curb incitement to hatred by tabloid newspapers, in line with the country’s obligations under national and international law.

Peacekeepers with the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) have repelled two attacks by unidentified armed men in Kass, 85 kilometres north-west of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

A United Nations human rights body has welcomed the decision by the Government of Azerbaijan to allow it “unhindered access” to places of detention across the Central Asian country while also urging authorities to do more to protect the rights of people in custody.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced deep concern over a series of attacks targeting the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) which have resulted in numerous casualties, a statement issued by a UN spokesperson said today.