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The top United Nations human rights official expressed concern today over the extremely high number of arbitrary arrests and short-term detentions of individuals, including human rights defenders and dissidents, in Cuba in recent weeks.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog today closed the book on the possible military aspects of Iran’s nuclear programme, finding that they were limited to feasibility and scientific studies and did not proceed beyond 2009, bringing an international nuclear accord with Iran a step closer to implementation.

After months of relentless violence in Yemen, consultations facilitated by the United Nations began today in Switzerland aimed at finding a durable settlement to the crisis, including establishing a permanent ceasefire, securing improvements to the humanitarian situation and a returning to a peaceful and orderly political transition.

Although international attention has waned regarding the crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestine Territory, the United Nations human rights office today warned that the region is still rife with violence and the recent escalation in the fighting has claimed 117 Palestinian lives, along with two foreign nationals and injured thousands more.

Amid the “deadly escalation” of violence in Burundi, the United Nations human rights chief today sounded the alarm at the unfolding crisis in the country and urged all actors in the current crisis to take every step possible to stop the growing violence and engage in a meaningful and inclusive dialogue.

With countries reaching a new agreement at the United Nations climate change conference (COP21), the global meeting has been qualified as a “monumental triumph” by top UN officials. While many continued to hail the outcome document as the walls of COP21 were torn down on Sunday, the UN News Centre looked back on other aspects that contributed “positive energy” to the two-week event.

Ten years after the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, delegates from Member States and observer entities are meeting at UN Headquarters starting tomorrow to identify emerging trends, fresh priorities and innovations for advancing information and communications technologies.

A constitutional referendum meant to help stabilize the Central African Republic (CAR) amid conflict between Muslim and Christian factions took place successfully in the majority of the country yesterday, but violent “spoilers” disrupted the process in some areas, the top United Nations peacekeeping official reported today.

Calling the Paris Agreement on climate change “a health insurance policy for the planet,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he never lost faith over his nine years in office that the international community could rise to the challenge and take steps to curb emission and boost climate-resilient growth.

Some two billion people have moved out of low human development levels in the last 25 years but in order to secure these gains and galvanize progress, a stronger focus to “act now” to provide decent work is needed, according to the new United Nations Human Development Report released today.