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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Hervé Ladsous as the new head of United Nations peacekeeping, tasking the veteran French diplomat with overseeing the efforts of over 100,000 personnel serving in more than a dozen operations worldwide.

The current international moratorium on testing nuclear weapons, while respected by almost all States, should not delay the full implementation of the treaty calling for a comprehensive ban on such tests, two senior United Nations officials stressed today.

The United Nations independent expert on human rights in Haiti, Michel Forst, today welcomed declarations by the new Haitian authorities of measures in the field of the rule of law, adding that he hoped that the declarations will soon be implemented and followed by positive impacts.

The United Nations official spearheading efforts to combat sexual violence in times of conflict today welcomed a presidential pardon granted by the Sudanese authorities last week to local journalists prosecuted for reporting on cases of alleged rape.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today received the report of the independent panel of inquiry examining the May 2010 incident involving a flotilla headed for Gaza which found that Israel’s interception of the vessels was “excessive and unreasonable,” while the flotilla acted “recklessly” in attempting to breach the naval blockade.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for an immediate end to the fighting in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states and for access for humanitarian agencies to the affected areas.

The head of the United Nations agency defending press freedom has voiced her alarm at continuing abuses committed against journalists in Syria and called on authorities to respect basic human rights, including the right to freedom of expression.

The world’s top female football player and United Nations advocate Marta Vieira da Silva is on a mission to Sierra Leone to highlight efforts to empower women in the West African nation that is recovering from years of conflict.

A United Nations-backed tribunal has wrapped up three days of hearings in the Cambodian capital to help determine whether two of the most senior surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime are fit enough to stand trial for alleged genocide and other war crimes.

The United Nations refugee chief has called for a rapid increase in aid for Somalis uprooted by drought, famine and conflict, as he visited the capital, Mogadishu, which is hosting some 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).