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A senior official with the United Nations refugee agency called today for safe passage for Syrians fleeing the mounting violence in their country, where “at least” 2.5 million civilians are in peril and in need of assistance.

The United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s today reaffirmed the life sentence of a Serbian paramilitary leader, Milan Lukic, who was previously found guilty of inhumane acts including murder, cruel treatment and violations of the laws of war.

Yemen faces a number of challenges in its ongoing democratic transition, including the restructuring of the military and an acute humanitarian crisis, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, while adding that the country can have a successful outcome.

The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today expressed disappointment at a recent decision taken by national authorities to suspend the transmissions of Radio Okapi, a radio station backed by the world body.

New methods to reach and assist the Syrian population are required as the situation in the Middle Eastern country continues to deteriorate on a daily basis, a senior United Nations humanitarian official said today, adding that civilians are the ones paying the price of the ongoing conflict.

New setbacks have dimmed the prospects of a global manufacturing recovery, says a new United Nations report released today which finds that growth in this sector has remained sluggish in the third quarter of 2012, with output rising by just 2.2 per cent compared to the same quarter last year, the lowest rate since 2009.

The humanitarian situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains “extremely worrying,” a United Nations official said today, with at least 130,000 displaced persons in and around the city of Goma who fled the fighting in the area over the past two weeks and are in urgent need of basic services.

The top United Nations relief official today lauded the Government of Bangladesh’s efforts to enhance its disaster risk reduction, adding that the country boasted one of the most formidable disaster preparedness programmes in the world.

Highlighting the need to guarantee disabled people equal access to services and opportunities worldwide, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for a new global push aimed at “creating societies that value diversity and inclusion.”

The number of people in Iraq who face food insecurity has decreased by more than 250,000 over the past five years, according to the findings of a United Nations report, released today in conjunction with the Iraqi Government.