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Voicing concern over the lack of a national action plan by the Bahamas to address trafficking in persons, an independent United Nations human rights expert called on the Government to ramp up its efforts to fight the ongoing problem.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) voiced horror today at reports that as many as 28 Syrian children were killed in a bombing raid in Aleppo while the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced plans to expand emergency food aid to over 7 million displaced Syrians in what it called “the worst humanitarian crisis … in decades.”

With another release by Israel of Palestinian prisoners set for later this month, the top United Nations envoy for the Middle East urged both sides to refrain from any actions which could undermine the prospects for progress in what has been an important year for the peace process.

The Security Council today voiced its grave concern at the worsening security situation and political divisions in Libya which threaten to undermine the country’s democratic transition.

The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sent attack helicopters and manned foot patrols into the country's strife-torn North Kivu province after discovering the bodies of 21 civilians brutally slaughtered, including babies, children and women, some mutilated, others raped.

About 70 per cent of new diseases infecting humans in recent decades have come from animals, the United Nations food agency today reported, warning that it is getting easier for diseases jump species and spread as the population, agriculture and food-supply chains grow.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have strongly condemned an attack in the north-eastern Malian town of Kidal that killed two blue helmets and left several others, including members of the national armed forces, injured.

Donors pledged $404.6 million for the United Nations fund that enables the quick delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to those who need it most around the world, responding to an appeal by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the world body’s top relief official.

The United Nations today called on all parties in Ukraine to exercise restraint amid reports of the use of excessive force by police and violent acts by demonstrators, and urged the Government to ensure that human rights safeguards are upheld.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the signing of long-awaited accords between the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the M23 rebels it has been fighting until last month, and called on all other armed groups in the country to lay down their weapons and join the political process.