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The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned today's attack on the Kabul headquarters of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), the second attack on an Afghan election facility in the past four days, with presidential and provincial council polls just a week away.

It will be “lights out” for the United Nations later this evening as the Organization shuts off the lights at its iconic Headquarters complex in New York and other facilities around the world in observance of “Earth Hour,” an annual global event raising awareness about the need to take action on climate change and promoting sustainable energy consumption.

Reiterating his strong call for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Ukraine, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this evening warned the concerned parties – and the wider international community – that “at this time of heightened tensions, even small sparks can ignite larger flames of unintended consequences.”

A senior United Nations official expressed deep concern today about the ongoing displacement of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the destruction of their private property following the Israeli authorities’ recent demolition of a two-story building there, which affected a family of refugees as well as some Palestinian 15 children.

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator warned the Security Council today that as the Syrian civil war grinds on and millions of desperate people remain cut off from aid, “the humanitarian situation remains bleak, and will continue to be bleak, unless we are granted full and unhindered access, through the most efficient and direct means.”

With a total of 103 suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola in Guinea, including 66 deaths, the outbreak must be watched very carefully, a spokesperson for the United Nations health agency said today, noting that there is no treatment or cure for the frequently fatal disease.

Two United Nations agencies launched today an urgent operation to deliver food, vaccines, nutrition supplements and other vital relief supplies to one of the most isolated areas of conflict-affected South Sudan, as part of a joint response to boost emergency distribution as the crisis escalates.

A unique, Africa-led United Nations-backed fund designed to improve food security across the continent has become a reality for the first six countries slated to benefit from the initiative.

The United Nations refugee agency today denounced as “scapegoating” the Kenyan Government’s decision earlier this week to order some 50,000 refugees, believed to be mostly Somalis, to report to two camps after a recent upsurge in violence in the region.

A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today voiced serious concern over the Turkish Government’s measures, taken in the context of upcoming elections, to prevent access to video-sharing website YouTube, a week after social media platform Twitter was shut down.