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Mangroves are rare and vital ecosystems that help to protect coastlines and mitigate the effects of climate change, but their survival is being jeopardized, the United Nations cultural agency said today, calling for greater preservation efforts as the international community marks the first ever International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem.

The United Nations human rights expert on freedom of opinion and expression has condemned recent Government clampdown over public and social media expressions in Thailand ahead of a constitutional referendum scheduled for 7 August.

The United Nations refugee agency today appealed to donors for an additional $115.4 million to fund the voluntary return and reintegration of Somali refugees from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reiterated today that attacks on health facilities are a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and can amount to war crimes, in response to the recent airstrikes on four hospitals and a blood bank in eastern Aleppo city in Syria.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a United Nations specialized agency, will set up a committee to examine whether a 54 degrees Celsius temperature recently recorded in Kuwait, has set the new highest temperature for Asia, as well as for the entire Eastern hemisphere.

The United Nations envoy mediating a resolution to the five-year crisis in Syria said today he aims to convene a new round of intra-Syrian peace talks towards the end of August, and expressed hope that the United States and Russia would make “concrete progress” in order to improve the atmosphere for the resumption of the discussions.

Two senior United Nations officials today underscored that the centrality of women to the Colombian peace process, as shown by the 'historic commitment' by the Government and Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) at the Havana Peace Talks Table, must be reinforced in the final agreement and, more importantly, during the implementation phase.

The United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for six months, until 31 January 2017, and welcomed the progress of the negotiations between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to reach a comprehensive settlement.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Central African Republic (CAR) until 15 November 2017, keeping an authorized troop ceiling of 10,750 military personnel intact and providing time for the mission to assess the post-transition process in the country.

In the first six months of this year, 5,166 civilians were either killed or maimed in Afghanistan, a half-year record since counting began in 2009, a United Nations report published today shows.