Latest News

With new diseases emerging at an unprecedented rate in an increasingly interconnected world, often with the ability to cross borders rapidly, global public health security depends on international cooperation and surveillance more than at any previous time in history, the United Nations health agency warned in its annual report today.

Fighting involving 100 to 300 people armed with machetes, steel darts and bows broke out in Timor-Leste today, almost completely destroying a market in the town of Metinaro in the latest violence following inconclusive elections two months ago, the United Nations Police (UNPOL) reported today.

Over 1,000 participants from 66 countries have gathered at the United Nations Centre in Addis Ababa to explore how the latest information and communication technology (ICT) can help countries overcome poverty and advance development.

The United Nations Interim Force for Lebanon (UNIFIL) today welcomed the reported progress in the investigation of the terrorist attack on its military police last month with the arrest of two suspects.

Marking the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today urged reflection on slavery’s “tragic past” and noted that its modern forms cause the suffering of millions worldwide.

A campaign led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to prevent major outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea in Sudan during the rainy season this year is paying dividends, with the number of cases of the sometimes fatal condition in the north of the country almost 90 per cent below last year’s figures.

The United Nations envoy for the conflict in northern Uganda is meeting with officials in the region as part of his ongoing efforts to broker a durable peace accord between the Government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Two United Nations human rights experts today expressed concern over judicial independence in Cambodia following recent appointments that they say seem to contravene the separation of executive and judicial powers enshrined in the country’s Constitution.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he is following events in Myanmar closely and with concern following reports of arrests of student leaders and others by the authorities in the South-East Asian nation.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced today that it plans to set up an independent inquiry to examine allegations about its recent operations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that are not being considered by an existing probe by the UN Board of Auditors (UNBOA).