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Two senior United Nations officials today visited a Bedouin community in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) amid increasing home demolitions by the Israeli authorities, who have control over security, planning and zoning in the area.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern today at the deadly violence in Malawi, where up to 18 people have reportedly been killed and many others injured during clashes between anti-Government demonstrators and security forces this week.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today it will start airlifts within days to get vital supplies into Somalia, which is bearing the brunt of the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, and is preparing to open up a number of new land and air routes to bring urgent relief to millions in need.

The upcoming World Cup soccer tournament and Summer Olympics in Brazil should be harnessed to deliver a “positive social legacy” for the South American country and beyond, the United Nations envoy for sports and peace has said.

A senior United Nations envoy today called on the President of Guinea to pursue dialogue with opposition political parties in the troubled West African nation in the wake of the unsuccessful attack on his residence on Tuesday.

The head of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today appointed Liam Donaldson of the United Kingdom as its envoy for patient safety to help mobilize support on the issue among donors, philanthropic organizations and governments.

After breaking the world record for the number of people dribbling soccer balls last week, children at the United Nations-organized summer games in Gaza today set another record by creating the largest ever hand painting, a 5,620-square metre mosaic of handprints on canvas.

An independent United Nations human rights expert has urged Maldives to put in place measures to handle internal displacement caused by climate change and natural disasters – an issue the Indian Ocean nation is all too familiar with having experienced the 2004 tsunami.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon today told the Security Council that the resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbollah has largely been respected over the past five year, but there has been little progress towards an envisaged permanent ceasefire.

For many months United Nations aid agencies have warned of an impending crisis in the Horn of Africa as drought, failed harvests and fighting in some areas led to increasing food insecurity. Now conditions are so grim that the UN has turned to a word it uses sparingly and specifically – famine.