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The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the main judicial body of the United Nations, today rejected claims made by Croatia and Serbia accusing each other of committing genocide during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, a decision that is “without appeal” and binding.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is proving “catastrophic” for the country's civilians amid escalating violence, indiscriminate shelling, and harsh winter conditions which have made life increasingly precarious for millions of civilians, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, warned today.

The United Nations Security Council today condemned in the strongest terms the continued escalation of attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists, pointing to an attack on 1 February in Borno State, Nigeria and to increasing attacks in the Lake Chad Basin region, including, on 29 and 30 January, against Chadian forces deployed in Cameroon near the town of Fotokol, which killed four Chadian soldiers and injured 12 others.

Portuguese authorities must do more to ensure wider access to the country's justice system, enhancing its legal aid programmes amid growing poverty, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has urged.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has applauded the decision by the Egyptian authorities to release the detained Al Jazeera journalist, Peter Greste, ending his 400-day imprisonment.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has brought together aviation experts and strategic decision makers for a four-day conference that will discuss emerging safety issues such as global tracking of aircraft and risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones.

This generation of young people – the largest the world has ever seen – has a historic opportunity to end poverty, combat climate change, create jobs and fight injustice, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a Youth Forum at UN Headquarters in New York this morning as he called on the participants to get involved in shaping a future sustainable development agenda.

Devastating weather patterns and increasing temperatures will last into the foreseeable future as global warming is expected to continue, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed today as it explained that 2014's ranking as the “hottest year on record” is part of a larger climate trend.

Violence in Iraq killed a total of at least 1,375 people last month, according to figures released today by the United Nations Mission (UNAMI) in the country, with the majority of those killed civilians.

The head of the United Nations agency mandated to defend press freedom today denounced the assassination of Moisés Sánchez Cerezo, a Mexican journalist recently found murdered weeks after his disappearance, and Kenji Goto, a Japanese freelancer killed by Islamist extremists in Syria.