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The United Nations human rights office has condemned the execution of three men by authorities in Gaza today, despite serious and widespread concerns that international fair trial standards were not respected, and in spite of appeals by many local and international actors to halt the executions.

About two million people, or half the population, in the Sahelian belt of Chad face hunger and more than a quarter of them are in severe need of external assistance to meet their minimum daily food needs, the United Nations food relief agency said today.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that based on the current assessment of the Zika virus circulating in almost 60 countries globally and 39 countries in the Americas, there is no public health justification for postponing or cancelling the 2016 Olympic Games.

Concluding a three-day visit to Côte d'Ivoire, the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict has welcomed progress made thus far by the Government, and in particular by the national armed forces, in addressing sexual violence crimes in the country.

The verdict announced by a special court in Senegal on the conviction of the former President of Chad, Hissène Habré, of crimes against humanity sent “a strong signal” to those who perpetrate serious crimes of international concern, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

The number of HIV-positive people taking antiretroviral medicines more than doubled to an estimated 17 million people from 2010 to 2015, with two million people gaining access to the life-saving drug last year alone, the United Nations agency leading the world’s HIV/AIDS response announced today.

Two United Nations humanitarian officials expressed deep concerned over the fate of an estimated 8,000 Syrians trapped by fighting around the towns of Mare’a and Sheikh Issa in northern Aleppo Governorate following advances in the past three days by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) into areas controlled by non-State armed groups.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process today welcomed statements by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on the Arab Peace Initiative.

As the global community marks World No Tobacco Day, the United Nations is advocating for the use of plain packaging of tobacco products in an effort to save lives by reducing demand for such products, which kill nearly 6 million people every year.

Nearly 3,700 people, or 624 families, have fled Fallujah over the past week amid a new offensive by Iraqi forces to retake the besieged city from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), the United Nations said today, with humanitarian officials also reporting that those civilians left behind risk being used as ‘human shields’ by the terrorists.