UN News Centre

A cohort of independent UN experts has called on the Human Rights Council to launch an international investigation into the massive explosion in Beirut two year ago, with a view to securing justice for those who died and were injured.

Amid growing restrictions on civic space and press freedoms in Cambodia, journalists are being increasingly subjected to various forms of harassment, pressure, and violence, according to a new report published on Wednesday by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR).

The first, eagerly-awaited commercial shipment of grain to leave the Ukrainian port of Odesa since Russia’s invasion more than five months ago, was cleared to proceed to Lebanon on Wednesday, after a scheduled inspection stopover in Istanbul.

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) denounced on Tuesday the hanging of two inmates in Changi Prison, located in the eastern part of Singapore.

The landmark truce in Yemen, which has been holding since April, has been renewed for an additional two months through 2 October, UN Special Envoy for the country, Hans Grundberg, announced on Tuesday. 

Three UN-appointed independent human rights experts returned from Ethiopia on Tuesday after working to negotiate access to areas important for investigations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that the Greater Horn of Africa is experiencing one of the worst hunger crises of the last 70 years.  

Countries need to work more together to stop the rapidly spreading outbreak of monkeypox, “no matter the nationality, skin colour or religion of the affected population,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Two of the largest reservoirs in the United States are at dangerously low levels due to the climate crisis and overconsumption of water, which could affect water and electricity supply for millions in six western states and Mexico, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warned on Tuesday. 

While more than three quarters of all adults living with HIV are receiving some kind of treatment, the number of children doing so, stands at only 52 per cent. In response to this startling disparity, UN agencies UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO, and others, have formed a global alliance to prevent new HIV infections and ensure that by 2030 all HIV positive children can get access to lifesaving treatment.

The southern ocean border of Kenya and Tanzania is dotted with thick hedges of mangroves – indispensable carbon sinks and spectacular ecosystems teeming with life – that appear to float dreamlike over creek beds and mudflats. These hardy trees and shrubs, and the communities that depend on them, are getting a major boost from UN-backed restoration plans that are also helping to reduce poverty and build economic resilience.

The ruling by the United States Supreme Court against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday, is “a setback in our fight against climate change” said the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

UN Human Rights Council-appointed rights investigators announced on Thursday that they’ve launched a probe into an alleged massacre of at least 200 people in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. 

Despite diplomatic engagements, restoring the so-called Iran nuclear agreement continues to be hindered by political and technical differences, the UN political and peacebuilding chief told the Security Council on Thursday.  

A new UN-led financing tool to strengthen weather and climate forecasting, improve life-saving early warning systems, safeguard jobs, and underpin climate adaptation for long-term resilience, officially opened for business on Thursday.

Road traffic accidents claim nearly 1.3 million lives each year, cost some countries up to three per cent of their annual GDP, and are the biggest killer of five to 29-year olds globally, the UN General Assembly President told a High-level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety on Thursday.

Across Ukraine, the scale of needs caused by Russia's invasion is still massive and human rights concerns persist, UN humanitarians said in an update on Thursday, as they repeated calls for access to the country's Black Sea ports to export vitally needed cereals.

Increasing scientific knowledge, developing research capacity and making the most of new marine technology, are essential to sustainable ocean management, the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, heard on Thursday.

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in some 110 countries, driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, said the UN health agency chief on Wednesday, amounting to a 20 per cent spike overall, and a rise in the number of deaths across three of the six world regions monitored by the World Health Organization.

Every 24 seconds someone is killed in traffic, making safety on the world’s roads a global development challenge for all societies, especially for the most vulnerable, a senior UN official has said, ahead of the first ever High-level General Assembly Meeting on Improving Road Safety.