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World News in Brief: UAE urged to free activists, mass school closures in Haiti, aid for Sudanese refugees in Libya

The United Arab Emirates must immediately release 43 activists who have been sentenced to life imprisonment for terror offences, independent UN human rights experts said on Tuesday. The defendants…

Kazakhstan tightens laws to combat trafficking of newborns

Babies are being sold for up to $4,500 in Kazakhstan, but the government is cracking down on traffickers with a new law adopted earlier this month. To fight against trafficking newborns, the new…

Stories from the UN Archive: Pope Francis’s message to the world

In 2015, His Holiness Pope Francis paid an historic visit to UN Headquarters, calling the United Nations “necessary”. On the International Day of Friendship, marked annually on 30 July, we are looking…

UN official describes Gaza situation as ‘absolutely catastrophic’ amid severe shortages

The top UN humanitarian official for Gaza said on Monday that the situation in the war-ravaged enclave remains “absolutely catastrophic”, with Palestinian civilians enduring a “horrendous maelstrom of human misery…

Healthcare in Sudan ‘hanging by a thread,’ warns UN agency

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday strongly denounced the increasing attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan, reporting over 20 such incidents in the last two months. In one particularly…

Millions of young women suffer at the hands of their intimate partners: WHO

Nearly a quarter of all adolescent girls who have been in a relationship – close to 19 million – will have experienced intimate partner violence by the time they turn 20, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new analysis on Monday.…

Venezuela: Guterres calls for ‘complete transparency’ following disputed presidential election

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has commended the people of Venezuela “for their determination to express their will peacefully through the ballot box,” his Spokesperson said on Monday. …

UN officials alarmed by civilian targeting amid renewed fighting in Myanmar

Senior UN officials on Monday voiced alarm over the continued escalation in conflict in Myanmar, amid reports of direct targeting of civilians in aerial attacks, and the abduction and forced recruitment of children by armed forces…

Torrential rains and floods in South Asia endanger millions of children, warns UNICEF

More than six million children in South Asia are at risk following severe torrential rains, flash floods, and landslides that have devastated the region, leaving many homeless, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Monday…

Gaza: Fresh evacuation orders compound misery for enclave’s displaced

New forced displacements have continued in Gaza as regional tensions escalate after a deadly strike in the Syrian Golan Heights, where 12 youngsters were killed over the weekend, UN humanitarians have said.…