UN Top Stories

Turkey, one of the five major ship recycling nations in the world, has signed the United Nations-backed treaty promoting the environmentally friendly recycling of ships.

The United Nations refugee agency has moved to improve the plight of about 1,500 Central African refugees scattered along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a spokesperson said today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated Kenyans and their leaders on the occasion of the promulgation of the country’s new constitution, which was backed by a large majority of citizens in a referendum earlier this month.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a United States national who was freed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on humanitarian grounds during a visit to Pyongyang by former US President Jimmy Carter.

The surging Indus River in Pakistan continues to inundate more areas and swell the numbers of people in need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations reported today, saying another 1 million people have been displaced by floods in the southern province of Sindh during the past two days alone.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today commended Solomon Islanders for taking part in peaceful and orderly parliamentary polls that led to the selection this week of Danny Philip as the new Prime Minister of the Pacific archipelago.

The top United Nations envoy to Lebanon today backed the call made by the country’s leaders for dialogue to avoid further tensions following armed clashes earlier this week between Shi’a and Sunni Muslim groups in the capital, Beirut.

The United Nations Human Rights Council’s international, independent fact-finding mission of high-level experts inquiring into the Gaza flotilla incident on 31 May has wrapped up a week-long visit to Turkey.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging all Member States that have not yet done so to ratify the United Nations-backed treaty banning nuclear tests, saying it is important to build on the momentum made on disarmament and non-proliferation over the past year.

The top United Nations humanitarian official in Sri Lanka is appealing to the international community to "stay the course" in helping displaced persons return to their former communities in the wake of last year’s end to the country’s protracted civil war.

A wide range of species not native to Europe’s Wadden Sea have invaded its ecosystem, threatening the biodiversity of the World Heritage Site, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report unveiled today.

United Nations human rights officials in Nepal are voicing concern over continued reports that journalists operating in the country’s eastern Terai districts are facing serious threats and intimidation.

The number of Afghan refugees voluntarily returning home from Pakistan and Iran has topped 100,000 so far this year, the United Nations reported today, noting that this is almost twice as many as in 2009.

An independent United Nations human rights expert has called on all Somalis to help prevent the kind of bloodshed witnessed this week when 33 people were killed during a hotel bombing in the capital, and to assist in bringing those responsible to justice.

The United Nations human rights chief today strongly condemned the killing of 72 migrants in northern Mexico and called on the authorities to take urgent steps to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

The United Nations human rights chief today strongly condemned the killing of 72 migrants in northern Mexico and called on the authorities to take urgent steps to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Members of the Security Council today voiced outrage at the recent mass rape of civilians by members of armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and repeated their demand that parties to the conflict there cease all forms of sexual violence and other human rights violations.

Nine toxic chemicals have been added to an international convention on organic substances that persistently pollute the environment and harm human health, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today as the updated agreement entered into force.

The United Nations agriculture agency and the European Community are supporting Liberia in rehabilitating its fertile lowlands, which cover one fifth of the West African country, to cut the nation’s dependence on rice imports and improve the livelihood of vulnerable farming families.

Funds from a global environment grants scheme implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will enable an indigenous community in one of Cambodia's poorest provinces to build an ecotourism project at a lake recently returned to them from private ownership.