Gaza: War crimes probe pledges to continue work for justice and accountability

“The Board of Peace has been set up pursuant to a plan that was submitted to the Security Council that has been voted upon and accepted,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and in Israel.  “As a Commission of Inquiry, we see our task […]

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World News in Brief: UN Support Office in Haiti, Goodwill Ambassador Theo James in Syria, urgent appeal for millions in DR Congo

The office established through a resolution in September, will provide support to the new Gang Suppression Force and the UN political mission in the country (BINUH). The Spokesperson’s updates included that Stephen McOwan has been selected as interim director of the office and he joined some 37 staff members already up and running in Port-au-Prince over […]

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EU stands in full solidarity with Switzerland and evacuates victims after Crans-Montana tragedy

EU reacts swiftly after the tragic fire in the bar during the New Year’s celebrations at the ski resort Crans-Montana, the Swiss canton Valais. In response to Switzerland´s request for emergency assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, efforts are underway to evacuate severely injured patients for specialised treatment. To that end, experts, known as […]

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Sudan: Atrocities ‘repeated town by town’, ICC prosecutor tells UN Security Council

Briefing ambassadors, ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the situation in Darfur had “darkened even further,” with civilians subjected to what she described as collective torture amid a widening war between Sudan’s rival military forces. “The picture that is emerging is appalling: organised, widespread, mass criminality including mass executions,” Ms. Khan said. “Atrocities are […]

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World News in Brief: Iran in the Human Rights Council, Myanmar election ‘fraud’, migration chief in Cyprus, Mozambique flood update

Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. Türk said that although the “killing on the streets of Iran may have subsided…the brutality continues”. He said that violent repression did not solve any of Iran’s problems but instead created conditions for further violations, instability and bloodshed. “We have indications that the security forces made mass […]

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EU announces €153 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Moldova

The European Commission is announcing €153 million in emergency aid to Ukraine and refugee-hosting Moldova, as millions Ukrainians face freezing temperatures without power under sustained Russian bombardment of energy infrastructure. Responding to the urgent needs, the EU is allocating an initial €145 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine to provide protection assistance, shelter, food, cash […]

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UN rights chief decries US treatment of migrants, as deaths in ICE custody rise

In a news release on Friday, High Commissioner Volker Türk said individuals suspected of being undocumented migrants are being surveilled, arrested and detained – sometimes violently – in locations ranging from hospitals and places of worship to courthouses, schools, markets and private homes. The UN rights chief said he was “astounded by the now-routine abuse […]

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Sudan: UN warns of unprecedented child hunger in Darfur as fighting fuels refugee exodus

The war, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has devastated civilian infrastructure, collapsed basic services and triggered one of the world’s largest displacement crises. A nutrition survey conducted this month in Um Baru locality in Sudan’s North Darfur state – one of the […]

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UN chief warns ‘law of the jungle’ is replacing rule of law

António Guterres was addressing a high-level open debate of the UN Security Council convened by Somalia, which holds the Council presidency for January. The discussion comes as conflicts multiply, global tensions rise, and confidence in international institutions and rules is fading – even as the UN marks 80 years since the adoption of its founding […]

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At the edge of war: the Central African Republic’s uneasy border with Sudan

Since the beginning of the civil war in Sudan, tens of thousands of refugees have fled south to the area, carrying with them not only what they could salvage from their homes, but the woes of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. On a sweltering November day, at the start of the dry season, a tall woman […]

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