News from the United Nations

• ‘New Quest Unlocked’: UN experts counter extremism in gaming spaces December 23, 2024
  As millions unwrap new gaming devices this holiday season, UN experts are warning that these digital playgrounds need next-generation protection against extremist exploitation. 
• Syria: UN investigators call for protecting evidence amid worsening humanitarian crisis December 23, 2024
  The humanitarian crisis in Syria continues to escalate, with millions struggling to access basic resources as fuel shortages and damaged infrastructure hinder relief efforts, the UN reported on Monday.
• UN World Court concludes landmark hearings on States’ responsibility for climate change December 23, 2024
  The International Court of Justice (ICJ) held historic hearings from 2 to 13 December addressing States’ obligations under international law to combat climate change, a process spearheaded by small island nations facing existential threats.
• Only 3 per cent of UN emergency food aid getting to desperate Gazans December 23, 2024
  Since October, when Israeli forces launched a ground offensive in northern Gaza, only three per cent of food and water deliveries organized by the UN World Food Programme  (WFP) have been permitted to enter areas in northern Gaza.
• Yemen bears world’s highest cholera burden, deepening humanitarian crisis December 23, 2024
  Yemen has reported the highest global burden of cholera, with nearly 250,000 suspected cases and 861 associated deaths as of 1 December, accounting for 35 per cent of worldwide cholera cases and 18 per cent of related deaths this year, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
• Over 207 executed in Port-au-Prince massacre: UN report December 23, 2024
  A little over two weeks after a surge of violence in the Cité Soleil commune of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, a UN report has concluded that more than 207 people were executed by the Wharf Jérémie gang.
• UN surge teams mobilise as Vanuatu hit by second earthquake December 22, 2024
  UN agencies are intensifying their response in Vanuatu after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed 12 people and injured over 200 earlier this week, with a second 6.1 magnitude tremor on Sunday further exacerbating the challenges for affected communities.
• Syria transition may fail if support lifeline is delayed, says IOM chief December 20, 2024
  The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
• Security and economic woes plague West Africa, as key elections loom December 20, 2024
  West Africa and the Sahel continue to grapple with a confluence of political, security and humanitarian crises as countries prepares for pivotal elections in 2025, the UN special envoy for the vast region told ambassadors in the Security Council on Friday.
• Syria: Rights investigators call for protection of evidence, including mass grave sites December 20, 2024
  In a landmark mission to Syria, the UN probe into the most serious rights violations committed in the country since 2011 has called on caretaker authorities to take immediate measures to protect mass grave sites and preserve critical evidence.