UN News Centre

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Friday&#39s bomb attack on a night market in Davao City in the Philippines that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens, his spokesman said today.

A United Nations report on freedom of expression in Somalia released today describes progress in state-building in Somalia, but shows the very challenging environment that continues to confront journalists, human rights defenders and political leaders, including numerous killings, arrests, intimidation and closure of critical media outlets.

On the second day of its visit to South Sudan, a delegation from the United Nations Security Council today met with displaced people living in camps, known as &#8220protection of civilians&#8221 sites, seeing first-hand &#8220the human consequences of the failure of political leaders to bring peace back to their country.&#8221

Visiting the southeastern city of Hangzhou in China, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has commended the leaders of that country and the United States for formally joining the Paris Agreement on climate change today.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today met with Turkey&#39s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, emphasizing the key role of Turkey in the fight against Da&#39esh (ISIL), Mr. Ban&#39s office said.

On a visit to northern Jordan today, the top United Nations humanitarian official saw first-hand the conditions that more than 70,000 Syrian refugees, mostly women and children, are having to stay in along the border with Syria &#8211 in the middle of the desert, under a blazing sun and with no food or water &#8211 amid talks with Jordanian authorities aimed at resolving their plight.

Together with its partners, the United Nations health agency has vaccinated more than 7.7 million people in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in less than two weeks.

Following a meeting of its Emergency Committee on Zika yesterday, the United Nations health agency said today that the infectious disease, and its associated congenital and other neurological disorders, continues to be an international public health emergency due to continuing geographic expansion and considerable gaps in understanding of the virus and its consequences.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is saddened to learn of the death of President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, according to the UN chief’s spokesperson.

In his first visit to Sri Lanka since the end of its civil war seven years ago, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the country’s steps towards peace and reconciliation, while also highlighting the importance of and need for more progress with human rights and sustainable development for that progress.

A delegation from the United Nations Security Council today arrived in South Sudan, where it will reinforce recent messages made to the authorities as well as discuss how the UN peacekeeping mission there can help them improve the security and humanitarian situation in the wake of recent violence.

Stressing that &#8220time is of the essence&#8221 amid the increasingly dire situation in Aleppo, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria today called for all sides in the conflict to agree by Sunday on allowing aid delivery and repairs for the war-ravaged city&#39s power and water systems to provide some relief for the nearly two million people trapped there.

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the Democratic People&#39s Republic of Korea&#39s (DPRK) launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine on 23 August, which follows a series of recent tests and launches the Council said is a &#8220grave violation&#8221 of the DPRK&#39s international obligations and &#8220in flagrant disregard&#8221 of repeated calls to halt such activity.

The United Nations rights expert on the situation of human rights in Iran has called on the Government to immediately halt the execution of 12 individuals, all of whom have been reportedly sentenced to death for drug-related offences.

In the first full, completed, cross-line delivery via road in August, inter-agency convoys have reached some 75,000 people in al-Waer in Syria’s Homs province with life-saving humanitarian assistance, the United Nations humanitarian arm has reported.

On the eve of the presidential election in Gabon, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today encouraged all Gabonese to vote responsibly and urged the candidates and other political stakeholders to abstain from any acts of incitement and maintain a peaceful atmosphere before, during and after the election.

Marking the second anniversary of the 2014 ceasefire which ended the most devastating round of hostilities in Gaza, heads of United Nations agencies there have called for a greater flow of material and funding to address humanitarian needs and boost economic prospects for Gaza&#39s 1.9 million residents.

Greece still faces great challenges in managing its refugee crisis, particularly if European Union countries do not step up their relocation and family reunion programmes, the head of the United Nations refugee agency said during a recent visit to the country.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has condemned the killing of João Miranda do Carmo, an online journalist in Brazil, and called for an investigation into the incident.

The United Nations Security Council has warmly welcomed the conclusion of negotiations earlier this week between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia &#8211 People&#39s Army (FARC-EP), and congratulated the Colombian people in achieving a final peace agreement, bringing an end to more than 50 years of conflict.