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The latest round of UN climate negotiations, COP29, opened this past Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan, following a year that broke multiple extreme heat records and saw widespread climate-driven chaos – from wildfires to destructive floods and to hurricanes – strike nearly every corner of the planet. A major increase in financial commitments to assist vulnerable countries in mitigating and adapting to climate impacts is the main goal of this year’s conference, which has been dubbed the “climate finance COP.”

One of the best-preserved Spanish colonial towns in Asia that was damaged in a huge earthquake in the Philippines is being repaired with an eye to reducing the impact of future disasters thanks in part to the support of the UN educational and cultural organization UNESCO.

UN independent human rights experts on Friday called on Mozambican authorities to prevent and end ongoing violence and repression of demonstrators in the wake of contentious general elections last month.

A UN human rights expert on Friday strongly condemned the jailing of a 68-year-old paediatrician in Moscow, describing the case as another example of Russia’s “systematic suppression of dissenting voices”.

Every year, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) campaign led by UN Women serves as a powerful reminder of the widespread violence women and girls face worldwide.

The top UN health official gave a sobering reality check as the Fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance began Friday in Jeddah: “AMR doesn’t just threaten to make the medicines on which we depend less effective; it’s happening now.”

Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.

In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy capacity is on the brink of collapse and drones terrify communities on the frontline, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday

The UN environment agency chief warned the COP29 climate summit in Baku on Friday that methane emissions must come down – “and come down fast” –to have any chance of controlling global warming. 

At least 100,000 people have been forced to leave northern Gaza in the last 24 hours, with UN colleagues on the ground reporting worsening conditions and Israel’s continuous denial of aid delivery requests as displacement and the death toll rises there and in Lebanon amid constant airstrikes. App users can follow our live update through the day here.

Marking the inaugural International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organised Crime on Friday, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has called for unified global efforts to counter these pervasive threats.

Insecurity and overlapping crises afflicting Haiti are continuing to fuel a dire humanitarian situation across the Caribbean nation, the UN Spokesperson said on Thursday.