After years of intense negotiations, countries on Friday reached a landmark deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping, setting mandatory fuel standards and introducing an industry-wide carbon pricing mechanism.

Military operations continue in Myanmar despite ceasefires declared after the recent earthquake that killed more than 3,600 people, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday.

Sexual violence against children in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached staggering proportions, with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reporting thousands of new cases in just two months – evidence that it’s being used as a systemic weapon of war and deliberate terror tactic.

Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist confirmed on Friday.

Roughly 400,000 Syrians have returned home from the region since the fall of the Assad regime last December, while more than a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have gone back to their communities.

The UN human rights office said on Friday it fears that Israel may intend to permanently remove civilians in Gaza as part of an expanded buffer zone, amid evacuations orders and escalating bombardment.

Two years since Sudan’s brutal conflict began, UN agencies warned that famine is spreading and civilians of all ages continue to suffer shocking abuse, including rape and gang rape.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 11 (IPS) - As the Trump administration’s hostility towards the United Nations and other international organizations keeps growing, a New York Times columnist last week proposed what he frivolously described as “something a little incendiary”.

NAIROBI, Apr 10 (IPS) - "To have impact, it was crucial to understand what impact was wanted," CGIAR's Executive Managing Director Dr. Ismahane Elouafi said at the launch of the organization's flagship report, Insight to Impact: A decision-maker’s guide to navigating food system science.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 10 (IPS) - On April 4, it was confirmed by Myanmar authorities that there were approximately 180,000 Rohingya refugees residing in Bangladesh that are eligible to return. Following numerous cuts in funding as a result of President Donald Trump’s reduction of USAID, as well as the increasingly volatile humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, it is uncertain if repatriation will best serve Rohingya refugee communities.