A drone strike in eastern Ukraine on Saturday could possibly be the deadliest in recent weeks, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country, HRMMU, has said.

The UN Secretary-General renewed his call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and upheld the need for a two-State solution between Israelis and Palestinians in a speech on Saturday to the League of Arab States Summit in Baghdad.

An international pandemic prevention treaty, three years in the making, is set to be adopted this week in Geneva. Rehman Hassan, a prominent member of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) Youth Council, is confident the accord could make a huge difference to the way that the world reacts to pandemics.

SAN FRANCISCO, California / APEX, North Carolina, US, May 16 (IPS) - While it may be difficult and painful, the UN Secretary-General is right to embrace change, believe Prof. Felix Dodds and Chris Spence

The United Nations has been called many things in its time:

NEW YORK, May 16 (IPS) - The Gulf's most powerful weapon isn't a military, a United Nations (UN) Security Council seat, or a legacy of global diplomacy. Choosing multilateralism and mega-projects over militaries and old-world diplomacy, they are tipping the scale without firing a single shot. Their approach is more modern, where money, alliances, and an active vision for the future are the weapon of choice.

SHYAMNAGAR, Bangladesh, May 16 (IPS) - Golenur Begum watched her house being washed away twice by powerful storms that hit the coastal village of Sinharatoli in southwestern Bangladesh. Now the women from her village and others are climate-proofing their communities by planting mangroves.Golenur Begum has faced 12 cyclones in her life. As a child, she witnessed her father’s house destroyed, and as an adult, she watched her home smashed. Saltwater brought by the tidal surges that accompanied the cyclones wrecked their farms and livelihoods.  And with climate change, these impacts are becoming more intense and frequent.

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (IPS) - Due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of children, particularly in some of the world’s wealthiest countries, experienced declines in their overall health and academic performances.

JHAPA, Nepal, May 16 (IPS) - Sitting in his small hut in the Beldangi refugee camp in Jhapa district, Nepal, Narayan Kumar Subedi feels relieved that his son, Aasis Subedi, is safe.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, May 16 (IPS) - Three catastrophic events in the Balkans have sparked powerful movements for systemic change. A train collision that killed 57 people in Greece, a nightclub fire that claimed 59 young lives in North Macedonia and a collapsed railway station roof that left 15 dead in Serbia have ignited sustained anti-corruption protests in all three countries. These weren’t random tragedies but the culmination of systemic failure – neglected safety regulations, illegally issued permits and compromised oversight – with corruption the common denominator.

BANGKOK, Thailand, May 16 (IPS) - As the United Nations celebrates its 80th anniversary, one message from the UN Charter remains particularly relevant: promoting cooperative solutions to international economic, social, health, and related problems.