Bahrain must release arrested opposition leader, guarantee fair trial – UN rights office

Dec 31, 2014, at 06:42 pm

New York, Dec 31 (IBNS)The United Nations human rights office is urging Bahrain to immediately release opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman as well as all other persons convicted or detained for "merely exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly."

Urgent UN agency appeal raises $45 million to meet refugee food needs in Kenya

Dec 31, 2014, at 06:41 pm

New York, Dec 31 (IBNS)The United Nations has said on Tuesday that a strong response by donors to its urgent appeal for funding means that it can resume providing full food rations to refugees in Kenya in January.

Debris recovered belong to QZ8501, AirAsia confirms

Dec 31, 2014, at 01:42 am

Surabaya, Dec 30 (IBNS): Aviation company AirAsia Indonesia on Tuesday confirmed that the debris found earlier in the day belonged to its missing flight QZ8501 that went missing with 162 people on board on Sunday morning.

AirAsia: Over 40 bodies, debris recovered from sea

Dec 30, 2014, at 11:40 pm

Surabaya, Dec 30 (IBNS): More than 40 bodies and debris have been recovered on Tuesday from the Java Sea as search operation continued for the missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 that went missing with 162 people on board on Sunday morning, reports said.

UN Mission condemns rocket attack against its camp in northern Mali

Dec 30, 2014, at 09:35 pm

New York, Dec 30 (IBNS) The United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) strongly condemned on Monday’s rocket attack on its camp in the northern city of Tessalit.

UN experts urge Bahrain to drop charges against women activists

Dec 30, 2014, at 09:33 pm

New York, Dec 30 (IBNS) A group of United Nations human rights experts are urging the government of Bahrain to drop charges against three women human rights activists exercising their rights to free expression and free association.

Lebanon: UN Special Coordinator meets Prime Minister to discuss year's challenges, progress

Dec 30, 2014, at 09:29 pm

New York, Dec 30 (IBNS) The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Derek Plumbly, met in Beirut on Monday with Prime Minister Tamam Salam to discuss the grave security challenges faced by the country this year, as well as progress made to promote dialogue between political parties.

South Sudan: UN boosts food assistance as 'very critical' Nile corridor reopens

Dec 30, 2014, at 09:27 pm

New York, Dec 30 (IBNS): A barge carrying a shipment of food destined for thousands of people in South Sudan has crossed over from neighbouring Sudan, reopening a long-closed river corridor along the Nile, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Monday.

Ban welcomes proposal for 'high-level dialogue' between two Koreas

Dec 30, 2014, at 07:20 pm

New York, Dec 30 (IBNS) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a proposal by the Government of the Republic of Korea to kick-start a high-level dialogue with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in an effort to thaw relations between the two countries.

Death toll in Italian ferry fire touches 7

Dec 30, 2014, at 02:53 am

Corfu, Dec 29 (IBNS): The death toll in the fire incident on a Norman Atlantic ferry off Corfu has touched seven, media reports said on Monday.

AirAsia plane in bottom of sea: Indonesia search agency

Dec 29, 2014, at 08:56 pm

Surabaya, Dec 29 (IBNS) - The missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 that went missing with 162 people on board on Sunday morning in probability has crashed and went into the bottom of the sea, said Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency team chief in a media briefing

International search drive mobilized for missing AirAsia flight

Dec 29, 2014, at 07:28 pm

Surabaya, Dec 29 (IBNS) - AirAsia Indonesia received confirmation from the National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia (BASARNAS) that an international search and rescue mission from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia had been mobilized in the search of flight QZ8501.

Missing AirAsia plane likely at bottom of sea bed, says expert

Dec 29, 2014, at 06:19 pm

Jakarta, Dec 29 (IBNS): The AirAsia plane that went missing with 162 passengers on board en-route to Singapore is likely at the bottom of the sea, media reports said.

Countries offers help in search for missing AirAsia aircraft

Dec 29, 2014, at 02:34 am

Jakarta, Dec 28 (IBNS) Several countries, including Australia, has offered help to Indonesia to search for the missing AirAsia flight on Sunday.

Search for missing plane suspended for the day

Dec 29, 2014, at 12:56 am

Jakarta, Dec 28 (IBNS): Indonesian authorities have suspended for the night the operation to search for the AirAsia flight with 162 people, mostly Indonesian, on board flying to Singapore from Indonesia went missing in the air after it lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday morning, reports said.

Legal loopholes led to Lakhvi's bail: Pak court

Dec 28, 2014, at 05:26 am

Islamabad, Dec 27 (IBNS): A Pakistani court has said top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi was granted bail due to legal loopholes in the Mumbai attacks case.

Bangladesh: 20-party alliance calls for strike on Monday

Dec 28, 2014, at 04:41 am

Dhaka, Dec 27 (IBNS): Bangladesh's main opposition the BNP-led 20-party alliance on Saturday called a countrywide hartal on Monday, media reports said.

UN chief urges Pakistan to end executions, reinstate death penalty moratorium

Dec 27, 2014, at 04:15 pm

New York, Dec 27 (IBNS): Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Government of Pakistan to bring an end to the executions of all convicts and re-impose the country’s moratorium on the death penalty, a United Nations spokesperson announced on Friday.

Pakistan: Facilitator of Peshawar school attack killed

Dec 26, 2014, at 11:21 pm

Peshawar, Dec 26 (IBNS): The facilitator of the attack on the Army Public School in Pakistan's Peshawar city was killed in a raid conducted by security forces and political administration, reports said on Friday.

Kalashnikov Concern applies to register AK-47 word trademark

Dec 26, 2014, at 05:16 am

Moscow, Dec 25 (IBNS): Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov Concern has applied to register a word trademark for weapon AK-47 assault rifle, including for toys, according to the court materials seen by TASS news agency of the country.

Libya: UN condemns sectarian murder as 'alien' to country's tradition of tolerance

Dec 25, 2014, at 04:40 pm

New York, Dec 25 (IBNS) The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has strongly condemned the murder of an Egyptian Coptic doctor and his wife in the city of Sirte, as well as the abduction of the couple’s 18-year-old daughter, in the latest spate of sectarian violence in the North African country.

UN chief appoints Malian national as deputy envoy for South Sudan

Dec 25, 2014, at 04:38 pm

New York, Dec 25 (IBNS) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday announced the appointment of Moustapha Soumare of Mali as his Deputy Special Representative (Political) for the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS).

Somalia: UN chief hails appointment of new Prime Minister

Dec 25, 2014, at 04:36 pm

New York, Dec 25 (IBNS) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed the Parliamentary endorsement of Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke as the new Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia in a step towards resolving the country's current political crisis.

Despite Gaza clashes, Israelis and Palestinians must maintain ceasefire, says UN official

Dec 25, 2014, at 04:31 pm

New York, Dec 25 (IBNS) The United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, James Rawley, has said he is deeply concerned by reports of exchange of fire between Palestinian militants and the Israeli Defense Forces in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

'No sign of improvement' for human rights in Belarus, warns UN expert

Dec 25, 2014, at 04:31 pm

New York, Dec 25 (IBNS): Amid the continuing application of death sentences, the harassment of human rights defenders and independent journalists, and a new censorship law clamping down on internet freedom, the Government of Belarus shows no imminent sign of bettering its human rights record, a United Nations expert has declared.

Pakistan: 27injured in Quetta explosion

Dec 25, 2014, at 03:35 am

Quetta, Dec 24 (IBNS): An explosion in Quetta’s populated Liaquat Bazaar in has injured at least 27 people on Wednesday, media reports said.

As war continues, UN agency maps extensive destruction to Syria’s cultural heritage

Dec 24, 2014, at 02:42 pm

New York, Dec 24 (IBNS) The extensive destruction and damage of Syria's historical and cultural heritage sites demands increased efforts to protect them from the violence of the country's continuing conflict, a new United Nations report based on exclusive satellite imagery has revealed.

Haiti: UN and partners welcome consensus on appointment of interim Prime Minister

Dec 24, 2014, at 02:41 pm

New York, Dec 24 (IBNS) The United Nations and its international partners on Tuesday welcomed the designation of Florence Guillaume as Haiti’s interim Prime Minister.

Laos: UN experts appeal for help to probe two-year-old disappearance of rights defender

Dec 24, 2014, at 02:40 pm

New York, Dec 24 (IBNS) International support is now needed to investigate the enforced disappearance of leading Laotian human rights defender Sombath Somphone, who was last seen in December 2012, a group of United Nations independent experts urged on Tuesday.

Tunisia's successful presidential elections 'critical step' in country's transition – Ban

Dec 24, 2014, at 02:34 pm

New York, Dec 24 (IBNS) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday commended the Tunisian people on the successful holding of the second round of presidential elections on 21 December and congratulated the winner, Beji Caid Essebsi.