http://www.un.org/news A world of news from the world organization. en-us Copyright 2013, UN News Centre http://www.un.org/apps/news/en/images/content/logo_ncs_sm_rss.png http://www.un.org/news 143 Latest from the UN News Service http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44942&Cr=+mali+&Cr1= Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EST Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed Albert Gerard Koenders of the Netherlands as the head of the recently approved United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44936&Cr=golan&Cr1= Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EST Members of the Security Council have ‘strongly condemned' the looting of a UN observation post in the Golan Heights and the temporary detention of three peacekeepers, the third such incident in the past two months. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44935&Cr=iraq&Cr1= Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EST The top United Nations official in Iraq today urged Iraqi leaders to protect civilians following a wave of bombings over the past few days which have claimed more innocent lives. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44932&Cr=syria&Cr1= Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EST Stressing that a political solution is the only way to end the Syria crisis, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that an international conference proposed by Russia and the United States should be held as soon as possible so as not to lose momentum. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44929&Cr=pibor&Cr1= Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EST Additional United Nations peacekeepers are on alert to protect civilians in the town of Pibor in South Sudan's Jonglei state where the situation remains tense amid recent violence, looting and displacement, the Secretary-General's spokesperson today said. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44926&Cr=palestin&Cr1= Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EST Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in separate conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, stressed the need for the parties to create the conditions conducive to resuming meaningful negotiations, his spokesperson said today. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44922&Cr=nigeria&Cr1= Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EST Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on all extremist groups in Nigeria to cease their attacks amid deteriorating security in the country and where a state of emergency has been declared in parts of the northeast. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44921&Cr=+mali+&Cr1= Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EST The United Nations today welcomed the international community's pledge of €3.25 billion to support a recovery plan for Mali, which is emerging from a recent crisis that saw its northern territory overtaken by extremists and hundreds of thousands of people uprooted by conflict. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44916&Cr=syria&Cr1= Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 EST Expressing grave concern at the continuing escalation of violence in Syria, the United Nations General Assembly today adopted a resolution reiterating its call for rapid progress on a political transition, "which represents the best opportunity to resolve the situation […] peacefully." http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44915&Cr=central+african+republic&Cr1= Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 EST A neutral security force is urgently needed to help restore the stability and counter the absence of law and order in the Central African Republic (CAR), a United Nations envoy today told the Security Council, while also calling on the body to consider sanctions against rebel groups for gross violations of human rights.