United States votes against resolution to end Cuba embargo The United States voted against a resolution in the UN General Assembly on Wednesday to end its economic embargo of Cuba. It reverses the position taken last year by the administration of President Barack Obama, to abstain following debate on the measure, for the first time [...]

Refugees, migrants and others are being treated almost as sub-human in some circumstances, according to independent rights expert Agnes Callamard, who delivered her report to the General Assembly a few days ago. The Special Rapporteur passionately described situations in which there appears to be "complete indifference" to the rights of refugees, saying they are being [...]

UN Environment chief calls for bolder action on renewable energy Subsidies to the coal and gas industries should be dropped to encourage investment in renewable energy and keep global warming in check, the head of the UN environment agency, UNEP, said on Tuesday. Erik Solheim was speaking at the launch of UNEP's Emissions Gap Report [...]

The increased use and abuse of children by warring parties is "a source of global shame", the UN chief told the Security Council on Tuesday. AntĂłnio Guterres was briefing the Council on his recently published report on Children and Armed Conflict, for 2016. More than 8,000 children were killed and maimed during the year, while [...]

WHO reports progress in fight against hepatitis A record three million people were able to obtain treatment for hepatitis C over the past two years. Furthermore, some 2.8 million people began lifelong treatment for hepatitis B in 2016. The figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) were released ahead of the start of the World [...]

As Rohingya refugees continue to pour into neighbouring Bangladesh, one UN agency is taking steps to address their psychological well-being. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is supporting an initiative that provides so-called "mental health first aid" to the displaced, who have fled violence in Myanmar. More than 600,000 members of the Muslim minority community have [...]

Eritrea's future is literally "walking away" in the form of young refugees fleeing the country. That's the view of Sheila Keetharuth, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. She said that thousands of young people often walk for days in a "desperate bid" to reach the border and avoid years-long forced-conscription into [...]

Representatives from 144 countries are meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, this week to ensure that future generations will have access to food and agricultural products that originate from plants. The nations have agreed to conserve and share the genetic materials of 64 crops— for example, for use in research or breeding—in line with a UN treaty [...]

Tuberculosis remains world's "top infectious killer": WHO Tuberculosis, or TB, remains the world's top infectious killer, according to latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday. The data from 2016, paints what WHO described as a "grim picture", with an estimated 1.3 million TB deaths among HIV-negative people and an additional 374,000 among [...]

Listen to our daily bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, presented by Matt Wells and Dianne Penn. In today’s programme:  Countries meet to ensure future availability of food and other products derived from plants; and: We preview a forum in Bahrain that unites entrepreneurship and development.