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News Articles: United Nations

The U.N. announced on Monday that it fired nine staff members from its agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, after an internal investigation found they may have been involved in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel.

U.N. fires 9 more staffers over potential involvement in Oct. 7 attack on Israel

The secretary-general's office did not elaborate on the UNRWA staffers' likely role in the attack or on the evidence that prompted its decision.

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By:
  • The Associated Press
The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building, Feb. 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters.

The world's population is projected to peak at 10.3 billion in the 2080s, U.N. says

Additionally, the global life expectancy is beginning to climb again post-COVID pandemic, and is now 73.3 years of age. It is anticipated to climb to 77.4 years in 2054.

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By:
  • Ayana Archie
A server ladles soup into a container as children line up to receive food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in March 2024. Gang violence in Haiti has displaced over 300,000 children since March, according to a new report from the U.N. children's agency released late Tuesday.

Gang violence in Haiti has displaced 300,000 children, the United Nations says

Children are more than half of the nearly 580,000 people who have become homeless in the last four months, the U.N.'s children agency said.

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By:
  • The Associated Press
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield (center) votes during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at U.N. headquarters on Monday. The Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution supporting a cease-fire plan in Gaza.

The U.N. Security Council endorses U.S. cease-fire plan to end the war in Gaza

The council voted 14-0 to support President Biden’s step-by-step plan for a cease-fire, an exchange of hostages and prisoners and an end to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

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By:
  • Michele Kelemen
A woman mourns as she carries the shrouded body of a child killed following overnight Israeli strikes on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 6.

Why the U.N. revised the numbers of women and children killed in Gaza

Here's a closer look at the United Nations' breakdown of casualties. The overall total of more than 35,000 Palestinians killed since Oct. 7, based on Gaza Health Ministry figures, has not declined.

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By:
  • Aya Batrawy
A child and adult dance together in the immersive light experience in the "Our Song" station of UNICEF's Heartstrings exhibition.

In Atlanta, a UNICEF exhibition uses light and music to illuminate the power of children's voices

Heart Strings remixes light, touch and music to bring awareness to health care, education and protection of youth worldwide. The event is coming to cities across the U.S. and lands at Atlanta's Pullman Yards through May 5.

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By:
Artists UMI (left) and Louis VI (right) teamed up with the Museum for the United Nations - UN Live to re-release songs with nature sounds for Earth Day.

Nature has a mixtape. The U.N. hopes young people will listen to it

The Museum for the United Nations has partnered with musicians to re-release some of their songs with added nature sounds to generate royalties for conservation efforts.

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By:
  • Claire Murashima and
  • A Martínez
Israeli troops round up Egyptian soldiers captured during fighting in 1956 in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, which was controlled by Egypt at the time. Israel, Britain and France invaded Egyptian territory after Egypt moved to nationalize the Suez Canal. But U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower intervened, leading to the withdrawal of foreign troops, including the Israeli forces in Gaza.

This isn't the first time the U.S. and Israel have disagreed over Gaza

The U.S. and Israel are close allies, but they've had sharp disagreements. Are the current differences over the war in Gaza a short-term dispute or a fundamental change in the relationship?

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By:
  • Greg Myre
The United Nations Security Council meets on the situation in the Middle East, including the war in Gaza, at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.

Israel cancels high-level talks in Washington after cease-fire vote clears the U.N.

The Security Council voted 14-0 in favor of a resolution demanding a cease-fire through the end of Ramadan in two weeks. The United States abstained from the vote, allowing the measure to pass.

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By:
  • Jaclyn Diaz and
  • Michele Kelemen
Azzam, 12, hugs a sheep, the only source of his family's livelihood in rural Damascus on Feb 21, 2022. Azzam and his family have experienced firsthand the harrowing impact of the conflict. In 2015, when Azzam was five years old, a shell fell on the building where he was sitting with his family.

Can a picture make you happy? We asked photographers and here's what they sent us

For International Day of Happiness, photographers sent us pictures of a Syrian boy who finds joy caring for farm animals, Ukrainian girls on a trampoline, music lovers grooving to the blues and more.

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By:
  • Laurel Dalrymple
In this image grab from an AFPTV video, people carry food parcels that were airdropped March 2 from U.S. aircraft above a beach in the Gaza Strip. President Biden is set to announce the setting up of another avenue for aid to Gaza.

Biden to announce the setting up of a temporary Mediterranean port to deliver Gaza aid

The temporary pier will not require U.S. troops to land in Gaza to build the pier or causeway. United Nations workers and other aid groups will distribute the aid.

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By:
  • Greg Myre
Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a news conference on Wednesday in Charleston, S.C.

Nikki Haley suspends her presidential campaign, but doesn't endorse Trump

The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador was the last major candidate to challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.

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By:
  • Sarah McCammon and
  • Jeongyoon Han
Palestinian children wait to collect food at a donation point in a refugee camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 23, 2023.

Humanitarian crises abound. Why is the U.N. asking for less aid money than last year?

"This is the first time that this has happened in recent years," said Martin Griffiths of the United Nations. about the reduced ask. Why in a time of greater need is the U.N. lowering its appeal?

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By:
  • Gabriel Spitzer
The Security Council meets before voting on a resolution concerning a cease-fire in Gaza at United Nations headquarters on Tuesday. The resolution was vetoed by the U.S.

The U.S. has again vetoed a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza

Tuesday's vote marked the third U.S. veto of a Security Council resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. The Arab nations behind the plan hoped to show broad support for ending the Israel-Hamas war.

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By:
  • Michele Kelemen
Palestinians rescue a child from under the rubble after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Oct. 18, 2023.

Women and children are the main victims of the Israel-Hamas war, U.N. says

Women and children are the main victims in the Israel-Hamas war, with some 16,000 killed, according to the United Nations agency promoting gender equality.

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By:
  • The Associated Press