SOP newswire3 UN: Migrants and Refugees Boost Hope for Human Rights - Peoples rights are under fire "in many parts of the globe," UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Human Rights Council on Monday, before insisting that he was not "losing hope," thanks to the progress made by powerful grassroots movements for social justice.

SOP newswire3 Syria in Desperate Need of Aid - Staggering levels of humanitarian need persist throughout Syria, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Security Council members on Tuesday.

SOP newswire3 No Child Spared the Violence of Yemen War - Four years of violence in Yemen has not spared a single child, a top UN Childrens Fund official said on Monday, on the eve of a pledging conference in Geneva to help alleviate the suffering of millions across the country.

SOP newswire3 Funds Urgently Needed to Save Millions in Yemen From Horrific Plight - Preparations are being finalized at the UN for a $4.2 billion appeal to scale up help to millions of people in Yemen, where years of war have created the worlds worst humanitarian emergency.

SOP newswire3 Afghanistan: 2018 Saw Record-high Civilians Killed in Decade - With over 3,800 civilian women, children and men killed in just one year, Afghanistan has hit yet another record.

SOP newswire3 New Guidance for Travel to Mexico - The United States Army North Force Protection division has new guidelines regarding travel to Mexico to ensure that our service members are kept safe.

SOP newswire3 U.S., Turkish Defense Officials Discuss Syria, Other Issues at Pentagon Meeting - U.S. and Turkish defense officials met today at the Pentagon to discuss the future of operations in Syria and the other areas where the two countries fight together.

SOP newswire3 UN: Spending on Health Increase Faster Than Rest of Global Economy - Spending on health is outpacing the rest of the global economy, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

SOP newswire3 UN Urges India and Pakistan to Dial Down Tensions - United Nations Secretary-General Guterres on Tuesday called on India and Pakistan to take steps to defuse tensions in the wake an attack in Kashmir late last week that left dozes of Indian security forces dead.

SOP newswire3 UN Accuses South Sudan of War Crimes - United Nations investigators on Wednesday denounced a raft of gross human rights violations being perpetrated in South Sudan, where over the past year, incidents of rape have surged and abductions sexual slavery and brutal killings "have become commonplace."

SOP newswire3 Prospect of Peace Fading Every Day in Gaza and West Bank - The spectres of violence and radicalism in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are growing, and the prospect of sustainable peace is fading by the day, a senior UN envoy in the region told the Security Council on Wednesday.

SOP newswire3 Myanmar and UN Agriculture Agency Agree Framework to Improve Nutrition - The Myanmar Government and the UN agriculture agency signed on Tuesday a multi-year agreement that will create conditions to help improve nutrition and food security in the south-east Asian country, while safeguarding and sustainably managing the use of natural resources.

SOP newswire3 UN: Not Enough Resettlement Solutions for Refugees Worldwide - Despite record numbers of people forcibly displaced across borders, with 1.2 million in need of a new permanent place to call home last year, the UN refugee agency released new data showing that only 55,700 of them - 4.7 per cent - were able to be resettled in 2018.

SOP newswire3 Upsurge in Attacks Against Civilians in Syria - Civilians in Syrias north-western city of idlib continue to be used "as pawns," caught in the crossfire of bombardments by the Government and its allies, and attacks by non-State armed groups, the United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, warned on Tuesday.

SOP newswire3 Will There Finally be Peace in Yemen? - "Significant progress" is being made in implementing the peace deal reached in Stockholm last December between Government and Houthi leaders in Yemen, according to United Nations Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.

SOP newswire3 UN Agency Plan Tackles Hidden Cost of Gold - From smartphones to wedding rings, the hidden cost of everyday gold is its threat to human and environmental health, according to a new United Nations-driven initiative launched on Monday that aims to tackle mercury-based mining methods.

SOP newswire3 Central African Republic Peace Deal - Hailing the recent peace agreement signed by 15 warring parties in the Central African Republic (CAR), the UN Childrens Fund stressed on Monday that "now is the time for action" and outlined concrete steps that armed groups, judicial authorities and the Government can take so the future of millions of children can be safeguarded.

SOP newswire3 Nigeria Heads to Polls - As Nigerians get ready to head to the polls on Saturday, the Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), described the pre-election period as "largely, peaceful and participatory," and called for that spirit to prevail through election day and beyond.

SOP newswire3 Harvested Water Saves Tanzanian Students for Stomach Ulcers - The students in the Tanzanian town of Bagamoyo once had to decide between getting sick or being thirsty all day long.

SOP newswire3 Acting Secretary Pleased With Progress of Coalition to Defeat ISIS - Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said he is pleased with the progress of the coalition to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and he reiterated Americas steadfast support for the effort.

SOP newswire3 LGBT Community in Chechnya Faces New Wave of Persecution - People in Chechnya who are suspected of being lesbian, gay or bisexual, are facing a "new wave of persecution" following a spate of killings involving torture, and other rights abuses, said a group of independent UN human rights experts on Wednesday.

SOP newswire3 U.S. Forces Korea Commander: Tensions Down, But Guard Still Up - While tensions are down along the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea, the process has not gone far enough for forces there to relax, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea told the Senate Armed Services Committee today.

SOP newswire3 Shanahan: Important Work Remains in Afghanistan - Important work remains to be done in Afghanistan, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan told reporters traveling with him while en route on his first trip to the country Feb. 10.

SOP newswire3 Violence in Mali - The state of human rights and security across Mali is a "cause of grave concern," the independent UN rights expert for the northwest African nation said in a statement on Tuesday, in which he called for an "effective military response" to end the violence and protect the civilian population.

SOP newswire3 Thousands Flee Violence in South Sudan - Over the past few days thousands of desperate civilians have been fleeing a fresh outbreak of violence in South Sudan Equatoria state, seeking safety in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), many "suffering from trauma."

SOP newswire3 Food Desperately Needed in Yemen - Desperately needed food aid for millions of Yemenis "is at risk of rotting" in a key Red Sea storage facility because conditions are too unsafe to reach it, UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and UN Emergency relief chief Mark Lowcock said on Monday

SOP newswire3 Violence in Haiti - Opposition-led protests in Haiti calling for the president to step down, which sparked violence last week, have prompted a group of senior diplomats, included the top UN official there, to issue a statement deploring the loss of life and calling for dialogue to end the crisis.

SOP newswire3 ISIS Terrorists Remain Global Threat - Though attacks were down last year, a new United Nations report to the Security Council on Monday shows that ISIL is still a global threat, despite evolving into a "covert" terrorism network, with countries continuing to face challenges from the growing scourge of violent extremism.