UN leader Ban Ki-moon appealed Monday for an end to outside arms supplies to rival sides in the Syrian war but the Arab League chief said that would not be possible.
Organised crime groups dealing in fake goods, drugs, human trafficking and illicit wildlife trade earn nearly $90 billion annually in East Asia and the Pacific.
Leaders of five UN agencies on Monday appealed to the international community to stop the "cruelty and carnage" in Syria, warning they may soon be forced to suspend humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.
Thailand and Cambodia are to face off at the UN's highest court Monday in a dispute over land surrounding a flashpoint temple that has seen deadly clashes along their joint border.
The UN high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres, met some of the thousands of C. Africans who have fled to the DRC after rebels seized power in their home country.
The UN warned Wednesday that austerity measures are hitting children hard, as it published a ranking of kids' well-being in rich countries topped by northern European countries and showing Britain climbing out of the bottom tier.
Iran and world powers sit down for two days of talks Friday in the hopes of putting an end to a decade-old nuclear dispute that has left the Islamic republic enduring UN sanctions and risking military action from its arch foe Israel.
The United States vowed to defend itself and its regional allies Tuesday after North Korea again stepped up its warlike rhetoric and the UN warned that the crisis could spin out of control.
Canada said Thursday it is pulling out of a UN convention that fights drought, mostly in Africa, becoming the only nation to walk away from a pact that Ottawa says is a waste of money.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "remains convinced that the use of chemical weapons by any party (in Syria) under any circumstances would constitute an outrageous crime".
International governments must act quickly to stop Syria's "complete destruction," UN leader Ban Ki-Moon warned Monday as the conflict entered a third year.
Muslim and western nations on Friday overcame deep divisions to agree a historic United Nations declaration setting out a code of conduct for combatting violence against women.
Yemen, the only country where an Arab Spring revolt led to a negotiated settlement, is to launch a UN-backed national dialogue on Monday aimed at drawing the state's divisive players towards a reconciliation.
A SARS-like virus that has struck in Britain and the Middle East has claimed a new victim in Saudi Arabia, bringing the global toll from the mystery illness to nine.