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UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A high-ranking UN official on Friday urged Russia and Ukraine to cease the ongoing conflict through dialogue and diplomacy at a Security Council meeting called by Russia to discuss the United States' alleged military biological research in Ukraine.

11 March 2022; MEMO: UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Friday, called for a political solution to the civil war in Syria that began 11 years ago and has devastated the country and its people, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The civil war began when the Bashar Al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. Hundreds of thousands of people have since been killed and millions more displaced, according to UN estimates.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 11 (APP): As the Syrian civil war passes the 11-year mark, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday called on all parties to take concrete actions and accelerate the political process to end the brutal conflict.

“The destruction that Syrians have endured is so extensive and deadly that it has few equals in modern history”, the UN chief said in a statement. “There must be no impunity.”

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council scheduled a meeting Friday at Russia’s request to discuss what Moscow claims are “the military biological activities of the U.S. on the territory of Ukraine,” allegations vehemently denied by the Biden administration.

The Russian request, announced in a tweet Thursday afternoon from its first deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, follows the U.S. rejection of Russian accusations that Ukraine is running chemical and biological labs with U.S. support.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 (APP): The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), a UN-backed body, has called on governments to do more to regulate social media platforms that glamourize drug-related negative behaviour and boost sales of controlled substances.

In its annual report, released on Thursday, the INCB notes increasing evidence of a link between exposure to social media and drug use, which disproportionately affects young people, the main users of social media platforms, and an age group with relatively high rates of drug abuse.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 08 (APP): Reaffirming its firm opposition to additional permanent seats in an enlarged United Nations Security Council, Pakistan told a UN panel Monday that those seeking permanent membership of the 15-nation body were doing so for power and privilege, not by the desire to promote international peace and security.

NEW YORK, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Market turmoil continued on Monday with investors dumping risk assets and moving to safe havens, on fears about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the potential economic fallout.

All the three major U.S. stock indexes suffered massive losses, which saw the Dow plunge 797.42 points, or 2.37 percent, while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lose 2.95 percent and 3.62 percent, respectively.

The Cboe Volatility Index, widely considered as the best fear gauge in the stock market, spiked 13.98 percent to 36.45.

UNITED NATIONS, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Humanitarians' top priorities are allowing civilians to leave areas under fire in Ukraine and getting desperately needed aid to these areas, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Monday.

Together with Catherine Russell, head of the UN Children's Fund, Griffiths briefed the council on how the UN and partners are responding to rising needs since the Russian military operation began.

Griffiths, also the UN humanitarian coordinator, outlined three immediate humanitarian priorities.

United Nations, Mar 8 (AP) The United States and 10 other countries on Monday condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch and urged the UN Security Council to respond, saying its inaction erodes the credibility of the UN's most powerful body and undermines global efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. judge was set Tuesday to question one of the jurors who convicted the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of helping the millionaire Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

Maxwell’s lawyers say the verdict should be thrown out over the juror’s apparent failure to disclose before the trial began that he’d been a victim of childhood sexual abuse.

U.S. Judge Alison J. Nathan intends to ask the juror why he failed to note his personal history on a questionnaire during the jury selection process.