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UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “dismayed” by civilian casualties in Gaza and “deeply disturbed” by Israel’s strike on a building containing international media outlets, a spokesman said in response to reporters’ questions.

The comments came as Israel pummeled the Gaza Strip with air strikes, killing 10 members of an extended family and demolishing the 13-floor Gaza building housing Qatar-based Al Jazeera and The Associated Press news agency, with Palestinian militants firing back barrages of rockets.

14 May 2021; MEMO: The UN Security Council will meet this weekend to discuss the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip, the US announced Thursday, Anadolu Agency reported.

In announcing the Sunday meeting, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US's UN envoy, said the Biden administration "will continue to actively engage in diplomacy at the highest levels to try to de-escalate tensions."

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, who has been in line for a senior role at the UN since April, is expected to leave his current post, sources said.

Houthi rebels recently refused to meet with the 69-year-old British diplomat, who has held the position since 2018, raising doubts as to whether he could effectively continue his work as Yemen’s mediator.

On Friday, the US State Department blasted the Houthi rebels for skipping the opportunity for talks with Griffiths to discuss a possible resolution to the conflict in Yemen.

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (APP): Israel and Palestine are heading towards a full-scale war, the UN Special Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process has warned.

“Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full-scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation,” Tor Wennesland, the UN envoy said in a post on Twitter late Tuesday.

“The cost of war in Gaza is devastating & is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working w/ all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now,” he said.

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 155 million people faced crisis levels of food insecurity in 2020 because of conflict, extreme weather events and economic shocks linked in part to COVID-19, an UN-partnered flagship report said on Wednesday.

It’s been five years since hunger levels were this bad across 55 countries under review, according to the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), which noted that 20 million more people went hungry last year than in 2019.

Countries in Africa remained “disproportionally affected”, it said in a release.

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday extending its mission to monitor Colombia’s peace process until the end of October, and to broaden its mandate.

The decision will strengthen the Special Jurisdiction of Peace (JEP), a tribunal that was created in 2017 to try the worst crimes committed by combatants during more than six decades of armed conflict, after the UN expressed concern in February about attacks by pro-government forces against the court.

12 May 2021; MEMO: As Israel continues to bombard Gaza following days of violent clampdown against Muslim worshippers in the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, a top UN envoy has warned of an eruption of a "full-scale war."

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations on Tuesday responded to the rebounding Chinese and U.S. economies by revising its global economic forecast upward to 5.4% growth for 2021, but it warned that surging COVID-19 cases and inadequate availability of vaccines in many countries threaten a broad-based recovery.

UNITED NATIONS, May 11 (APP): Ambassadors of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Monday unequivocally condemned the recent use of “brutal” force by the Israeli forces against Palestinians in East Jerusalem, and vowed to draw world community’s attention to the atrocities.

UNITED NATIONS, May 11. /TASS/: The Soviet Union made the decisive contribution to the victory over Nazism, stopping Hitler’s forces from taking over Europe and the whole Europe, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with Russian media outlets on the eve of his visit to Moscow, expressing gratitude to the Soviet people.

"I want to express to the Russian people my deep solidarity in this moment [celebration of the Victory Day]," Guterres stressed.