NEWS

The UN Secretary-General expressed condolences to the families of the peacekeepers who were killed yeterday in Beni territory, North Kivu, during a UN peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). UNIFEED

The Security Council unanimously adopted a “rollover” resolution to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) for one month, in order to accommodate the request of the United States for time to consult within its government before voting to extend the mission’s mandate for a full year. UNIFEED

Addressing the Security Council, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the security situation in the Sahel remains extremely worrying and the trends of recent developments which the Secretary-General had presented in details in his report were disturbing. UNIFEED

Though relative calm has held in the northwest of Syria for the last two months, thousands of Syrians are trapped or face hard choices about returning home, the United Nations said today. UNTV CH

The executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley said in Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah “we need to protect this port at all costs to function at the highest capacity because if we don’t then people are going to die.” Due to continuing fighting, 17.8 million people in Yemen are food insecure, while some 3 million pregnant and nursing women and children under 5 need support to prevent or cure malnutrition. WFP

During her recent visit to Peru, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Special Envoy Angelina Jolie met with young Venezuelan refugees who use breakdance to inspire young people and create ties with the local community. UNHCR

A group of 51 vulnerable refugees, including 19 children, were evacuated from Niger and arrived today in Italy. UNHCR

Following reports of hostilities throughout northwest Syria, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the United Nations continues to reiterate that a “full-scale escalation of hostilities must be averted at all costs, and that failure to do so will bring about humanitarian suffering at a scale not yet seen in the conflict.” UNIFEED

UN Special Representative for Kosovo Zahir Tanin said the situation there remained “dominated by frequent adversarial actions on the ground” adding that actions which attempt to “pre-empt” an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina “are not conducive to achieving political compromise.” UNIFEED

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution lifting arms embargoes, travel bans, asset freezes and targeted sanctions on Eritrea, while reaffirming the arms embargo on Somalia. UNIFEED