Around 655,000 people have been displaced or severely affected by fighting between the Sudanese army and rebels in two southern border states, the United Nations says.
The United Nations' inability to agree on issues such as the conflict in Syria shows New Zealand needs to be able to impose sanctions independently, Foreign Minister Murray McCully says.
The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned the killing of at least 108 people, including many children, in the Syrian town of Houla, a sign of mounting outrage at the massacre that the government and rebels blamed on each other.
There is a looming danger the world could fall victim to its own success in almost eradicating polio, United Nations Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon writes.
The UN Security Council has expressed grave concern at the threat posed by Somali pirates and extremist groups as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the African state's humanitarian situation would likely deteriorate again in the coming months.
France says it wants the UN Security Council to set up humanitarian corridors in Syria to alleviate civilian suffering and that it is negotiating with Russia on a new UN resolution on the conflict.
The UN human rights chief accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of launching an "indiscriminate attack" on civilians to end pro-democracy protests and said he had been emboldened by the failure of the Security Council to condemn him.
A shipment containing 16kg of cocaine has been seized last week at the UN's mail intake centre, a New York Police Department spokesman said today.
Last Thursday, there were 16 bomb blasts in Baghdad (72 people killed, 217 injured). On Friday, two big car bombs in Damascus killed 40 people and injured 150. Even for Iraq, where there are suicide bombs every week, that is impressive.
New Zealand has made a plea for the interests of smaller states in any reform of the United Nations Security Council to make it more representative of the membership.
Last Sunday, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan visited the scene of last week's bombing at the United Nations office in Abuja, the capital, and said the sort of things that presidents must say on such occasions.
The UN General Assembly has voted unanimously to give Ban Ki-moon a second term as secretary-general, praising him for strengthening the role and visibility of the world body in difficult circumstances.
Last Friday saw the first nationwide protests against the Baath regime in Syria. If these protests develop into a full-scale revolt, the regime's response may dwarf that of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
A United Nations report says Maori are extremely disadvantaged socially and economically compared with other New Zealanders.
A New Zealand navy warship may be deployed to hunt down pirates, possibly off the coast of Africa.
We celebrate our war heroes but much less honour our peace activists. Raymond Huber argues we need to better recognise those who struggle against war.
Robert Patman dispels the myth that 9/11 was an unforeseeable event, and traces the emergence of the security environment in which it occurred back to the US-UN Somalia intervention of 1992-1993.
Refugees and boat people are proving to be a "hot topic" in the approaching Australian election and a New Zealander will be trying to provide some balance to the debate.