UN wants Syria to account for war dead, detainees

A giant puppet representing an uprooted Syrian child named Little Amal arrives at the port of Folkestone, in the United Kingdom, as she comes to the end of a journey across Europe that began in Turkey. The 3.5 metre-tall puppet created by Handspring Puppet Company is meant to focus attention on the urgent needs of young refugees.

The UN has suspended flights to Tigray's regional capital after a plane had to abort landing in Mekelle. The humanitarian situation in the region is dire with civilians facing famine-like conditions, the UN added.

"These tactics are ominously reminiscent of those employed by the military before its genocidal attacks against the Rohingya," the UN report has warned, calling on countries to deny the junta money and legitimacy.

The UN Security Council has agreed to extend the mandate of a European military mission in Bosnia. The decision came amid a simmering row over a diplomatic report citing a separatist threat.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army takeover was "not a coup" but just an adjustment to the democratic transition. The US and UN are calling for the return of the government.

Top UN rights official Michelle Bachelet has slammed the military's violent repression following the October 25 coup. Sudan's prime minister is under house arrest.

The council's 15 member countries released the statement as Tigrayan rebels threatened to capture the capital, Addis Ababa, a year into the fighting. Twitter also has disabled the trends section on Ethiopia.

COVID and conflicts have pushed the number of people facing food insecurity to 45 million, with Afghanistan fast becoming the "world's largest humanitarian crisis."

Authorities in Portugal have launched raids after a tipoff that Portuguese troops may have smuggled contraband from the Central Afridan Republic. The country has 180 UN peacekeepers stationed in the African nation.

Scores of migrants are stranded in the border region between Belarus, Poland and Lithuania. A refugee based in Austria has headed to Poland in hopes of finding his father and mother. Magdalena Gwozdz-Pallokat reports.

The UN's special adviser on genocide prevention, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, says the parties fighting in Ethiopia's war have few options but to negotiate.

United Nations officials said staffers were rounded up by government authorities in raids targeting ethnic Tigrayans. Six have been arrested and released, while 16 others remain in custody.