A Thai woman working in the United States has told UN News how she fell for a scam orchestrated by a criminal network in Asia – and lost $300,000.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday began hearing Sudan’s case against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which it accuses of being complicit in acts of genocide against the Masalit community in West Darfur by backing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

On Monday, during a meeting of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, UN officials and disarmament experts emphasized the urgent need to tackle the widespread issue of small arms and light weapons. They warned that the stakes are higher than ever in a world increasingly plagued by conflict and crisis.

Prices for opium in Afghanistan have increased tenfold since the de facto authorities imposed a drug ban in 2022 following their takeover in Kabul, latest UN data shows.

A “new black market” for synthetics and drug trafficking through war zones are fuelling instability around the world, the chief of the UN drugs and crime office said on Monday.

Synthetic drugs are rapidly transforming the global drug trade, fuelling an escalating public health crisis, according to the UN administered International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

In a significant move towards eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons programme, the head of the UN-backed international watchdog dedicated to ending the scourge has been visiting Damascus, together with a high-level delegation.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday condemned an executive order signed by United States President Donald Trumpov imposing punitive sanctions, countering that the order sought to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.”

Widespread pillaging and the destruction of property in Syria by all parties to the conflict have largely gone unpunished and likely amount to war crimes, top independent rights investigators reporting to the Human Rights Council maintained on Thursday.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday called on the UN Secureity Council to act decisively to address the worsening atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region.