United Nations / AFP UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon angrily told Morocco’s foreign minister that protests organized in Rabat against his remarks on Western Sahara were disrespectful. Ban “expressed his deep disappointment and anger regarding the demonstration that was mobilized on Sunday, which targeted him in person,” said a UN statement released after his meeting with Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar in …

Geneva / AFP UN investigators welcomed a “significant decrease” in violence in Syria on the fifth anniversary of the start of the brutal conflict on Tuesday, saying they finally glimpsed hope of an end to the war. “Now, for the first time, there is hope of an end in sight,” said Paulo Pinheiro, head of the UN Commission of Inquiry …

Seoul / AFP North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered an upcoming nuclear warhead test and multiple ballistic missile launches, escalating Pyongyang’s face-off with the international community just days after being slapped with tough UN sanctions. The order came after Kim monitored what was described as the successful simulated test of the warhead re-entry technology required for a long-range nuclear …