The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the Security Council today that she wished she could declare that victims of the protracted conflict in Darfur would soon see justice at last, and that those alleged to be responsible for Rome Statute crimes in that western region of Sudan would soon be held accountable before the Court.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 31 July 2016, deciding to increase force levels up to 13,000 troops and 2,001 police personnel amid concerns among some members over the potential use of unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles, sanctions and technical support for a hybrid court created to prosecute the perpetrators of mass-atrocity crimes.

JAKARTA, 15 December — As the two-day International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem concluded this morning, experts in a plenary session on historical and contemporary models of coexistence provided a glimpse of the city’s past and present while offering suggestions for the future.

The Secretary-General welcomes the start of the Yemen peace talks today in Switzerland.  He believes that peaceful and inclusive dialogue is the only way to end the suffering and rebuild confidence, trust and mutual respect amongst the Yemeni people following months of civil war and thousands of lives lost.

NEW YORK, 11 December 2015 (Joint Investigative Mechanism) — The United Nations and the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic signed the status of mission agreement of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism in New York this morning.  With the status of mission agreement, the Syrian Government agreed to provide support to the Mechanism to conduct its activities in accordance with Security Council resolution 2235 (2015).

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Security Council today extended until 15 May 2016 the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping operation for the disputed Abyei area bordering Sudan and South Sudan.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the General Assembly on the outcome of the twenty-first Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), in New York today:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the General Assembly high-level meeting on the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, in New York today:

JAKARTA, 14 December — The two-day International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem opened in Jakarta, Indonesia, this morning under the theme “Addressing the present and shaping the future” of the city also known as Al-Quds Al-Sharif.