Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in a “historic step” for Europe’s security landscape, even as Turkey opposed the moves.

NATO welcomed decisions by Finland and Sweden to seek membership in the military alliance as foreign ministers met to discuss fast-tracking an expansion.

Russia’s war in the ‘breadbasket of Europe’ threatens to cause widespread hunger particularly in Africa and the Middle East, the G-7 warned.

International investigators were directed to focus their efforts on possible war crimes by Russian soldiers near Ukraine’s capital and other regions.

Finland’s president and prime minister announced support for immediately applying to join NATO, a major reversal due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The head of a U.N. agency that last year oversaw US$3.4 billion in projects resigned over questions into tens of millions of dollars in agency spending.

Sweden and Finland are expected to decide by the middle of May whether to seek to join NATO, as polls show public opinion shifting toward membership.

Red Cross and U.N. workers rescued civilians from Ukraine’s besieged Mariupol, busing them to safety as part of a negotiated “safe passage” operation.

Prompted by its own paralysis over Syria and Ukraine, the U.N. moved to prevent abuse of power by Russia and other permanent Security Council members.

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, pointing to evidence of grave war crimes in Ukraine.

Nations have just a few years left to achieve the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goals of limiting global warming to a rise of 1.5 or 2 degrees C., climate experts say.

By an overwhelming majority, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution that blamed Russia for Ukraine’s severe humanitarian crisis.

While many Ukrainians stay to fight, several million Ukrainians have fled their country, mostly to Poland, since Russia’s invasion last month.

The U.N. Human Rights Council authorized a panel to investigate abuses and violations of international law from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The U.N. General Assembly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanded that Russian forces halt their offensive on Ukrainian cities and ports.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine set off global alarm over a new Cold War and dire challenges to power structures and international organizations.

U.S. and Russia reported no breakthroughs at talks to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, where 100,000 Russian troops await near its border.

The global number of confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed 300 million with 5.47 million deaths as nations reeled from the omicron variant of the virus.

U.N. researchers concluded the world is headed to 2.5 degrees C. of warming by 2100 because nations will not do what is needed to combat climate change.

The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland opened on Sunday for almost two weeks of critical negotiations on how to slow global warming.

Confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide topped 200 million with 4.25 million deaths, amid a surge in highly transmissible delta variant infections.