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The situation in Aleppo following the breakdown of a deal to evacuate rebels and civilians from the long-besieged Syrian city was the focus of a debate in Parliament this morning. Ahead of tomorrow’s EU summit, MEPs described the situation variously as “hell on earth”, a “death factory” and the “meltdown of humanity”. They called for an immediate cessation of hostilities as well as access for humanitarian aid. A number of speakers were highly critical of Russia’s role in the conflict.

A child standing amid debris on a street in Aleppo.

EU member states should “refrain from inciting fear and hatred among their citizens towards migrants and asylum-seekers for political gain”, MEPs say in a resolution on the situation of fundamental rights in the EU, passed on Tuesday.

While finding water is a daily struggle for most family, food is equally difficult to source. As thousands of people lost their homes and their sources of income, they also became unable to properly feed their children.

António Guterres, Secretary-General-designate of the United Nations, takes the oath of office for his five-year term, which begins on 1 January 2017. The oath was administered by Peter Thomson, President of the 71st session of the General Assembly.

Newly displaced civilians stop at a check point in Qayyara, south of Mosul on 31 October 2016.

Two boys are cheered by their friends during a long-jump competition at UNRRA-run El Shatt camp for Yugoslav refugees, near the north-eastern port city of Suez. 18 months before, they were snipers shooting at invading German soldiers in the Bosnian region.

Wide view of the Security Council Chamber.

António Guterres of Portugal.

On 1 December, displaced children pick up boxes of winter clothing at a UNICEF-supported distribution on Sinjar Mountain in Ninewa Governorate, Iraq.