United Nations

Russian forces hammered Ukraine with ballistic missiles and long-range drones overnight on Tuesday, killing at least 17 civilians – mainly around Kyiv – and injuring another 44, the UN human rights office in Ukraine reported.

The UN rights chief expressed alarm on Wednesday over the sharp increase in executions and death sentences in Iran since the US-Israeli bombing campaign began in late February, warning that capital punishment is being used to intimidate the population and suppress dissent.

The Security Council met on Wednesday to examine the persistent threat posed by the terrorist group ISIL, also known as Dae’sh, to international peace and security. At a conference in June, the acting head of the UN counter-terrorism office stated that Al Qaeda, Da’esh, and their affiliates “remain adaptive and resilient”.  Moreover, they are using artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to expand their reach, recruit and mobilise resources. 

Nearly 50 million more people in highly vulnerable communities globally are set to be pushed into acute hunger because of the strengthening El Niño weather phenomenon, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday.

For millions across Africa and the developing world, the biodiversity crisis is not an abstract problem – it’s the soil that no longer yields bountiful harvests and the fish that no longer return to coastal waters.

Gaza remains unsafe for civilians as Israeli attacks continue, including on schools and canvas classrooms, despite the October Israel-Hamas ceasefire that ended two years of war, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Tuesday.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, with both sides stepping up airstrikes and drone attacks in recent weeks deep inside each other's territory, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed on Tuesday for greater protection for the war’s youngest victims.

Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has exposed the vulnerability of global trade to a single maritime chokepoint, with early data showing sharp falls in exports of energy, fertilizers and industrial products. 

Results may be months away, but efforts are advancing towards enhanced treatment and the world’s first vaccine for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday as deaths and cases rise in the largest ever outbreak on record in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Afghanistan’s dire hunger crisis now affects 14 million people including babies fed on little more than weak tea and bread by their despairing and dirt-poor parents.

Drone strikes are posing deadly risks to civilians in Sudan and hampering humanitarian efforts to reach them as attacks continue to affect conflict-hit areas, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Monday.

Israeli forces reportedly killed more than two dozen Palestinians in Gaza and violated Lebanese airspace more than 100 times over the weekend despite ongoing ceasefire agreements, UN agencies and peacekeepers said on Monday.

Amid a deepening hunger crisis in Somalia, artificial intelligence (AI) is helping to deliver aid to the people who need it most.

Breastfeeding rates are rising worldwide, but millions of mothers and families still lack the services and protection they need to feed their babies safely, the UN has warned. 

New UN-partnered centres will serve eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as confirmed Ebola cases continued to climb sharply over the weekend in the largest-ever outbreak of the highly contagious disease in the country.

Sofia* was 27, raising her seven-year-old son alone in Venezuela, and running out of options. For years she had distributed personal hygiene products door to door, but as her customers’ finances collapsed, so did her income. 

In classrooms, maternity wards, hospital corridors and local communities across Ukraine, people are rebuilding their lives despite the ongoing war.

Violence and civilian casualties are rising across the Middle East – from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza to continued hostilities in Lebanon and the West Bank – UN agencies reported on Friday as the Secretary-General declared “the fighting must stop”.

As much of the world faces grapples with above normal temperatures and major rainfall changes, the UN Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Friday that El Niño, a powerful climate pattern shaping global weather, will intensify starting next month.

Wildfires are often associated with the destruction they leave behind, but the smoke they produce can pose a serious health threat far beyond the fire zone, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.