United Nations

The intensifying conflict in the Persian Gulf “has triggered one of the most rapid and severe disruptions to global commodity flows in recent times,” the Chief Economist with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday. 

The security and political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains “extremely tense”, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Thursday.

Hospitals are just the latest vital public services to be hit in Cuba, more than a month since Washington took measures to block oil supplies from entering the Caribbean nation.

More than four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the “danger is only increasing”, particularly from attack drones, a top UN human rights official warned on Thursday.

The number of children and young people out of school worldwide has climbed for the seventh consecutive year, reaching 273 million, according to a new report from the UN education agency, UNESCO. 

Applause erupted in the UN General Assembly Hall on Wednesday as Member States adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for the immediate release of the 118 UN staff currently detained worldwide as attacks against the United Nations increase with 179 personnel arrested or detained last year alone.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the escalating Gulf war is “out of control”, urging all sides to step back from the brink and allow diplomacy to prevail, as he announced the appointment of a senior envoy to spearhead peace efforts.

It’s day 26 of war in the Middle East. The UN chief says with the conflict now totally out of control, diplomacy must prevail. Ongoing strikes in Israel and Iran have included intensifying Israeli attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, while some US troops are heading to the region, the Pentagon has confirmed. Meanwhile, Iran has told the UN maritime agency that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to “non-hostile” ships not associated with the US and Israel. UN News app users can follow coverage here.

As tensions escalate in the Middle East, the international community must not lose sight of the situation in Gaza, an official with US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace across the shattered enclave said on Tuesday in his first appearance in the UN Security Council. 

The latest wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine have reportedly killed and injured civilians and damaged critical infrastructure in Dnipro, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia and other regions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) called on Tuesday for countries to step up action to end tuberculosis (TB) – one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers – by expanding access to new diagnostic tools that can help save lives. 

The death toll from a horrific attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur has risen further, amid a “sharp increase” in drone attacks against civilians this year, UN agencies said on Tuesday.

Deadly gangs in Haiti are expanding their reach to include control over key sea and road routes as police in the beleaguered Caribbean island nation are being accused of using “unnecessary and disproportionate lethal force and summary executions.”

As the war continues to roil the Middle East and compound suffering for civilians across the region, the economic ramifications of the emergency are still playing out, with the Strait of Hormuz the focus of global attention with crude oil prices surging over $100 a barrel again. Meanwhile, settler attacks have escalated dramatically against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, a topic that we'll be across today also, with aid updates and live reporting from the Security Council. UN News app users can follow coverage here.

More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, “the violence is worse than ever” and far from abating, the head of UN political and peacebuilding affairs said on Monday in a briefing to the Security Council. 

The Security Council is met for an open briefing on Ukraine, requested by European members following Kyiv’s 18 March letter citing a surge in Russian strikes. Inside the country, attacks continue to take a heavy toll: since 19 March, at least 25 civilians have reportedly been killed and more than 130 injured, including children, particularly in Donetsk, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia. We’ll have live coverage below, app users can follow here – and for all our key meetings coverage each day, go here. 

Nearly 70 years after South African police fired upon peaceful demonstrators in Sharpeville protesting apartheid-era laws, killing 69, the UN renewed the commitment to work for justice and equality on Monday, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

Since the start of the Middle East conflict with Israeli and US strikes on Iran on 28 February, concerns have been growing over rising oil and commodity prices.

Since the outbreak of war on 28 February, several unique sites of cultural significance have been damaged in Iran, Israel and Lebanon, alongside immense suffering, displacement and death.