UN News - Top Stories

After surprise US bombing raids on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities over the weekend, the head of the UN-backed nuclear watchdog on Monday appealed for immediate access to the targeted sites to assess the damage that is likely “very significant”.

Visitors to Expo 2025, a world fair currently being held in Osaka, Japan, appreciate the “positive vison” of a shared global future promoted by the United Nations; that’s according to Naomi Ichikawa, Director of the UN Pavilion.

The top UN humanitarian official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has issued a stark warning over the deepening crisis in Gaza, where civilians are being killed daily while trying to access food, water and medical care.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres told an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Sunday that massive overnight strikes by the United States on Iran’s nuclear facilities only increase the risk of a wider war and “serious damage to the international order.”

The UN Secretary-General told the Security Council on Sunday that the bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites by the United States marks a “perilous turn”, warning that the region cannot endure yet another “cycle of destruction.” António Guterres said the must be an immediate ceasefire and returned to “serious, sustained negotiations.” We’ll have live updates from our Meetings Coverage team below and app users can follow here.

The UN Secretary-General has strongly condemned a deadly attack on peacekeepers serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, or CAR, which claimed the life of a Zambian peacekeeper and left another wounded.

According to the United Nations, the world needs an extra $4 trillion every year to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges – ending poverty and hunger, fighting climate change, and reducing inequality. 

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the United States’ bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran as a “dangerous escalation” on Saturday following eight days of deadly strikes and counter strikes between Tehran and Tel Aviv.

In an age marked by conflicts, disease, dysfunction and mental health challenges, yoga offers a steady, time-trusted path to help find calm and harmony within – and without.

Senior UN officials reiterated an appeal for urgent restraint on Saturday as conflict spiral between Israel and Iran, amid a wider regional crisis exacerbated by Israel’s war in Gaza and the worsening humanitarian situation facing Palestinian civilians.

A growing network of online communities known collectively as the “manosphere” is emerging as a serious threat to gender equality, as toxic digital spaces increasingly influence real-world attitudes, behaviours, and policies, the UN agency dedicated to ending gender discrimination has warned. 

Once the exclusive domain of a handful of technologically advanced countries, outer space is now within the reach of emerging nations from the Global South, as costs fall and technology becomes more widely available.

The UN Security Council met on Friday to discuss the situation in Ukraine, where intensified fighting continues, affecting new areas and prompting further displacement. 

The world stands on the edge of catastrophe, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Friday, as Israel’s military campaign inside Iran intensifies and strikes on nuclear facilities threaten to trigger a catastrophe.

Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and other senior officials from across the world have spoken about how international support was critical to putting their countries on the path to peace.

The world is facing a health financing emergency, according to Dr. Kalipso Chalkidou, Director for Health Financing and Economics for the World Health Organization (WHO).

Hostilities continue to escalate across Sudan’s North Darfur and Kordofan regions, with reports of civilian casualties, sexual violence, abductions and looting, the UN human rights chief warned on Friday, describing the consequences as disastrous.

Although record numbers of people – over 122 million worldwide – have been uprooted due to war, violence and persecution, their ability to find safety and support is threatened more than ever. 

Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. 

One week since the Israel-Iran conflict erupted, diplomatic efforts to end the war are ramping up in Geneva as foreign ministers from France, Germany, the UK and the EU prepare to meet their Iranian counterpart. In New York, meanwhile, the UN Security Council heard the UN Secretary-General warn ambassadors that “we are on course to chaos” if the war widens “which could ignite a fire that no one can can control.” UN News app users can follow here.

Last year, 41,370 grave violations against children were documented and verified by the United Nations, according to the Secretary-General's annual report on children in armed conflict, released on Thursday.  

Global investment fell a full 11 per cent to $1.5 trillion last year – it’s a huge blow for developing nations, the UN trade agency, UNCTAD, said on Thursday.

Of the 122 million people globally displaced by persecution, violence or human rights violations, 42.7 million are refugees who have fled across borders, according to new data from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). 

Sexual violence in conflict is a tactic of war, torture and terror. It does not only devastate survivors but also tears apart families and communities. The trauma, shame and stigma are borne by victims, not perpetrators – echoing across generations. 

As deadly missile exchanges between Israel and Iran enter a second week, the United Nations is sounding alarm over the growing toll on civilians, warning of mass displacement and regional instability.

Just days before Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, the UN watchdog agency monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities warned that the country was in violation of its non-proliferation commitments. 

Of the 700 million people worldwide living in extreme poverty, 40 per cent live in conflict-affected or fragile settings and this is on track to worsen, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday. 

More than 100 days into Israel’s complete fuel blockade in Gaza, UN agencies still in the shattered enclave warned on Thursday that vital services are only “hours away” from shutting down.

Renewable energy plants are being built across Indonesia, but for their electricity to reach consumers, a modernization of the electricity grid is necessary. 

UN Member States have reached agreement on the outcome document for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, to be formally adopted at an upcoming summit in Sevilla, Spain – though without the participation of the United States, which withdrew from the negotiations and announced it will not attend the conference.