UN News - Top Stories

In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, making it the deadliest year on record in South and Southeast Asia, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.

The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect at midnight in Beirut, offering a pause in hostilities after weeks of fighting. The UN Secretary-General has welcomed the agreement and urged all parties to respect it, expressing hope it could open the way for further negotiations. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) released its next-generation platform on Thursday known as HungerMap Live, a digital monitoring and intelligence site that integrates food security data with predictive modelling to help fight hunger in more than 50 countries.

UN independent human rights experts called on Thursday for justice and accountability for young women and girls who were trafficked systematically as part of allegations contained in the so-called Epstein files.

The latest wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians in Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa, which killed and injured scores of civilians, was roundly condemned by Matthias Schmale, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.

From election support in the Central African Republic to patrols in the disputed Abyei region, UN peacekeepers are operating in increasingly volatile environments – but shrinking resources and new threats, including drone warfare, are testing their ability to keep communities safe.

War in Lebanon continues amid the fragile US-Iran ceasefire amid hopes for direct talks between Israel and Beirut. Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly is debating the China-Russia Security Council veto on the crucial Strait of Hormuz crisis last month, with assembly president Annalena Baerbock saying debate must move “to action”, on stabilising the Middle East. Stay with us for live updates below and live Meetings Coverage on the veto meeting is here. App users can follow our live coverage here.

Developing countries are banking on having a stronger voice in debt negotiations, following the launch of a new country-led borrowing initiative on Wednesday on the margins of the annual IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.

Foreign ministers from across the world met in Berlin on Wednesday to show support for Sudan, where a fourth year of brutal warfare has begun as humanitarian needs deepen. 

Six-time Trinidad and Tobago archery champion, Anthurium Lewis, has told UN News how sport helped her overcome age barriers in environmental advocacy and how in the future it can contribute to reaching globally agreed poverty and sustainability goals.

Measles vaccinations have saved nearly 20 million lives in Africa since the year 2000 and more than 500 million children were protected through routine immunisation, but the continent remains offtrack in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases. 

As we confront increasingly complex and interconnected crises - from climate change to the AI revolution - the leadership and voices of young people have never been more vital, says the UN. 

The UN Security Council met Wednesday over the deteriorating security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and wider Great Lakes region. Despite mediation efforts in Doha and Washington, regional tensions between the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi remain acute. Follow the full live updates below from our Meetings Coverage team, and app users can click here.

For Pacific Island countries, the Middle East crisis is not a distant geopolitical event. It is already showing up in higher fuel prices, electricity uncertainty and fears that communities sitting at the far end of global supply chains could be pushed into deeper economic insecurity.

Across the Middle East, tensions remain high with Israeli military operations continuing in Lebanon following direct talks between the two governments in Washington on Tuesday. More than 2,000 Lebanese have been reported killed since early March. Uncertainty also continues over the crucial Strait of Hormuz crisis. Stay with us for live updates on developments on the ground, humanitarian impacts and diplomatic efforts. App users can follow coverage here.

Sudan remains the world’ s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis, UN agencies and partners said on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war between rival militaries on the eve of the three-year mark. 

Yemen must not be drawn into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Security Council heard on Tuesday, stressing the need for de-escalation, political progress and urgent humanitarian funding for beleaguered civilians battered by years of grinding war. 

As the war in the Middle East continues, the United Nations Secretary-General issued a passionate call for “serious negotiations” between the US and Iran to resume, warning that respect for international law “is being trampled” underfoot. 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has described reparatory justice for colonialism, enslavement and the trade in enslaved Africans as “key to dismantling systemic racism.”

On the outskirts of the Ugandan town of Biale, tents are scattered along dirt roads that give way to open fields. The Kriandongo camp sits between a shattered past and a life tentatively being rebuilt. Here, the story does not end with fleeing war. Another phase begins, one where days are measured not in hours, but in the weight of loss and the effort to carry on.

The world of football met the world of diplomacy this week as Brazilian World Cup legend Zico touched down at UN Headquarters in New York. 

Syria has made “remarkable progress” on transitional justice within the past year, raising hopes for accountability and recovery after more than a decade of civil conflict.

Respect for international law is being “trampled” the UN chief warned on Tuesday, urging further negotiations between the US and Iran over ending the war and extending the fragile ceasefire as needed. Saying “there is no military solution,” he called for international navigation rights to be restored in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, a regional humanitarian crisis continues. Stay with us for live updates. App users can follow coverage here.

As Sudan’s war moves into a fourth year, civilians are still being killed, displaced and subjected to widespread sexual violence, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country warned on Monday, calling for urgent action to stop the fighting and protect civilians.

The United States and Iran must continue talks aimed at ending their weeks-long war, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, underscoring that there is no military solution to the conflict. 

The clock is ticking for global food systems as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz threaten to choke off the flow of fuel and crucial fertilizers needed for the next planting season – also raising the risk of higher food prices and a new wave of inflation. 

A senior United Nations official on Monday hailed the European Union (EU) as “a major economic and diplomatic actor and a strong advocate of multilateralism.”  

Digital tools are changing the way countries manage everything from tracking refugees to caring for the elderly. 

Weekend developments have raised fresh concerns worldwide after talks between the United States and Iran on Saturday ended without agreement, fuelling uncertainty and raising tensions once again. The planned US blockade targeting Iranian ports going into effect has added to fears of further escalation and global trade disruption. Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll mounts, with Lebanese authorities reporting that deaths from Israeli airstrikes has now surpassed 2,000. Stay with us for live updates on humanitarian impacts and diplomatic efforts. App users can follow coverage here.