News

Six African football legends are urging the continent to unite and step up efforts to vaccinate every child against the life-threatening polio virus.  

From Sri Lanka’s central highlands to Indonesia’s flood-swollen river basins, a wave of climate-fuelled cyclones and monsoon rains has unleashed one of the deadliest weather patterns south and southeast Asia has seen in years, killing more than 1,600 people, displacing hundreds of thousands and affecting millions.

Every week in Gaza, at least 15 women give birth outside any health facility, often without a trained midwife, pain relief or basic medical supplies. 

As the world prepares to mark Human Rights Day on 10 December, the UN is warning that war-torn Sudan is in the midst of arguably the gravest human rights crisis of our time.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday warned that Sudan risks “another El Fasher” as fierce fighting spreads across the Kordofan region, raising fears of a fresh wave of atrocities. 

The authoritative World Health Organization (WHO) World Malaria Report, published on Thursday, shows that resistance to antimalarial drugs now poses one of the most acute risks to control efforts across Africa and beyond.

The Arab region is heating at nearly twice the global average, UN weather experts warned on Thursday, after 2024 saw unprecedented heat, destructive storms and worsening water scarcity impact some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Civilians across Sudan’s Kordofan region are facing extreme hardship as conflict intensifies, warned the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) on Wednesday.

The UN has called for an investigation into the recent “horrific” killing by Israeli forces of two young brothers in Gaza who were reportedly targeted by a drone while collecting firewood. 

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday demanded by a wide margin that Russia immediately and unconditionally return all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported since the start of the war.

Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has surged to a ten-year high, the United Nations reported on Wednesday, underscoring how prolonged conflict and economic collapse are driving farmers deeper into the illicit economy.

The deadly legacy of conflicts old and new – from Gaza to Sudan and beyond – continues to kill and maim civilians on a near-daily basis, mine action workers said on Wednesday, as they appealed for greater support for their lifesaving work in the face of deep funding cuts.