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Long-awaited food supplies have been looted in Gaza overnight while being transported to desperate communities in the war-torn enclave, UN aid teams reported on Friday.

The United Kingdom agreed to cede its control over the Chagos Islands to the Republic of Mauritius in an agreement signed between the two countries on Thursday. 

More than half the people killed in Gaza over the past week were in shelters and residential buildings, the UN human rights office OHCHR said on Thursday. 

With more than 36,000 civilian deaths recorded in conflict zones in 2024 and sexual violence surging, senior UN officials warn that the international framework designed to protect civilians is collapsing.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday that it has been forced to cut food aid to unprecedented lows in Kenya’s sprawling refugee camps, as a result of severe funding shortages.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned the “appalling killing” of two Israeli embassy officials in the United States capital, stressing that “nothing can justify such a horrific act,” his Spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday. 

We’re live as the Security Council convenes for its annual open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, with briefings from UN relief chief Tom Fletcher and the head of UN Women Sima Bahous. Ambassadors will discuss evolving threats, including use of heavy weapons and the rise of lethal autonomous killing machines such as drones. The UN has documented a spike in deaths, with Gaza, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine among the hardest-hit. Mobile app users can follow here.

UN agencies in Gaza confirmed on Thursday that desperately needed aid has finally arrived at warehouses inside the enclave after an 11-week blockade by Israeli authorities.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on countries to radically rethink their relationship with nature, warning that biodiversity loss is a global crisis no nation can ignore.

Armed violence and insecurity in Haiti have exposed already vulnerable children to sexual violence and exploitation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Wednesday.

Football unites fans worldwide – but on Wednesday it matched the sport’s global reach with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the lead-up to World Football Day, marked on 25 May.

An “horrific” attack on a school bus in Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province on Wednesday which left six dead – including four children – has been condemned by the UN children’s agency.