News

The UN Human Rights Council – the world’s principal defender of vulnerable people worldwide – has elected an Indonesian diplomat to be President for 2026 in a first for the country.

At least five civilians have been killed and some 30,000 people displaced following renewed fighting in Aleppo, Syria, prompting calls from the UN for immediate de-escalation and a return to political talks.

Some two decades after a shaky political transition, Iraq today is a country “at peace, with increased security and a clear determination to win the battle of development,” says the UN resident coordinator for Iraq on Wednesday.

A sweeping UN human rights report released on Wednesday concludes that in the occupied West Bank, Israel is violating international law prohibiting racial segregation and apartheid, warning that the discriminatory practices have accelerated dramatically since late 2022 amid growing violence, repression and impunity.

Almost four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, aid teams continue to adapt to the lethal reality of working in a modern war zone. 

Thousands of displaced people in northern Syria are struggling to cope with freezing conditions after a severe snowstorm struck dozens of displacement sites, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) said on Tuesday.

Some 65,000 households in the Gaza Strip were affected by the severe winter storms that whipped through the enclave last month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday. 

Thirteen more lives – including children – were reportedly lost on Tuesday in another drone attack on Sudan’s North Kordofan region.

Ukraine’s agricultural sector remains under intense pressure as the war continues to disrupt food production and endanger civilians, the UN food security agency warned on Tuesday, as it unveiled a new three-year plan to help farmers survive and protect their livelihoods.

Venezuela’s political shock has sharpened global attention on a country already facing one of the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crises. For the United Nations, the priority remains unchanged: protecting lives, sustaining basic services and supporting Venezuelans at home and across the region.

Four days since the seizure of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro by the United States, UN human rights chief Volker Türk reiterated deep concerns that the military operation undermined fundamental protections for sovereign countries.

The UN Security Council met on Monday against a sharply altered diplomatic backdrop, following US strikes on the Venezuelan capital and seizure of President Nicolás Maduro.