News

As Lebanon suffered another night of heavy Israeli bombing, UN humanitarians and partners described how people desperate to flee the violence found the country’s main border crossing into Syria cut by a new dawn strike, forcing them to skirt “a huge crater” and rubble on foot, to reach the other side.

Every September when UN Headquarters in New York is swamped – massive motorcades, intense security, snipers on rooftops and world leaders descending along with throngs of diplomats, media and celebrities – it’s not easy to grasp what exactly is going on or what was achieved. 

People in Lebanon uprooted by Israeli airstrikes including in central Beirut have described being forced to flee “total destruction”, amid fresh reports of Hezbollah projectile attacks into Israel and close-quarter clashes along the UN-patrolled line of separation between the two countries.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced on Thursday they are partnering to raise awareness about climate change’s harmful effects on winter sports and tourism.

Security Council members are meeting in emergency session on Tuesday morning in New York with the Middle East on the brink of all-out war. App users can follow our live coverage here.

Hours after Iran fired a reported 200 missiles at Israel in response to Israeli military incursions in southern Lebanon raising fears of a wider Middle East escalation, UN human rights chief Volker Türk insisted on Wednesday that “peace must prevail” in the Middle East, while UN Member States meeting in Geneva reiterated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and beyond. 

A breakdown in law and order and a wider humanitarian emergency across Haiti have displaced more than 700,000 people – one in two of them children – the UN migration office, IOM, said on Wednesday.

More than 215 people, including 35 children, have been killed and dozens are missing after heavy rains triggered flash floods and landslides across Nepal, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

UN humanitarians launched a $426 million appeal for Lebanon on Tuesday to support one million people uprooted by widespread Israeli shelling amid what Israel has described as a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation into Lebanon, across the UN-patrolled line of separation.

The UN Secretary-General on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants, as Israel launched what it described as a “limited” ground incursion into Southern Lebanon.

 UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told thousands gathered in New York’s Central Park on Saturday that although it is easy to be miserable in today’s world, they represent the hope needed to defeat poverty, defend the planet and demand equity.

UN humanitarians on Monday warned of the potentially dire consequences that could arise from disruption to the flow of food imports into Yemen following Israeli strikes on the crucial Red Sea port of Hudaydah.

More than one million people across Lebanon have been uprooted by ongoing and deadly Israeli airstrikes across the country, including one reported early Monday morning in a residential area of central Beirut, adding to fears of a full-scale invasion. 

The sudden and massive escalation between Israel and the Hezbollah armed group in Lebanon has created widespread fear that even worse is to come, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

At the UN General Assembly on Friday, leaders from Asia and the Pacific underscored a dire reality: climate change is a clear and present danger for everyone on the Planet, but their countries and peoples will likely suffer the most.

The UN Security Council will convene within the hour on the current situation on the ground in war-torn Gaza, where Israeli strikes have killed more than 41,500 Palestinians amid mass displacement and stymied humanitarian efforts as Israel continues hampering the entry of lifesaving aid. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 3pm (New York time). UN News app users can follow here.

At least 11 schools being used as shelters by internally displaced Gazans have been hit so far this month, with nearly 100 deaths reported, said UN aid coordination office, OCHA, on Friday.

The UN agency that supports Palestine refugees, UNRWA, is the only “outpost of hope” left in the hellscape that is Gaza, the UN Secretary-General told a high-level ministerial meeting on Thursday in New York.

A new humanitarian crisis is unfolding at Lebanon’s border with Syria as thousands of people flee Israeli shelling linked to the war in Gaza, UN humanitarians said on Thursday, just as Israel premier Benyamin Netanyahu arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly.

As foreign ministers from the G20 group of industrialised nations met on Wednesday to discuss sustainability and justice issues, the UN chief urged global financial institutions to “cooperate and collaborate for the good of humanity.” 

With global sea level rising faster than at any time over the last 3,000 years, UN Member States met on Wednesday to examine how to best address this existential threat. 

Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is an invisible killer, so world leaders will soon gather at a high-level meeting at UN Headquarters on Thursday at 10am local time to discuss the best ways forward and adopt a political declaration that focuses on a coordinated response to one of the most serious public health threats. UN News app users can follow here.

With war raging in Sudan and no end in sight to the catastrophic hunger crisis it has created, UN agencies and Member States meeting at the General Assembly in New York on Wednesday prepared to issue a renewed call for urgent action to protect the country’s people.

The serious escalation in hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel has forced “tens of thousands” of people to flee their homes in Lebanon, including Syrian refugees, leaving border routes to Syria choked with vehicles trying to get through, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Wednesday.

As wars and crises dominate global headlines, leaders from small island developing States used the UN General Assembly platform to sound the alarm on climate change – their most pressing existential threat – warning that it is obliterating economies and livelihoods.

Ongoing heavy fighting in Sudan has continued to kill and uproot the country’s people who global leaders should remember as they gather in New York on Tuesday, UN humanitarians have said.

As Lebanon mourns the victims of a wave of Israeli airstrikes believed to have left hundreds dead, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday against a return to the “dark days of 2006” when full-scale war broke out, calling for an urgent de-escalation and the protection of civilians.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Tuesday for finance, climate action and peace to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline. 

The President of the UN General Assembly urged all nations to sustain their momentum toward decisive action and to advance the outcomes of the Summit of the Future as it concluded on Monday.

World leaders are at UN Headquarters in New York this Sunday where in just a few minutes time the UN's Summit of the Future will begin; a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the multilateral system and steer humanity on a new course to meet existing commitments and solve long-term challenges. UN News app users can follow our live coverage here.