World News in Brief: Türk slams relentless Russian attacks, Gaza update, Cyclone Gezani hits Madagascar

His reaction followed overnight attacks on energy infrastructure in Kyiv, Dnipro and the key port city of Odesa. Nearly 8,800 multistorey buildings in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa are without heating. In Kharkiv, temperatures are forecast to drop to minus 10°C or 14°F on Thursday evening, said Viktoriia Andrievska from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. […]

South Sudan: UN forced to suspend food aid after ‘unacceptable’ attacks on convoy

South Sudan: UN forced to suspend food aid after ‘unacceptable’ attacks on convoy

As fighting intensifies there between opposition forces and national troops, there are reports of airstrikes and daily civilian casualties. UN agencies warn that worsening insecurity is blocking lifesaving aid, while hunger projections deteriorate and cholera treatment centres struggle to cope with an influx of newly displaced people. The renewed violence comes as South Sudan’s 2018 […]

World News in Brief: Children at risk in South Sudan, Balochistan attacks, summit backs boost for undersea cable security

World News in Brief: Children at risk in South Sudan, Balochistan attacks, summit backs boost for undersea cable security

Clashes in Jonglei state since the start of 2026 have displaced at least 250,000 people, mainly in the north and centre of the state, cutting families off from lifesaving care in areas already suffering some of the highest malnutrition rates in the country. Deadly risks “We are extremely concerned for women and children impacted by these […]

Ukraine: Civilians injured, miners killed, in separate Russian attacks

Ukraine: Civilians injured, miners killed, in separate Russian attacks

Matthias Schmale was “appalled” by the attacks in Dnipro, Kharkiv and Kyiv, noting that many more people in several regions – including Dnipro, Odesa and Vinnitsya – are facing power outages.  “Systematic attacks by the Russian Federation Armed Forces on critical infrastructure affect the daily lives of millions and cause life-threatening conditions for the most vulnerable, including older people and children,” he said in a […]

‘Cycle of attacks must end’: Lead UN official in Ukraine

The attacks on some of Ukraine’s most important population centres, which reportedly involved almost 400 drones, also left thousands without electricity, heating and water. Temperatures in the country have dropped to -20° Celsius, and the attacks on energy infrastructure have left families in freezing conditions. Many older persons and people with disabilities are often stuck in their […]

World News in Brief: Winter attacks in Ukraine, looming food aid cuts in Nigeria, drought in Kenya

They include attacks in Odesa region on Wednesday that killed a 17-year-old boy, according to UN child rights agency UNICEF which called for an “end to attacks on civilian areas and the infrastructure children rely on.”  The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that attacks on the southeastern city of Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday had recommenced on Thursday.  Aid deliveries  “Teams delivered shelter […]

Deadly Attacks, Trembling Services Push Sudan Closer to Catastrophe

Deadly Attacks, Trembling Services Push Sudan Closer to Catastrophe

According to local reports, heavy shelling and assaults late last week in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, killed at least six civilians and injured scores more, triggering fresh displacement from the already besieged city. Sudan has been roiled in a brutal civil war between rival militaries – the Sudanese Armed Forces and […]

Attacks on schools surge by ‘staggering’ 44 per cent over the past year

Attacks on schools surge by ‘staggering’ 44 per cent over the past year

Over 41,000 incidents of violence against school-age children were reported by the UN in 2024. Countries with the highest levels of violations in were Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, notably the Gaza Strip, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, Nigeria, and Haiti. In a message to mark the International Day to Protect […]

World News in Brief: UN chief condemns Russian attacks on Ukraine, Gaza crisis continues, protecting civilians in DR Congo

World News in Brief: UN chief condemns Russian attacks on Ukraine, Gaza crisis continues, protecting civilians in DR Congo

Secretary-General António Guterres said it marked a “further escalation” of the conflict. Authorities reported more than 80 civilian casualties, including a national non-governmental organization (NGO) worker and her two-month-old son in Kyiv. Other affected cities included Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih and Kherson. Energy infrastructure was also hit, causing temporary power and water […]

Amid escalating attacks in Gaza, UN rights chief calls on US to withdraw sanctions against Palestinian rights groups

Amid escalating attacks in Gaza, UN rights chief calls on US to withdraw sanctions against Palestinian rights groups

The measures announced on Thursday target Al-Haq group, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, in relation to their support of the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, following other sanctions imposed by the US Government in June on renowned […]

Attacks across Gaza intensify amid fear and hunger: ‘Leave me here,’ injured girl told fleeing family

Attacks across Gaza intensify amid fear and hunger: ‘Leave me here,’ injured girl told fleeing family

A 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who depends on a wheelchair was among crowds fleeing Israeli military aircraft operations east of Rafah in Gaza on 13 October 2023, said committee member Muhannad Salah Al-Azzeh, who presented a report on the occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday in Geneva. In the melee, she lost her wheelchair. “She […]

SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Push for peace in Ukraine could rapidly fade if large-scale Russian attacks continue

SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Push for peace in Ukraine could rapidly fade if large-scale Russian attacks continue

The UN Security Council met in emergency session in New York on Friday afternoon following overnight strikes early on Thursday by Russia on Ukrainian cities including the capital, which left at least 23 dead, including four children. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča told ambassadors that diplomatic momentum towards a possible peace deal was “at risk of […]

Sudan: Guterres calls for ceasefire in El Fasher, deplores ‘relentless’ militia attacks

Sudan: Guterres calls for ceasefire in El Fasher, deplores ‘relentless’ militia attacks

António Guterres said he was “appalled by the relentless attacks” by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia on the North Darfur state capital, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement. The paramilitary group and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been battling for control of devastated country since April 2023 and El Fasher has […]

Ukraine: Toddler among four children killed in Russia’s attacks on Kyiv

Ukraine: Toddler among four children killed in Russia’s attacks on Kyiv

The youngest victim of the bombing raid was two-and-a-half years old, according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, which released video footage showing smoke billowing from a Kyiv apartment block with a massive hole where its roof had been. Leading condemnation of the attacks, the UN Secretary-General said that targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure violated […]

Amid ongoing Israeli attacks, ‘the systematic destruction of Gaza City is already underway’: UN rights office

Amid ongoing Israeli attacks, ‘the systematic destruction of Gaza City is already underway’: UN rights office

Recent attacks have been particularly devastating in the Az Zaytoun neighbourhood, where airstrikes, artillery shelling and gunfire are continuous and intense, causing a high number of civilian casualties and the large-scale destruction of residential buildings and public facilities, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a statement. Since 8 […]

DR Congo: UN deplores deadly attacks in the east of the country

DR Congo: UN deplores deadly attacks in the east of the country

The attacks, which took place between 9 and 16 August in the localities of Beni and Lubero territories, claimed the lives of at least 52 civilians, including eight women and two children, but peacekeepers on the ground say the death toll may very well rise.   “These attacks targeting civilians, which add to the atrocities […]

More young lives lost and devastated in Russia attacks on Ukraine: UNICEF

More young lives lost and devastated in Russia attacks on Ukraine: UNICEF

The development came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a group of European leaders arrived in Washington to meet President Donald Trump, who held talks on a possible peace deal to end the war with President Vladimir Putin of Russia last Friday. “More young lives lost and devastated in brutal attacks in Ukraine,” UNICEF said […]

UN warns of escalating human toll in Ukraine amid relentless aerial attacks, mounting aid shortfall

UN warns of escalating human toll in Ukraine amid relentless aerial attacks, mounting aid shortfall

“Nowhere is safe in Ukraine,” said Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe at the UN Department of Political Affairs (UNDPPA). Citing figures from the UN human rights office, OHCHR, he said civilian casualties reached a three-year high in June, with 6,754 civilians killed or injured in the first half of 2025 alone. Russian forces launched […]

World News in Brief: Thailand-Cambodia border hostilities, humanitarian efforts in Syria and attacks across Ukraine

World News in Brief: Thailand-Cambodia border hostilities, humanitarian efforts in Syria and attacks across Ukraine

The dispute dates to 1953 when France first mapped the border, but tensions resurfaced in May after the death of a Cambodian soldier in a border skirmish. Secretary-General António Guterres is “following with concern” reports of the clashes, his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York. “The Secretary-General urges both sides to exercise […]