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Development finance gap risks reversing decades of progress

Global fragmentation, deepening geopolitical tensions and conflicts are putting decades of development progress at risk, the UN warned in a report published on Thursday - calling for stepping up investment to meet internationally agreed goals.…

MIDDLE EAST LIVE 9 April: UN condemns massive strikes in Lebanon, as concerns grow over ceasefire

With a US-Iran ceasefire offering a fragile glimmer of hope after weeks of conflict, violence continues to reverberate across the Middle East. Massive airstrikes in Lebanon have caused heavy civilian casualties and widespread destruction, drawing strong UN condemnation. As humanitarian needs deepen…

Lebanon: Health system overwhelmed following a ‘horrific’ day of Israeli strikes

The scale and speed of destruction from the wave of airstrikes in Lebanon which began just hours after the US-Iran ceasefire announcement, has left the country’s already strained health system struggling to cope, according to the World Health Organization (WHO…

Kosovo mission head warns ‘mistrust’ threatens post-election stability

Despite successful legislative elections in Kosovo late last year, a “delicate equilibrium” persists as deep divisions remain over the future of the United Nations presence in the region. Peter Due,…

MIDDLE EAST LIVE 8 April: US-Iran ceasefire announced; strikes continue in Lebanon

After nearly 40 days of intense hostilities across the Middle East – marked by rising civilian casualties and widespread damage to critical infrastructure – a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran has been announced. While the UN Secretary-General has welcomed the move as a step…

Iran ceasefire raises hopes for reopening key Strait of Hormuz

The announcement of a shaky two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran will, it is hoped, lead to the opening of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes…

Hundreds feared dead in Lebanon strikes

The United Nations has strongly condemned airstrikes by the Israeli military across Lebanon on Wednesday which have resulted in significant casualties and destruction.  The attacks came…

Over 1,000 humanitarians have been killed in three years, Security Council hears

At least 326 humanitarians were killed in the line of duty across 21 countries during 2025, bringing the total killed over three years to over 1,010. The International Red Cross warned the Security Council on Wednesday that “we are losing our humanity in war…

World News in Brief: Death on the Mediterranean, displacement in Afghanistan, ‘One Health’ summit

Over 180 people are feared dead or missing in the latest shipwrecks on the Mediterranean, according to the UN migration agency, IOM. It brings the total number of migrants and refugees killed this year…

‘Entire families brutally erased’: Remembering the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

Thirty-two years ago, a genocidal campaign was unleashed against Rwanda’s Tutsi minority, resulting in more than one million deaths. On Tuesday, the UN is holding commemorations to ensure that the genocide is never forgotten and never repeated…