The United Nations climate chief called on Monday for countries to step up action to implement existing commitments, warning that fossil fuel dependency is deepening economic instability and exposing vulnerable communities to worsening climate impacts. 

From peacekeepers to math teachers, 136 UN personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2025 were commemorated on Monday morning in an annual service hosted by the Secretary-General.

A powerful earthquake struck the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday morning just as millions of children were returning to school after the summer break.

Children are dying because doctors cannot access essential medicines, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in a stark warning on Monday, calling for the immediate lifting of United States sanctions against the Caribbean nation that were causing “widespread harm”.

Plastic pollution is choking the ocean, but sustainable alternatives - including seaweed - remain held back by tariffs, fragmented regulations and the overwhelming market advantage enjoyed by fossil fuel-based plastics. 

The ocean covers more than 70 per cent of the planet and regulates climate, sustains biodiversity, and supports economies and cultures worldwide. It’s the foundation of life on Earth.

Night has fallen over the town of Zémio, in the east of the Central African Republic. In a few hours, the December 2025 presidential election is due to take place, but the rebels of the “Azande Ani Kpi Gbe” (AAKG) militia have launched an offensive to seize the city and derail the polls.

From surgical gloves to water bottles, shopping bags and chewing gum, every part of our daily lives includes plastic. They epitomise convenience – their durability makes our dependence on them inextricable, but it also stifles the environment.

When US and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran on 28 February, triggering one of the most serious geopolitical crises in years, the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow channel just 34 kilometres wide at its narrowest point – became a global flashpoint overnight.

Months of fighting and insecurity have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in South Sudan’s eastern Jonglei State, triggering “one of the most severe conflict-related displacement emergencies in recent years”, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. 

In a village in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers arrived a few days ago to help bury a person who had died from Ebola. Instead, they were threatened, told armed rebels would be called if they stayed, and forced to leave.

The United Nations paused on Friday to pay tribute to the more than 4,500 peacekeepers who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past 78 years. 

Escalating gang violence across Haiti has pushed displacement to record levels, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis and leaving nearly 1.5 million people without a stable place to live, according to new figures released Friday by the UN migration agency, IOM.

The UN in Lebanon appealed for an additional $331.5 million on Friday to help 1.4 million people in crisis as already massive needs continue to grow, three months since deadly violence erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces.

Artificial Intelligence is not only responsible for worrying amounts of earth-warming greenhouse gases: the technology's environmental footprint is also expanding at a pace that could strain the planet’s natural resources.

From a police station in Germany to the UN Mission in South Sudan, Stephanie Königs has been talking to UN News about her journey to becoming a peacekeeper – and the importance of trust and empathy in the field. 

The UN and its partners are continuing efforts to contain Ebola outbreaks in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, while warning that insecurity and misinformation remain major obstacles to the response.

What began as a geopolitical crisis in the Middle East nearly 100 days ago is increasingly becoming a food security crisis elsewhere, with UN agencies warning of rising hunger in Africa and malnourished children being turned away from medical clinics in Afghanistan.

Chemical weapons inspectors have uncovered a significant cache of previously undeclared chemical weapons in Syria – including rockets of the same type used in the notorious 2013 Ghouta attack – in what the UN’s top disarmament official called a “momentous discovery” for international security.

Across the Middle East, countries facing severe energy access challenges are turning to renewables to power essential infrastructure, from hospitals to schools and street lighting.