Years after conflicts fade from the headlines, the weapons used to fight them often continue to circulate – crossing borders, fuelling crime and undermining an often-fragile peace. Now, ghost guns, 3D-printed firearms and increasingly sophisticated trafficking networks are creating new challenges for governments worldwide.

As hostilities escalate in Lebanon despite a recent ceasefire extension, the United Nations continues to push for peace and support displaced civilians by providing food, protection and other assistance.

Four nurses who fell ill with Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been discharged from hospital after recovering from the often-fatal illness that sparked an international health alert. 

Every day in Kharkiv begins with uncertainty: air raid sirens interrupt sleep; missiles strike residential neighbourhoods, industrial sites, and roads. Anxious citizens rush into metro stations during bombardments and children study underground.

Community trust will be decisive in bringing the rapidly evolving Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo under control, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday, as health teams race to contain the emergency that has spread across multiple provinces and into neighbouring Uganda.

Matches organised by a former professional player are providing a brief respite from the harsh reality of life for the thousands living in overcrowded tents, schools or damaged buildings in the shattered Occupied Palestinian Territory of Gaza.

At least 26 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip since Tuesday – the eve of one of the most important holidays in Islam – the UN human rights office, OHCHR, reported on Friday.

The UN Secretary-General has expressed alarm after a drone struck a residential building in the Romanian city of Galați overnight into Friday, reportedly injuring two people.

Blocking children from social media is no substitute for making platforms safe in the first place, the UN human rights office warned Friday, as it issued a 10-point framework urging governments and tech companies to go further and faster to protect children online.

The dire conditions in the Gaza Strip are trapping children “in an endless cycle of suffering” and their heartbroken parents can only look on, an official with the UN child rights agency UNICEF said on Friday in a fresh appeal for greater humanitarian access to support families in the war-ravaged enclave. 

Nearly 10,000 cases of conflict-related sexual violence were recorded worldwide last year – more than double the previous year's figure – as rape, sexual slavery and abduction were deployed as weapons of war across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Caribbean.

Two weeks into the latest deadly Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are now 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including 223 suspected deaths.

Peacekeepers are serving in a dangerous era of mounting global tensions and tight resources. UN chief António Guterres is now calling for greater political backing and reliable financial support for ‘blue helmets’ who put themselves in harm’s way.

The United Nations on Thursday warned of a dangerous escalation in the war in Ukraine after a wave of large-scale Russian strikes and threats of further attacks, with Secretary-General António Guterres saying “the death spiral must stop.”

The UN has expressed deep concern over escalating hostilities in Lebanon following intensified Israeli airstrikes in southern Beirut and across southern parts of the country.

The UN Security Council is meeting in emergency session on Ukraine, with Secretary-General António Guterres telling ambassadors following what Kyiv describes as the most devastating attack on its capital to date, that “the time for peace is now.” In the early hours of 23-24 May, Russia launched a massive barrage of missiles and drones against multiple Ukrainian cities. Moscow has since threatened further sustained strikes. Sharp divisions among Council members are expected, with European nations demanding an immediate ceasefire while Russia insists its strikes target only military infrastructure.

The world is heading into another period of dangerous heat, a new UN report warns on Thursday, and it’s nearly certain global temperatures over the next five years will stay “at or near record levels” as climate change accelerates across land and sea.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) headed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday as the country continues to combat a deadly resurgence of Ebola in its volatile eastern region where instability is rife. 

UN chief António Guterres has outlined further progress in the wide-ranging UN80 Initiative, a major reform and restructuring project aimed at making the global body more effective, agile and better equipped to respond to global challenges.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday warned that eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo faces a “catastrophic collision of disease and conflict” as a fast-spreading Ebola outbreak outpaces containment efforts in a region already battered by armed violence, mass displacement and acute hunger.