UN News - Global perspective Human stories

• Passengers leave hantavirus-hit cruise ship in Tenerife as WHO says outbreak ‘not another COVID’
  Passengers and crew from the cruise ship MV Hondius began disembarking in Tenerife on Sunday under a tightly coordinated international health operation led by Spanish authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO), as officials sought to reassure the public that the outbreak “is not another COVID.”
• First Person: Surviving death row in Thailand
  A Thai woman who spent more than 20 years in prison after being found guilty of drugs trafficking – including eight on death row – has told the UN how learning to sew helped her find meaning in life behind bars, and a job when she was released.
• WHO chief heads to Tenerife to oversee Sunday arrival of hantavirus-hit ship
  The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has issued a direct plea for calm and solidarity to the citizens of Tenerife ahead of the scheduled arrival of the MV Hondius on Sunday
• Nuclear energy in the Middle East: A realistic choice or a risk?
  As global electricity demand grows, so does the popularity of nuclear energy. In the Middle East, several countries are evaluating or advancing nuclear power projects, balancing weighty issues such as regional security, climatic conditions and international cooperation.
• World News in Brief: Haiti crisis continues, Gaza-West Bank update, Sir David Attenborough at 100
  Haiti continues to face escalating violence and deepening insecurity, with gangs expanding their reach beyond Port-au-Prince and civilians increasingly caught between armed groups and security operations.
• Central African Republic: Funding cuts put humanitarian support at risk
  The Central African Republic (CAR) is making progress towards stability and security but major aid budget cuts threaten humanitarian operations there, a senior official with the UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Friday in New York. 
• Somalia teeters on the brink of catastrophe as hunger crisis deepens
  “This is not a distant warning. This is a crisis that is unfolding right now and it's deepening quickly.”
• Malaria vaccine is saving children’s lives: WHO
  New evidence shows that malaria vaccination is significantly reducing child deaths in Africa and could have an even greater impact as programmes expand, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
• Ukraine: Over 3,000 attacks on healthcare since full-scale Russian invasion
  The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified more than 3,000 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN agency reported on Friday.
• ‘Victims need a voice, assistance and justice’: UN victims’ rights advocate calls for stronger action
  The United Nations Victims’ Rights Advocate has called for stronger and sustained action on behalf of the people she serves across the UN system.
• Lebanon war leaves families foraging for food despite ceasefire
  The fragile ceasefire in Lebanon hasn’t prevented “ongoing killing and displacement”, with villages in the south of the country rendered completely unrecognizable after Israeli strikes, aid teams reported on Friday.
• Wider hantavirus outbreak risk is ‘absolutely low’, insists UN health agency
  The risk of hantavirus spreading to the general population is “absolutely low”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Friday, as a flight attendant tested negative for the disease after coming into contact with an infected passenger from the cruise ship at the centre of the outbreak, who later died. 
• ‘Every Bird Counts’: How city residents can help protect migratory birds
  Did you know that millions of birds may be migrating silently overhead right now as you read this – and you don’t even need to leave the house to see them?
• Bahrain and US float Security Council resolution on the Strait of Hormuz
  Bahrain and the United States have circulated a draft Security Council resolution calling for Iran to cease attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, their ambassadors outlined to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday.
• Oil, plastics and climate: Why higher prices could speed a materials transition
  As oil prices have risen amid geopolitical turmoil, one perhaps overlooked driver of climate change is coming into sharper focus: the production of plastics which are deeply tied to fossil fuels.
• World News in Brief: Somalia drought response, Gaza and Ukraine aid updates, human rights abuses in Tunisia
  In Somalia’s Puntland region, dried out watering holes, animal carcasses and old pots filled with ash have become part of the landscape as worsening drought conditions deepen a growing hunger crisis.
• Lebanon: Fresh strike on Beirut suburbs ‘a very alarming development’
  An Israeli airstrike overnight on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut has sparked a new wave of displacement among civilians already impacted by months of conflict, the United Nations said on Thursday.
• GDP up, satisfaction down: Why we need a new way to measure progress
  For decades, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been used as a benchmark of society’s progress. Yet, as the GDP figures keep ticking up, so too does a profound disenchantment with the political and economic systems tasked with serving the public. Is it time to find a new way to measure what really matters?
• Countries make progress on migration pact, but more work remains
  What do more than half of all doctors in Australia, over 40 per cent of Nobel laureates from the United States, and most of the workforce in some Gulf States have in common? 
• Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship not ‘another COVID’, WHO says
  A deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean poses a low global public health risk and is “not the start of another COVID pandemic”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
• UN mourns CNN founder Ted Turner, a ‘tireless champion for our common humanity’
  The American businessman, media mogul and philanthropist Ted Turner is being remembered by the United Nations for his long-standing support for the Organization and its values. 
• More than 70 civilians killed in Ukraine in less than a week
  At least 70 civilians have been killed and more than 500 injured across Ukraine since the start of May, UN human rights monitors said on Wednesday, as waves of attacks hit cities across the country and humanitarian workers struggled to reach communities near the frontline.
• Security Council holds closed-door talks following attacks on United Arab Emirates
  As the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz continues, the United Nations reiterates its commitment to support efforts towards peace, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Wednesday during his media briefing from New York.
• As housing insecurity grows, global leaders push for action
  “Housing is the gateway to all other rights” said actor and humanitarian Richard Gere, who has joined UN efforts to combat homelessness. 
• Gaza flotilla: Aid delivery ‘not a crime’, UN rights office tells Israel
  The UN human rights office on Wednesday called on Israel to immediately release two members of the Global Sumud Flotilla detained in international waters, warning that solidarity with Palestinians and attempts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza “is not a crime.”