UN News - Global perspective Human stories

• Thousands prevented from returning home to southern Lebanon
  As months of conflict continue to devastate communities across Lebanon, families are being left without shelter, healthcare and other essential services.
• World News in Brief: Aid for Ukraine, drone attacks in Sudan, DR Congo deaths, neurological disorders in the Americas
  UN partners launched the Winter Response Plan to help 2.1 million people in Ukraine survive another cold season as the country grapples with the on-going Russian invasion.
• Nicaragua continues to weaken political freedoms, UN warns
  The UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Wednesday condemned new threats from Nicaragua’s co-president Daniel Ortega to hinder civil rights and prevent dissenting individuals and groups from participating in elections.
• Deadly Afghanistan floods kill at least 26 as aid agencies race to reach survivors
  Flash floods have killed at least 26 people across eastern Afghanistan, including 23 in the mountainous province of Nuristan, where homes, markets and roads were swept away and search teams continued looking for people reported missing.
• Security Council LIVE: Can critical minerals fuel peace and prosperity instead of conflict?
  The Security Council met Wednesday in New York to debate critical minerals — the lithium, cobalt and copper powering the clean energy transition. Demand is set to triple by 2030. The question: will this mineral wealth build peace and prosperity, or fund conflict and corruption? Follow live updates throughout the day below and go here for full coverage from across the UN.
• From lithium to nickel: How the UN is helping countries make the most of critical minerals
  The world's shift to clean energy is driving huge demand for critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper. 
• Critical minerals: The hidden resources powering the clean energy future
  Why are critical minerals suddenly at the centre of global politics?
• ‘Business as usual is a business of death’: UN adopts road safety pledge over US objection
  The UN General Assembly closed its first ever High-level Meeting on road safety on Tuesday by adopting a sweeping new declaration aimed at halving road deaths by 2030 – over the sole objection of the United States.
• World News in Brief: Sexual violence in DR Congo, deaths in Ukraine and Russia, crime in Southeast Asia
  Independent UN human rights experts on Tuesday condemned the M23 armed group’s “reign of terror” over territory it controls in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), calling for an end to the Rwanda-backed group’s sexual torture and violence against civilians.
• Israeli attacks on Gaza intensify amid surge of West Bank settler violence
  Amid intensified deadly Israeli attacks in Gaza, the UN chief and top officials condemned the killings while a surge violence rocked the West Bank and aid agencies scrambled to help Palestinians.
• Guterres calls for stepping up diplomatic efforts to end US-Iran conflict
  The United Nations again called for restraint as war ramps up in the Middle East, underscoring the need for dialogue and an end to attacks on “vital infrastructure” across the region.
• Global hunger declines again but progress remains uneven across regions
  Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025 showing that progress is possible, but gains remain fragile and far too slow to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline.
• UN refugee agency reports 144 migrants dead or missing off Mauritanian coast
  The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) reports that 144 migrants attempting to reach Europe are dead or missing due to a series of “tragic maritime incidents” off the coast of Mauritania last week.
• Security Council LIVE: Spotlight on Syria as Guterres heads to Damascus
  The Security Council discussed the situation on the ground in Syria amid reports of an Israeli attack in occupied territory and of a multi-national oil pipeline to counter the closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz – still the focus of the ongoing US-Iran war. The meeting follows UN independent investigators’ findings that security conditions remain fragile in the south as António Guterres heads to Damascus for his first visit to the country as Secretary-General.
• DR Congo: Ebola outbreak still expanding, WHO sees signs of stabilization
  In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the virus has taken hold. As of 19 July, the DRC Government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases, including 967 deaths and 469 recoveries. 
• From the General Assembly to Harlem: Mandela’s call to action endures
  Sixty-seven minutes. That is how long volunteers spent serving lunch to people experiencing food insecurity at Refettorio Harlem in New York City last week – one for every year Nelson Mandela gave to public service.  
• Health response brings lifesaving care closer to thousands in Yemen
  Thousands of people in some of Yemen's most conflict-affected communities are receiving lifesaving health care closer to home, thanks to funding from the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) through the Yemen Humanitarian Fund.
• Ukraine: Deadly Russian attacks severely damage aid warehouses
  Russian attacks and drone strikes killed at least two children and injured dozens more across Ukraine over recent days while severely damaging three critical aid warehouses, UN agencies reported on Monday.
• Middle East: Civilians again under fire as US-Iran strikes continue
  As the United States and Iran trade deadly attacks for a second week, the UN continues to call for de-escalation while highlighting the devastation caused to civilians and critical infrastructure across the Middle East.
• ‘I consider it a miracle’: Pregnant woman pulled from post-quake rubble in Venezuela
  When a 12-story apartment building pancaked in La Guaira, Venezuela, following two powerful earthquakes late last month, panic ensued to save people injured or trapped under the rubble.
• LIVE: Haiti endures violence and hunger, but hopes grow for a more secure future
  Haiti’s future success depends on “security, political engagement, and humanitarian action reinforcing each other,” the UN’s most senior official in Haiti has told the UN Security Council which met in New York on Monday to discuss the way forward for the embattled Caribbean island nation.
• Moon Day focuses growing concerns around space junk
  Amid surging lunar exploration, the UN on Monday urged governments to ensure that humanity's return to the Moon does not come at the expense of planet Earth – or the long-term sustainability of space.
• Ukraine: UN condemns overnight attack on Kyiv
  United Nations agencies have deplored a fresh Russian assault on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv which left at least one person dead and a dozen injured.
• Haiti: Signs of hope despite gang violence and political uncertainty
  For millions of Haitians, daily life has become a struggle to stay safe, find enough food and simply move around their own neighbourhood.
• A former Ferrari boss has a blunt message: Your commute is more dangerous than his old job
  Jean Todt spent decades around the deadliest motorsport on Earth. He was a rally co‑driver, then ran Ferrari’s Formula One team, then became president of world motorsport’s governing body. In his early years, a driver dying at the track barely made news.