News from the United Nations
- Lebanon: UN peacekeeping force warns drone incidents near its positions are putting personnel at risk May 13, 2026The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Wednesday that escalating drone activity and nearby explosions involving suspected Hezbollah drones and Israeli forces are endangering its personnel and threatening already fragile stability in southern Lebanon.
- Recycled plastics for food use require stronger safeguards, warn UN food security experts May 13, 2026Recycled plastics could help reduce the world’s growing waste crisis, but only if food packaging is carefully regulated to prevent contamination, according to a new analysis from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
- Funding shortfalls force deep cuts to Syria food assistance: WFP May 13, 2026Millions of Syrians are at growing risk of hunger after severe funding shortages forced the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to halve emergency food assistance, cutting support for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people across the country.
- Afghanistan crisis deepens as record returns, drought and aid cuts strain economy May 13, 2026Afghanistan’s humanitarian and economic crisis is deepening despite modest economic growth, with nearly three in four people unable to meet basic needs, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said on Wednesday.
- Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank May 12, 2026Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming a growing number of Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
- From childhood to university, economic inequality shapes life chances worldwide May 12, 2026Economic inequality is leaving a deep mark on children’s health, learning and future opportunities – with effects felt well beyond the classroom, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and the UN education agency UNESCO warned on Tuesday.
- Guterres highlights Africa’s leadership in speech to summit in Nairobi May 12, 2026Africa continues to advance and demands investment at scale, justice in global systems, and partnerships grounded in respect, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday.
- Chad’s refugee crisis overwhelms maternity care in east, UN agency warns May 12, 2026Many women in eastern Chad are being forced to give birth in overcrowded clinics with limited medicine, minimal equipment and severe shortages of anesthesia, as a worsening humanitarian crisis overwhelms the country’s fragile healthcare system, the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, warned on Tuesday.
- World News in Brief: Conflict drives hunger in DR Congo, mass corporal punishment in Afghanistan, Earth’s sand is running out May 12, 2026More than 26.5 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are facing acute hunger, according to a new analysis from UN-backed food security experts published Tuesday.
- Armed drones leading cause of civilian death in Sudan war: UN rights chief May 11, 2026Drones caused more than 80 per cent of civilian deaths in Sudan’s war during the first four months of 2026, killing at least 880 people, the UN human rights chief said on Monday, warning that escalating drone warfare could push the conflict into an even deadlier phase.