News headlines in 2026

URBANA, Illinois, US, July 29 (IPS) - Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations put out an alert, warning countries around the world about an impending new El Niño phase that is expected to significantly increase the likelihood of drought, heat waves, storms, and flooding and pose major risks to agriculture across multiple regions.

UNITED NATIONS, July 29 (IPS) - Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (Republican of Kansas) rose to public attention in the 1950s with his allegations that hundreds of “Communists” had infiltrated the State Department and other federal agencies.

DELHI, India, July 29 (IPS) - On 15 September 1953, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India was elected the eighth president of the UN General Assembly — the first woman to hold the UN’s second-highest position. Since then, only four women have followed her, most recently the current president, Annalena Baerbock. Since its founding, the UN has had nine Secretaries-General. All men. Now, 81 years after the UN’s founding, we have a historic opportunity to correct that record. It is time to entrust the UN leadership to a woman of the Global South who shapes a more inclusive, effective and forward-looking UN.

Independent UN experts on Wednesday called for urgent action to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh after reports indicated two boats carrying more than 500 passengers may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in mid-July.

The United Nations Secretary-General said on Wednesday that he plans to convene fresh talks on Cyprus to resolve the decades-long division on the Mediterranean island, stressing that the moment calls for rebuilding trust between its two communities.

The UN emergency food agency appealed for immediate funding on Wednesday, warning that deepening hunger is undermining the response to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that has now infected more than 3,200 people.

Violence in the occupied West Bank is worsening as the Israeli Government continues to approve new settlements while settlers and Israeli security forces have “often” acted together to attack local Palestinian communities, the UN’s human rights office (OHCHR) warned on Wednesday.

SYDNEY, Australia, July 28 (IPS) - As Western Europe endured its worst-ever June heatwave in recorded history, the imperative for climate adaptation is now urgent as the continent accelerates beyond others to become the fastest-warming region in the world.

RIO de JANEIRO, Brazil, July 28 (IPS) - The Region of the Americas has more tools than ever before to prevent, diagnose, and treat HIV, yet many of them are still not reaching everyone who needs them, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Jarbas Barbosa said during the opening session of the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026).

From the peaks of Mount Olympus in Greece to the shores of the “D-Day” beaches in France, 25 cultural or natural landmarks from across the globe have been newly inscribed on the World Heritage List, updated annually by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).