News headlines in March 2026

LONDON, March 25 (IPS) - Less than six months after Nepal’s Generation Z rose up in protest, the country has a new prime minister. A 35-year-old former rapper who soundtracked the protests swept to power in a landslide in the 5 March election.

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (IPS) - Professor Kaveh Madani of Iran has been named the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize laureate. The award will be formally presented by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in August during World Water Week in Stockholm.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, March 25 (IPS) - Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits member states from using threats or force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Violating international law, the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026. The ostensible reason for this unprovoked aggression was to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

The number of children and young people out of school worldwide has climbed for the seventh consecutive year, reaching 273 million, according to a new report from the UN education agency, UNESCO.

Applause erupted in the UN General Assembly Hall on Wednesday as Member States adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the escalating Gulf war is “out of control”, urging all sides to step back from the brink and allow diplomacy to prevail, as he announced the appointment of a senior envoy to spearhead peace efforts.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for the immediate release of the 118 UN staff currently detained worldwide as attacks against the United Nations increase with 179 personnel arrested or detained last year alone.

It’s day 26 of war in the Middle East. Ongoing strikes in Israel and Iran have included intensifying Israeli attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, while some 2,000 US troops are reportedly about to mobilize to the region. Meanwhile, Iran has told the UN maritime agency that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to “non-hostile” ships not associated with the US and Israel. In Geneva, a rare urgent debate on the crisis is also getting under way at the Human Rights Council. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. UN News app users can follow coverage here.

RUFIJI, Tanzania, March 24 (IPS) - By the time the auction begins at Nangurukuru fish market in Tanzania’s southern Lindi region, the crisis is already visible. Wooden canoes that once returned from the Rufiji River with heavy catches now bring only a fraction of what they used to. Traders scan for the long-whiskered catfish that once defined the market but find none.

GENEVA, March 24 (IPS) - As trade ministers gather in Yaoundé, Cameroon, for the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) on 26–29 March 2026, the preparatory process has produced a dense fog of competing reform proposals, draft ministerial statements, and work plans.