News headlines in April 2026, page 11

The UN has issued an urgent call for international support as Cuba grapples with a ‘worsening’ humanitarian crisis fuelled by a prolonged energy blockade and the lingering devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last year.

Top officials updated Member States Monday on selected proposals under the UN80 reform initiative, including an initial assessment of a possible merger between gender equality agency, UN Women, and the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, as well as updates on the technology and data tracks.

Strikes and counter-strikes continue across the Middle East, with dozens of casualties reported over the weekend in Lebanon following Israeli strikes targeting the south and the capital, Beirut. Meanwhile, humanitarian needs are rising, critical infrastructure remains under strain, and the wider economic and global impacts of the crisis continue to mount. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. App users can follow coverage here.

The 2026 World Cup final will take place at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a few miles away from UN Headquarters where, on Wednesday, elite athletes and sports administrators spoke about the power of football and other international sports to change the world for the better.

Reports of yet another projectile strike near the Bushehr nuclear power plant prompted Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to register his deep concern on Saturday.

NYAMTAI, Uganda, April 3 (IPS) - Environmental activists and farmer groups opposed to the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), the world’s longest heated oil pipeline, are mounting a last-ditch legal effort meant to stop its construction in a suit they plan to have filed in London, UK, believing that it stands a chance to stop the controversial project despite being at the 78 percent completion stage.

MEXICO CITY, April 3 (IPS) - In Asunción, Paraguay last month, finance ministers, central bank presidents, and private sector leaders gathered for the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Annual Meetings to talk about growth.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 3 (IPS) - By Easter 2026 it was still not clear when – or how – the war initiated by Israel and the US against Iran would end. But what was already clear was that it would harm Africa in a number of ways.

As violence forces tens of thousands to flee Sudan’s South Kordofan state, doctors in a key maternity hospital are facing impossible choices – with too few supplies, too many patients, and lives slipping away.

In conflict zones where new technologies are making landmines more dangerous, deminers must innovate at the same pace to avoid being left behind, a leading UN mines expert has told UN News.