News headlines in June 2026

VICTORIA, Seychelles, June 22 (IPS) - Now that the lights have dimmed in Mombasa and the delegations have gone home, a simple but necessary question remains: did the first Our Ocean Conference on African soil truly move the world from promises to protection? The conference was indeed the first held in Africa, under the theme “Our Ocean, Our Heritage, Our Future,” with a stated focus on culture, communities, livelihoods, marine protection, climate resilience and sustainable blue economies.

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (IPS) - Nearly nine years after the violent persecution of the Rohingya minority population in Myanmar and the following mass exodus of refugees, over 1.2 million Rohingya currently reside in neighbouring Bangladesh, where they face immense challenges. With the United Nations (UN) recording significant shortfalls in global humanitarian funding, alongside Bangladesh’s diminishing ability to support these populations, experts warn of a deepening humanitarian crisis.

BANGKOK, Thailand, June 22 (IPS) - The fallout from the sudden collapse of the old system of financing international cooperation has been disastrous, unleashing a wave of harm and leaving the world more vulnerable to shocks and less able to respond to them. The wreckage is plain to see. The issue is what to do next.

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (IPS) - A record number of children were subject to grave violations by parties to armed conflicts, the highest since the UN mandate for children and armed conflict (CAAC) was established in 1996.

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (IPS) - When Egypt’s onetime Foreign Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali was running for the post of U.N. Secretary-General in late 1991, he had to contend with the rival candidature of Bernard Chidzero, then foreign minister of Zimbabwe.

As artificial intelligence reshapes how people work, communicate and access information, UN Women warned on Monday that the technology is reproducing old gender stereotypes, which amplify online abuse and leave women out of the decisions that will define the digital future.

Imagine being one of a family of nine and sitting down to a meal of potato peelings and other scraps, boiled up into a soup. This is the harsh reality for many of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable families, forced on them by climate change and drought, widespread malnutrition and increasing restrictions on women, since the Taliban overran Kabul in 2021.

Wars regularly make headlines. Preventing them rarely does.

The UN Security Council has expressed alarm over reports of substantial military reinforcements by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) around El Obeid in Sudan, warning of the risk of a potential ground offensive on the city.

One month after the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, case numbers continue to rise.