News headlines in July 2026, page 2

Uganda is experiencing a growing climate of fear as increasing restrictions on fundamental freedoms leave opposition supporters, journalists, human rights defenders and civil society groups at heightened risk of abuse, according to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR).

The humanitarian toll is mounting as fighting continues in the Middle East beyond strikes and counterstrikes between the US and Iran, the UN aid coordination office OCHA warned on Thursday, with civilians increasingly at risk and essential infrastructure disrupted in several countries across the region.

The wildfires burning across Europe and North America highlight the urgent need for action now – as climate change, land-use pressures and human activity make severe fires more likely in the future.

Aid workers and first responders raced to help people across Ukraine after a wave of deadly Russian missile and drone strikes overnight as concerns mounted over military activity near nuclear power plants on Thursday.

Afghans returning from neighbouring countries are facing growing risks of human trafficking and exploitation as overlapping humanitarian and economic crises leave many struggling to survive, the UN warned on Thursday.

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.