News headlines in July 2026, page 5

Armed conflict, insecurity and environmental pressures are threatening ancient cities, historic castles and one of the world's greatest wildlife migrations.

Cyberattacks, data breaches, online harassment and other forms of technology-facilitated violence are becoming significant obstacles to HIV prevention and treatment, according to a UNAIDS specialist who says digital security has become inseparable from the fight against the epidemic itself.

The UN Security Council met on Monday at Ukraine’s request, following recent large-scale Russian attacks on Kyiv and elsewhere. At least one civilian was killed and more than a dozen wounded in an overnight strike on the capital on 19 July that also damaged homes and civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian authorities described it as one of the largest and most intense attacks since the invasion began. Follow live updates below.

A country long known as a meeting point of civilizations, Syria stands once again at a crossroads

Shortly before sunrise, Palestinian Fathi Hajji begins an arduous thrice weekly journey to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

When 10-year-old Ukrainian gymnast Sasha Paskal stepped onto the stage in New York's Times Square this week, she carried a message far bigger than her performance.

When Samantha Richards and Angela Hifume walked into the Hall of Flags at United Nations Headquarters last week, they carried more than a folder of paper. They carried the voices of hundreds of street-connected children who had never expected anyone to listen.

Syria has an opportunity not only to recover from conflict but to build “a future that is more stable, more inclusive and more prosperous for all Syrians”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in Damascus on Saturday as he began a landmark visit to the country.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, July 24 (IPS) - José Rubén Zamora, founder of elPeriódico, Guatemala’s now-defunct leading investigative newspaper, spent 1,295 days in detention before a court granted him house arrest on 12 February. He endured long stretches of solitary confinement in a military jail, held in near-constant darkness and subjected to treatment that six UN experts warned could amount to torture. His offence was simply doing his job. For decades, he exposed the corrupt dealings of Guatemala’s economic and political elites. Prosecutors are still trying to send him back to prison.

ROME, July 24 (IPS) - After two days of debate at an international conference devoted to the challenges of artificial intelligence (AI), nuclear war and global security, Nobel laureates, former heads of state and government, scientists, human rights defenders, religious leaders and representatives of civil society adopted a joint declaration, calling for it to be based on human dignity.