News headlines in 2026, page 4

The Security Council is meeting for an open briefing on Ukraine, requested by European members following Kyiv’s 18 March letter citing a surge in Russian strikes. Inside the country, attacks continue to take a heavy toll: since 19 March, at least 25 civilians have reportedly been killed and more than 130 injured, including children, particularly in Donetsk, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia. We’ll have live coverage below, app users can follow here – and for all our key meetings coverage each day, go here.

Nearly 70 years after South African police fired upon peaceful demonstrators in Sharpeville protesting apartheid-era laws, killing 69, the UN renewed the commitment to work for justice and equality on Monday, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Since the start of the Middle East conflict with Israeli and US strikes on Iran on 28 February, concerns have been growing over rising oil and commodity prices.

Since the outbreak of war on 28 February, several unique sites of cultural significance have been damaged in Iran, Israel and Lebanon, alongside immense suffering, displacement and death.

The war in the Middle East is well into its fourth week and the humanitarian emergency it has sparked continues to be the focus of international attention, along with the energy crisis caused by attacks on shipping in key Strait of Hormuz and other oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region. Stay with us for live updates from across the UN system. App users can follow coverage here.

All-time high greenhouse gas concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere continue to drive heat records on land and sea, with long-lasting consequences for humanity, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Monday.

Born from the ashes of the Second World War, the dream of a more peaceful and fairer world drew nations together in 1945 under a new vision for humanity: the United Nations.

Domestic violence was not something people spoke about openly in Kyrgyzstan in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but after a long road of dedicated efforts, there are now laws addressing family abuse, crisis centres and hotlines while human rights defenders tackle such new challenges as sexual slavery.

The World Health Organization (WHO) verified on Saturday a hospital attack in war-torn Sudan that killed 64 people.

More than 1,000 people have been killed and 2,584 injured in Lebanon since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, UN officials said Saturday.