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Global perspective Human stories

Lebanon: UN peacekeeping force warns drone incidents near its positions are putting personnel at risk

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Wednesday that escalating drone activity and nearby explosions involving suspected Hezbollah drones and Israeli forces are endangering its personnel and threatening already fragile stability in southern Lebanon.

13 May 2026

World News in Brief: Mounting waste in Gaza, drone attacks in Sudan, aid truck struck in Ukraine

Mounting waste and limited access to sanitation sites are deepening health risks for families across Gaza, as humanitarian workers warn that overcrowded dumping areas and worsening living conditions threaten vulnerable communities.

13 May 2026

Recycled plastics for food use require stronger safeguards, warn UN food security experts

Recycled plastics could help reduce the world’s growing waste crisis, but only if food packaging is carefully regulated to prevent contamination, according to a new analysis from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

13 May 2026

Funding shortfalls force deep cuts to Syria food assistance: WFP

Millions of Syrians are at growing risk of hunger after severe funding shortages forced the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to halve emergency food assistance, cutting support for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people across the country.

13 May 2026

Afghanistan crisis deepens as record returns, drought and aid cuts strain economy

Afghanistan’s humanitarian and economic crisis is deepening despite modest economic growth, with nearly three in four people unable to meet basic needs, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said on Wednesday.

13 May 2026

In Addis Ababa, Guterres urges reforms to give Africa stronger global voice

Africa’s rising influence is being constrained by outdated global institutions, unfair borrowing costs and cascading global crises, UN Secretary‑General António Guterres warned in Addis Ababa, as the United Nations and African Union reaffirmed their strategic partnership.

13 May 2026

From childhood to university, economic inequality shapes life chances worldwide

Economic inequality is leaving a deep mark on children’s health, learning and future opportunities – with effects felt well beyond the classroom, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and the UN education agency UNESCO warned on Tuesday. 

12 May 2026

Chad’s refugee crisis overwhelms maternity care in east, UN agency warns

Many women in eastern Chad are being forced to give birth in overcrowded clinics with limited medicine, minimal equipment and severe shortages of anesthesia, as a worsening humanitarian crisis overwhelms the country’s fragile healthcare system, the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, warned on Tuesday.

12 May 2026

World News in Brief: Conflict drives hunger in DR Congo, mass corporal punishment in Afghanistan, Earth’s sand is running out

More than 26.5 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are facing acute hunger, according to a new analysis from UN-backed food security experts published Tuesday.

12 May 2026

Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank

Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming a growing number of Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.

12 May 2026