UN News

Smoke rises from a bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, seen from a high vantage point overlooking the city's dense urban landscape on April 8, 2026.

MIDDLE EAST LIVE 15 April: Civilians continue to be at risk as tensions remain high

Across the Middle East, tensions remain high as Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue, a day after rare talks aimed at easing the conflict. The humanitarian toll remains severe, with more than 2,000 people reported killed since early March and growing concern over the impact on healthcare and the situation of vulnerable groups, including pregnant women. Uncertainty also continues in the Strait of Hormuz following a US-announced blockade on Iranian ports, raising wider concerns over regional stability and global trade. Stay with us for live updates on developments on the ground, humanitarian impacts and diplomatic efforts. App users can follow coverage here.

Halima, 30, holds her six-month-old daughter Samira, who has Down syndrome and was recently treated for malnutrition, inside a tent in a displacement camp in Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan.

World failing Sudan as war enters a fourth year, UN relief chief warns

Destroyed residential buildings in the Basta neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon, showing widespread rubble and debris following Israeli airstrikes.

‘Time for diplomacy over escalation’ in Middle East war: Guterres

Edem Wosornu, Director of the Crisis Response Division at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, speaking at a Security Council meeting regarding the situation in Yemen.

Yemenis are ‘hanging by a thread’ top aid official warns Security Council

Headlines

Reparations ‘key to dismantling systemic racism’: UN rights chief

MIDDLE EAST LIVE 14 April: UN chief says US-Iran ceasefire must continue, urges respect for international law

Fleeing Sudan's war, refugees rebuild their lives in Uganda

Why the ‘beautiful game’ is joining the fight for a better world

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Featured

A group of smiling African children in a refugee camp in Uganda, holding up bars of soap, with a man distributing aid in the background.

Fleeing Sudan's war, refugees rebuild their lives in Uganda

Migrants and Refugees On the outskirts of the Ugandan town of Biale, tents are scattered along dirt roads that give way to open fields. The Kriandongo camp sits between a shattered past and a life tentatively being rebuilt. Here, the story does not end with fleeing war. Another phase begins, one where days are measured not in hours, but in the weight of loss and the effort to carry on.

Professor Brian Cox, an English physicist and musician, smiling while giving a presentation on stage with a large screen behind him.

New era for space dawns as Artemis astronauts return

Doctors perform a cesarean section at El Obeid Maternity Hospital in Sudan. The hospital faces equipment shortages, with only 4 of 7 operating rooms functional and limited anesthesia capacity, leading to maternal deaths.

‘We watched them die before our eyes’: Sudan health workers helpless amid medical shortages

A UN peacekeeper in a blue helmet and an AFRILAN demining specialist crouch in a field watching a controlled mine explosion in the background.

Deminers race to keep up with military technology

A view of a polluted industrial waterfront at sunset, with large plumes of dark smoke billowing from factory smokestacks into the sky. Several large ships are docked in the foreground on the water.

Middle East crisis exposes global energy fault line as UN urges shift to renewables

Photo Stories

A young girl carries a pot of cooked food in Al-Mawasi, Gaza.

UN ramps up ceasefire support to hungry and war-weary Gazans

The UN is taking the opportunity of the ceasefire in Gaza to ramp up the delivery of aid to the beleaguered people of Gaza.

From podiums to patrols: Taking the pulse of the UN’s busiest week

Delegates gather on the plaza in front of the General Assembly building at UN Headquarters.

Ukraine: Keeping the lights on during the darkest times

People living in areas recently liberated by Ukrainian forces receive aid.

Also in the News

A Syrian woman in a headscarf and blue dress kneels in prayer inside a simple shelter with cinder block walls.

‘Now is the moment to invest’: Syria needs global backing, says UN expert

Law and Crime Prevention Syria has made “remarkable progress” on transitional justice within the past year, raising hopes for accountability and recovery after more than a decade of civil conflict.

A seafarer wearing blue coveralls and a white safety helmet standing in a ship's engine room.

US-Iran war: Guterres calls for continued talks, end to ceasefire violations

Peace and Security The United States and Iran must continue talks aimed at ending their weeks-long war, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, underscoring that there is no military solution to the conflict.

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