Civilians in Sudan’s El Obeid live in constant fear of drone attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and of a wave of arbitrary arrests by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), UN-appointed independent investigators said on Wednesday. 

Youth-led protests against corruption and inequality in Serbia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Madagascar reflect a growing demand for reinforcing human rights around the world, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday called for the 34th time for an end to the US economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba – but with the weakest backing for the resolution in two decades.

Reducing conflict is the single most effective way to tackle global hunger, the new head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Luke Lindberg, said on Wednesday, noting that conflict drives two thirds of the acute food insecurity affecting 266 million people worldwide.

As online abuse, gender-based attacks and impunity ramp up the threats to women reporting from crisis zones, journalists and UN leaders are calling for urgent action to protect those who document conflict. 

As Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) surpass the 10,000 mark, the World Health Organization (WHO) has underlined the need for continued efforts to contain spread of the disease. 

Climate inaction continues to harm and kill people in all countries with a record 710,000 estimated deaths globally from heat in 2023, a UN-partnered report warned on Wednesday. For the first time, more than seven in 10 fatalities were attributable to human-caused climate change.

The ocean absorbs around 30 per cent of human-caused carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and 90 per cent of excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases. But climate change has already reduced its capacity to absorb carbon by approximately six per cent, a new UN report warns ahead of the COP31 climate conference in November.  

The General Assembly opened its annual debate on the US economic embargo against Cuba on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 28 October, Member States will vote for the 34th time on a resolution calling for it to end.

Families in Gaza are bracing for a fourth winter in tents and makeshift shelters as UN aid operations face mounting obstacles, with transport suspended on Tuesday due to Israel’s closure of the key Kerem Shalom crossing for election day. 

From Gaza to Yemen, women and girls are facing ever greater dangers this year simply surviving in war zones. The Security Council meets Tuesday to debate the best way to improve security for women caught up in conflict.

An estimated 66.5 million domestic workers – representing more than four out of five domestic workers worldwide – were informally employed in 2025, a new report by the UN’s labour organisation has found.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday urged continued international support for Ukraine’s population as Russian airstrikes intensify and humanitarian needs grow in advance of another bitterly cold winter.

Levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other major greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels reached record highs in 2025, locking in more long-term global warming, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

Twenty people associated with Kenya’s first case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease have been reunited with their families after being released from quarantine following completion of a mandatory 21-day monitoring period. 

Around 36,600 people have fled into northern Kenya following an uptick in fighting on the Ethiopian side of the border. 

Israel’s “aggressive operation” in the West Bank city of Hebron raises serious concerns of ethnic cleansing, UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned on Monday, as the number of Palestinians forced from their homes passed 3,000 on the eve of Israeli elections.

War is growing deadlier for women and girls, who accounted for one in four of the more than 37,000 civilians killed in armed conflict last year – double their share in 2021 – according to major UN report released Monday. 

Top human rights experts investigating Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine said on Monday that the Russian authorities had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by attacking civilians and vital energy infrastructure, among other violations of international law.

With violations against children caught in armed conflict reaching an unprecedented level this year, the Security Council is marking 30 years since it took on the mandate to protect young people caught up in war.