At least 15 people have been killed in Nepal, and over 100 injured, in large-scale youth protests that erupted in the capital and other cities on Monday following a Government ban on social media platforms, amid wider concerns over corruption, inequality and lack of accountability.
The UN chief has added his strong condemnation of Russian strikes overnight into Sunday targeting Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities which killed dozens – including children – and damaged civilian infrastructure.
UN rights chief Volker Türk on Monday condemned what he called a worldwide “glorification of violence” which is underway, as well as “coordinated efforts” to undermine fundamental birthrights. “It is time for States to wake up and to act,” he insisted.
At least 15 people have been killed in Nepal, and over 100 injured, in large-scale youth protests that erupted in the capital and other cities on Monday following a Government ban on social media platforms.
Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop in Jerusalem on Monday, killing at least six people and leaving others wounded, some in a serious condition, according to Israeli authorities.
The narrow window to prevent the spread of famine from northern Gaza to other parts of the Strip is closing fast, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator said on Sunday.
A baby was among those killed overnight into Sunday during what was reportedly Russia’s large aerial assault on Ukraine since its full-scale invasion began in 2022.
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Standing behind the United Nations rostrum on the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, Oemwa Johnson, one of the younger members in the room, called on the General Assembly to heed a growing global call for nuclear justice.
As the nearly 30-month-long conflict in Sudan between rival militaries grinds on, looting, burning, and shelling continues to destroy livelihoods and hope.
The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, has released $10 million in response to the urgent need for food, water, shelter and other lifesaving provisions following this week’s devastating earthquakes and aftershocks in Afghanistan.
Sexual violence is rife in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but urgently needed assistance for survivors has had to be halted as sweeping funding cuts bite, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, warned on Friday.
As the death toll from the Afghanistan earthquake disaster jumped to more than 2,200 on Thursday, UN agencies continued to help, while calling for funding to help build sturdier housing to withstand future shocks.
Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday he was “profoundly saddened” by the death and destruction caused by the recent floods in northern Pakistan. The current death toll stands at over 400.
Nearly four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and 11 years since conflict began, the toll on mental health across the country is severe.
A massive assistance mission for earthquake survivors continued in Afghanistan on Wednesday as aid teams tackled blocked roads and downed communications lines in a bid to reach the most remote communities still in need of help.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for strengthening multilateralism – and appealed for peace in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond – in remarks to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China, on Monday.
Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenča
Remarks to the Security Council
On the Maintenance of Peace and Security of Ukraine
New York, 29 June 2025
Mr. President,
Yesterday, the Secretary-General condemned the Russian Federation’s overnight missile and drone attacks that killed and injured many civilians, including children, across Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian officials, the Russian Federation launched 598 drones and 31 missiles against Ukraine overnight between 27 and 28 August.
In the capital city of Kyiv, at least 23 people, including four children aged between two and 17, were reportedly killed. At least 64 people, including seven children, were injured.
Several buildings were damaged in 33 locations across all 10 districts of the city.
Most of the fatalities occurred in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv, where a missile reportedly struck a five-story residential building, demolishing it from the first to the fifth floor.
The attack also severely damaged the diplomatic premises of the delegation of the European Union in Kyiv and the British Council building.
Across Ukraine, air raid sirens kept residents awake seeking shelter in nearly all regions of the country.
Civilian casualties were reported in Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Kherson regions of Ukraine. In Vinnytsia region, a Russian attack reportedly struck a train depot.
Yesterday’s strikes are only the latest in the brutal escalation of country-wide aerial attacks.
Just a week ago, overnight between 21-22 August, Russia reportedly launched 574 drones and 40 missiles on Ukraine.
As a result, one person was killed in the western city of Lviv.
In the south-western Transcarpathia region, 15 people were wounded.
These strikes on regions far from the frontlines demonstrate the dangerously expanding geographic scope of this war.
In July, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded rising civilian casualties across 18 regions of Ukraine and in Kyiv City.
With at least 1,674 civilian casualties - 286 killed and 1,388 injured – July set a new, tragic record for monthly casualties since May 2022.
In total, OHCHR has verified that since the start of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 14,054 civilians, including 730 children, have been killed in Ukraine. 36,164 civilians, including 2,263 children, have been injured.
The impact of the conflict has also spread to the Russian Federation, where local authorities have reported civilian casualties, including in the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions bordering Ukraine.
On 24 August, Russian officials reported that a fire broke out after a Ukrainian drone was shot down near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, damaging a transformer at the site.
We have also seen several reports of Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries inside Russia.
While the United Nations is not in a position to verify these reports, the growing impact of the conflict on the civilian population in the Russian Federation is of concern, too.
We once again reiterate that attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. We condemn all such attacks, wherever they occur. They are unacceptable and must end immediately.
Mr. President,
We are also concerned about the impact of the expanding and escalating fighting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine as we are entering the fourth winter of the full-scale war.
The United Nations remains fully committed to supporting Ukrainian civilians. So far this year, together with our humanitarian partners, we have reached 3.8 million people with aid.
Furthermore, targeted winter support preparations are underway for 1.7 million people through the 2025-2026 Winterization Response Plan.
However, for us to be able to continue our life-saving work, scaled up and flexible donor support is urgently needed.
We also continue to urge the sides to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law, and allow for the safe, rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access to civilians in need – no matter where they are or who controls the territory.
Mr. President,
The mounting death toll and devastation caused by the intensifying fighting over the summer run counter to the significant efforts over the past few months to give diplomacy a chance.
The Secretary-General has welcomed the recent diplomatic efforts led by the United States, including the meeting between the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation in Anchorage, on 15 August, and the meeting between the Presidents of the United States and Ukraine and European leaders in Washington D.C. on 18 August.
We have also welcomed the earlier three rounds of direct talks between Ukraine and the Russian Federation in Istanbul between May and July.
We commend the exchanges of prisoners of war that have continued to take place as a result of these contacts. Most recently, on 24 August, an exchange, facilitated by the United Arab Emirates, brought 146 prisoners home from each side.
However, as large-scale attacks against civilians persist and civilian casualties rise, the current diplomatic momentum is at risk of rapidly fading if the focus on the need to end the violence and engage in genuine peace talks is not maintained.
We therefore urge all concerned to urgently de-escalate the situation and to redouble efforts to create conditions for inclusive diplomatic efforts towards a cessation of hostilities and a just peace.
On Sunday, 25 August, Ukraine marked its 34th Independence Day. That day also marked three and a half years of full-scale war for the people of Ukraine and Russia, which has continued to be a source of instability regionally and globally.
We renew the Secretary-General’s appeal for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire. A ceasefire that results in a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace in Ukraine – one that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, in line with the UN Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions.
The United Nations remains ready to support all efforts to this end.
Thank you.
In the occupied West Bank village of Kufr Qaddum, *Yousef stands behind a sealed iron gate, cut off from the olive trees that have sustained his family for generations.
The UN Secretary-General appealed on Friday for an immediate ceasefire in and around the besieged Sudanese city of El Fasher, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped for over a year.
Amid reports of increased Israeli military operations across Gaza City on Friday, UN aid agencies repeated urgent warnings of ongoing famine and a likely rise in preventable disease, linked to the dire living conditions in the war-shattered enclave.
In Iran, the increase in executions carried out this year indicates that the death penalty is being used as a tool of State intimidation, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday.
The UN Security Council met in emergency session in New York on Friday afternoon following overnight strikes early on Thursday by Russia on Ukrainian cities including the capital, which left at least 23 dead, including four children. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča told ambassadors that diplomatic momentum towards a possible peace deal was “at risk of rapidly fading” if large-scale attacks by Moscow continue. Follow our live meetings coverage below.
In the occupied West Bank village of Kufr Qaddum, *Yousef stands behind a sealed iron gate, cut off from the olive trees that have sustained his family for generations.
Large-scale attacks by Russia against civilians in Ukraine could see any hopes of a lasting peace deal there rapidly fade, a senior UN official said during an emergency session of the Security Council on Friday.
Russia’s latest deadly attacks on Ukrainian cities overnight including the capital, Kyiv, left four children dead and dozens injured, UN aid agencies reported on Thursday.
State authority is crumbling across Haiti while gang violence engulfs the capital Port-au-Prince and beyond, “paralysing daily life and forcing families to flee,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday.
The UN peacekeeping mission which patrols the so-called Blue Line of separation between Israel and Lebanon received the unanimous support of the Security Council on Thursday to extend through 31 December next year.
Haitians are enduring a “perfect storm of suffering” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday as gang violence continues to paralyse daily life across the island. Around 1.3 million people – half of them children – have fled their homes and six million are relying on humanitarian assistance. Follow our live Meetings Coverage as the latest crisis debate unfolds.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday renewed his call for a ceasefire in Gaza, greater humanitarian access and the release of all hostages, as the enclave faces yet another deadly escalation.
The United Nations confirmed on Thursday that France, Germany and the United Kingdom have initiated a process that could lead to the reimposition of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme within the next 30 days.
After 500 days of siege, the city of El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur has become an epicentre of child suffering, with malnutrition, disease and violence claiming young lives every day, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.
Nearly two years of war in Gaza along with continued violence and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank underscore the need to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, a top UN official in the region told the Security Council on Wednesday.
