Ukrainian authorities said on Friday a Russian drone strike with a high explosive warhead struck the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant overnight, damaging a protective shield which was built following the 1986 disaster in order to prevent further radiation leaks.

A dire displacement crisis is escalating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as M23 rebels make headway while aid routes are cut off, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.

Cacao, sugar and butter are part of the recipe for chocolate, more specifically, Peace by Chocolate – a company started by the Hadhad family, who fled to Canada long before the brutal 13-year-long war in Syria came to a close last November.

More than 825,000 people who were displaced within Syria have returned to their areas of origin since December, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Thursday. 

As the clock ticks toward 2030, parliamentarians gathered at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday to assess the state of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – and the verdict was anything but unanimous. 

The UN is racing against time to expand humanitarian relief and prepare for the monumental task of rebuilding Gaza, as a fragile ceasefire holds but tensions loom over a potential resumption of fighting.