As families uprooted by the war in Lebanon begin to return home following a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah militants, UN humanitarians warned that needs remain “staggering” for devastated communities. The situation is dire in Gaza too, where the enclave’s people are struggling to survive “relentless bombardment and deprivation”, says the UN aid coordination…

Pay packets around the world rose 1.8 per cent in 2023 and continued their positive trajectory in this first half of this year, rising by 2.7 per cent on the back of a strong post-COVID global recovery, the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Thursday.

The message, from second graders and octogenarians to imams, rabbis, young changemakers and the King of Spain, was clear: “we need peace and mutual understanding now more than ever before”, according to more than 1,800 participants at the UN Alliance of Civilizations 10th Global Forum, which concluded on Wednesday.

The ceasefire agreement in Lebanon represents “the first ray of hope for peace” in the regional war “amidst the darkness of the last few months”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ongoing hostilities across Syria are intensifying an already dire humanitarian crisis, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned, amid reports of a deadly airstrike at the Ad Dabousiyah border crossing with Türkiye.

Recent days have seen alarming signs of further escalation in the war in Ukraine, a senior UN official warned the Security Council on Wednesday, appealing for greater efforts to bring an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.