The crisis in the Gulf should come as a surprise to no one, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said on Tuesday, describing it as the cumulative result of years of delay, crisis management through temporary fixes, and unrealistic policies.

The United Nations continues to be weakened, and those who have tied their hopes to the world body – from Palestine to Sudan – have been disappointed, Türkiye’s President said, while adding that his country is committed to restoring confidence in the Organization.

US President Donald Trump used his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to defend recent military action against Iran, urging countries to maintain economic pressure on Tehran – and declaring that he now faces a choice between making a deal, or taking far more drastic steps.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told the General Assembly on Tuesday that the UN needs to become a “temple of peace” once again, as it confronts one of the most critical periods in its 80-year history.

The UN’s survival for 80 years is not, by itself, proof of success, and now, the institution must confront painful truths if it hopes to rebuild public trust, said Khalilur Rahman, president of the General Assembly’s 81st session on Tuesday.

Humanity faces four defining “tests of power” – around war or peace, inequality, climate change and AI – that will determine whether the world moves towards a new era of cooperation or deeper division, the UN chief warned the General Assembly on Tuesday.

A new academic year is underway in many countries across the world, yet millions of children still attend schools where the water is unsafe to drink, toilets are unusable and there is nowhere to properly wash their hands.  

As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.

Along the coast of Tanzania, in East Africa, the Indian Ocean is pushing saltwater ever farther inland, shrinking coconut harvests, driving fish away and leaving some residents wondering how much longer they can stay.

The UN has condemned continued cross‑border attacks by Houthi forces against Saudi Arabia, including an attempted strike on the capital Riyadh, as fighting inside Yemen drives one of the country’s fastest displacement surges in years.

UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts on Monday laid out a grim picture of the human cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with a spotlight on civilians facing a third wartime winter as well as the intimidation of Russians who have fled abroad.

In a world facing rising conflicts, violence and divisions that are causing great suffering for millions of people, the UN chief on Monday called on world leaders and citizens to invest more in peace.

Temporarily exceeding the 1.5°C global warming goal set in Paris is widely considered inevitable. The challenge now is to keep that overshoot as small and short as possible by cutting emissions faster, unlocking finance and strengthening international cooperation.

An Ebola vaccine trial is underway in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), involving frontline health workers and others involved in the response.