Haji Mohammad Shafi spent 44 years in Pakistan before he was forced to leave. He sold everything he owned and returned to Afghanistan with his five children, arriving with almost nothing.

Food waste is helping to fuel global warming, one half-eaten sandwich at a time. 

Amid rising tensions, extreme weather impacts and strikes on nuclear infrastructure in war-torn Iran and Ukraine, UN Member States returned to the core issue of disarmament on Tuesday, closing out the General Assembly’s High-Level Week with calls for greater safeguards.

The Security Council met in New York on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Tuesday, where clashes between Government forces and M23 rebels continue in the east, despite a series of peace agreements. Ambassadors focused on ceasefire monitoring, rising tensions between the DRC and Rwanda and the country’s worst Ebola outbreak on record, which has killed more than 3,900 people.  

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.

Heavy fighting in Yemen is fuelling concerns of an uptick in cholera, measles and other preventable diseases, as overcrowding at displacement sites threatens to overwhelm the limited healthcare services still open.

After six days of speeches from the UN General Assembly podium, one word rose above all others: peace.
  This final edition of The Takeaway distils the messages he said reverberated through the Assembly Hall and looks at where the 193-member body goes from here.
 

“No country is free of racism.” That warning from US youth activist Marley Dias set the tone on Monday as UN Member States reinvigorated global efforts against racism, discrimination and xenophobia with a new declaration.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) told the UN General Assembly on Monday that its status as a nuclear-armed State was irreversible, arguing that its military capabilities were necessary to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula.

South Sudan remains committed to holding general elections in December to conclude its transition period, the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Cecilia Adout Majok Adeng, told the General Assembly on Monday, calling for all sanctions, including the arms embargo to be lifted. 

Sudan’s Foreign Minister addressed the UN General Assembly on Monday in place of Chairperson of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, whose visa application was rejected by Washington.

The continuing conflict in the Middle East is disrupting global energy markets and pushing up fuel prices, with knock-on effects far beyond the region.

Support for water and sanitation at the biggest camp in the world for Syrian refugees is under threat from a lack of funding – combined with the impact of climate change – the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Monday.

The Security Council met Monday morning with prospects for peace in the Middle East under strain on two fronts. In the West Bank, settler violence and settlement expansion are raising fears for a two-State solution. In Gaza, a year-old peace plan has stalled while civilian suffering continues. The meeting comes as the plan’s remaining phases, including Hamas’ disarmament and Israel’s full withdrawal, remain unimplemented, and as the illegality of settlements under international law remains a key point of contention.

World leaders met in the General Assembly Monday to assess how far the world has come in combating racism and how far it still has to go. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the most comprehensive framework of its kind, seeks to acknowledge historical injustices, dismantle inequalities and build societies grounded in dignity, equality and justice for all.

Aid teams trying to keep deadly Ebola disease from spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are increasingly concerned about ongoing fighting and violence that has forced thousands of people to flee a displacement camp in the vast, resource-rich east of the country.

From artificial intelligence to migration, some of the forces reshaping the twenty-first century took centre stage at the UN General Assembly on Saturday. Leaders wrestled with a common dilemma: how to harness profound technological and social change without allowing it to deepen the divisions already separating countries and communities. This edition of The Takeaway distils key points from Day 5 of the annual high-level debate.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand warned the UN General Assembly on Saturday that the international order has entered an era of profound disruption, calling for stronger multilateral cooperation and new partnerships as major powers increasingly turn away from global economic integration.

India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar warned on Saturday that violent conflicts continue to undermine international peace and security, while countries far removed from the battlefield are being forced to pay a heavy price.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister warned on Saturday that escalating threats across the Middle East risked international peace, energy security and global trade, calling for stronger international cooperation to protect Gulf States and vital shipping routes.