Week in Review

Welcome to the United Nations View in browser

UN News Global perspective Human stories

Week in Review 15 November 2025

Catch up on this week's must-read stories Some key UN institutions reported to the General Assembly this week in the face of concerted and ongoing attacks. UNRWA, which provides relief to Palestine refugees, highlighted its important role in maintaining stability in Gaza and the region, while the International Criminal Court defended the rule of international law in the face of US sanctions as it goes about its work. Our network of UN newsgatherers across the world kept the important stories coming – based on verified facts and numbers – all while helping save lives and improving livelihoods around the world. This week, we intensified our reporting on the atrocities in Sudan, where mass killings of civilians and ethnic-based executions are ongoing. Nearly 100,000 people have fled the captured city of El Fasher since the end of October and many risk death just trying to escape.  From the ground in Belém, Brazil, we are covering all the key developments from COP30, from Indigenous protests to the plan to build health systems that can withstand rising temperatures and extreme weather. UN staff are working round the clock to find solutions to conflict and alleviate health crises. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, cases of tuberculosis are on a downward trajectory, says the World Health Organization, which also released important new guidelines for pregnancy-related diabetes.  Stay informed – follow UN News online, on our app, and on social media for the latest updates in New York, Geneva, Nairobi and around the world.

Sudan war: Aid teams plead for access to thousands trapped in El Fasher Just how many people are still trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher? That's the burning question for relatives of the many thousands of people believed to still be there, since paramilitary fighters overran the regional capital of North Darfur last month, after a 500-day siege. Read more Peace and Security Stolen Past: Inside the fight against illicit antiquities trafficking The illicit trade in cultural property is one of the world's oldest and most profitable forms of criminal activity – but now efforts by the UN and law enforcement agencies across the world are helping to bring down these global operations. Read more Culture and Education Ukraine: UN condemns latest deadly attack targeting civilians in Kyiv Several civilians were killed and many others injured, including children, in a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine's capital and the wider Kyiv region early on Friday.  Read more Peace and Security Indigenous protesters block COP30 entrance, demand action from Brazilian Government Around 90 Indigenous people from the Munduruku Indigenous group staged a peaceful protest early Friday, blocking the main entrance to the Blue Zone – the restricted area set aside for negotiators – at COP30 in Belém. Access was halted for about an hour, and the army was called in to reinforce security. Read more Climate and Environment 'A wave of truth': COP30 targets disinformation threat to climate action Negotiators in Belém, Brazil, opened COP30 with a stark warning: the race to avert catastrophic global heating is being sabotaged by a surge of climate disinformation. The falsehoods, spreading faster than ever online, threaten to derail fragile progress on climate action. Read more Climate and Environment Ending UNWRA services would imperil political way forward: Lazzarini Lack of sufficient funds is jeopardizing the ability of the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) to operate, the head of the agency said on Thursday.  Read more Migrants and Refugees Protecting lives in a warming world: Health takes centre stage at COP30 Hailed by Brazil as "a crucial moment to demonstrate the strength of the health sector in global climate action," a blueprint for global health systems to adapt to rising temperatures and extreme weather has been launched at the COP30 UN climate conference. Read more Climate and Environment Stand your ground: How one community in Brazil is coping with rising tides For more than 40 years Ivanil lived in a house raised on stilts just 20 metres from the water's edge, in the same community where she was born, on Marajó Island where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean in northern Brazil.  Read more Climate and Environment Stakes rise for South Sudan: What's happening, and why it matters South Sudan is entering a period of rising instability marked by political polarisation, renewed armed clashes, and severe humanitarian strain, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Tuesday. Read more Peace and Security International Criminal Court: Sanctions threaten global fight against impunity Coercion and sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) are "assaults on the very principles of international law itself," the President of the UN General Assembly warned on Tuesday. Read more Law and Crime Prevention Trapped behind bars: Reforming Haiti's broken detention system Fifty-two prisoners have died in Haiti's overcrowded prisons between July and September this year in conditions that have been described by the United Nations as "inhuman and degrading." Read more Human Rights Preparedness and coordination key to preventing Philippines super typhoon deaths Filipinos are picking up the pieces after super typhoon Fung-Wong ripped through the country. Eight people including three children are reported to have died because of the typhoon, but it could have been much worse: over a million people were evacuated from homes in 13 of the country's 18 regions, in one of the Philippines' largest ever pre-emptive operations. Arnaud Peral, the UN Resident Coordinator in The Philippines, told UN News's Conor Lennon the way authorities prepared for the impact is testament to the coordination between the government, the United Nations and the international NGOs on the ground. Read more UN Interviews Keeping cool on a hotter planet: COP30 pushes for sustainable cooling and AI innovation As the planet heats up, so does the race for smarter, cleaner technology. At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, delegates are weighing a paradox at the heart of climate innovation: how to harness powerful tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced cooling systems without deepening the very crisis they aim to solve. Read more Climate and Environment Social development, up close: UN News goes inside the Doha summit UN News just tested a new way to cover big international meetings – by reporting straight from the conference floor. Read more SDGs Sudan: Migration chief hears horrific accounts of exodus from El Fasher Some 90,000 people have been displaced following the fall of El Fasher in Sudan's North Darfur - with another 50,000 fleeing violence in the Kordofans, according to the UN migration chief. Read more Humanitarian Aid Refugee camps set to be uninhabitable by 2050 as extreme weather worsens At least 117 million people have been displaced by war, violence and persecution, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday, while highlighting how much their plight is tied to the growing climate crisis. Read more Climate and Environment Holding on to home, as the ocean engulfs the Solomon Islands Morning light spreads over Sikaiana, a remote atoll in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific where the ocean both sustains life and threatens it.   Read more Climate and Environment

COPYRIGHT    |    FAQ    |    FRAUD ALERT    |    PRIVACY NOTICE    |    TERMS OF USE

Unsubscribe    |    Update preferences