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With the Mediterranean glittering in the background, UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the Third United Nations Ocean Conference on Monday, delivering a blunt indictment of humanity’s fractured relationship with the sea.

“The ocean is the ultimate shared resource,” he told delegates gathered at the port of Nice. “But we are failing it.”

The UN’s top disarmament official has welcomed signs of increased cooperation from Syria’s interim authorities in efforts to eliminate the country’s chemical weapons once and for all, as preparations move forward for a third round of inspections by international experts.

However, serious concerns remain over potential undeclared stockpiles and more than a decade of incomplete or inconsistent disclosures by Syria, raising doubts about full compliance.

The Ocean is in deep crisis. Factors such as acidification, declining fish stocks, rising temperatures and widespread pollution are contributing to a catastrophic decline in biodiversity: over half of marine species are at risk of extinction this century.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk has condemned new reports that dozens more Gazans were killed early Tuesday “trying to access paltry amounts of food” around a private aid hub in the south of the enclave run by the US and Israel.

Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia, and Liberia were elected on Tuesday to serve as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, with two-year terms beginning in January 2026.

They will serve through the end of 2027 on the UN body responsible for maintaining international peace and security.

In a groundbreaking initiative to strengthen information integrity, combat digital mis- and disinformation and promote pluralistic media in Lebanon, the United Nations in Lebanon and

UNOPS is pleased to announce the launch of the Call for Proposals (CfP) for the Operational Management and Maintenance of Jisr El Wati Courts, as part of the Sustainable Integrated Municipal Actions (SIMA) project. This project is funded by the German Government through KfW Development Bank, in partnership with the Municipality of Beirut and the Railways and Public Transportation Authority (RPTA), and is implemented by UNOPS.

Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.

“Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva, stressing that it is the only defined territory in the world where the entire population is at risk of famine.

For most nicotine users today, their first experience with the drug is a flavoured product – making it easier, and more appealing, to try.

This is especially true among youth users: it’s one of the main reasons young people experiment with tobacco or nicotine products in the first place, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).  

On a bright morning of May 13, 2025, the air around the UN House in Beirut crackled with energy, not from political negotiations or press conferences, but from the eager chatter of nearly 80 high school students, each one a budding diplomat, thinker, or leader. Coming from Rafic Hariri High School in Saida, Brummana High School in Metn, SSCC Kfarhbab in Keserwan, these students had more in common than just their uniforms or their shared age group.