Gender equality agency UN Women is “gravely concerned” by the arrest of at least 30 women in Herat city last weekend in Afghanistan for allegedly violating dress requirements imposed by Taliban authorities.  

Three Indian seafarers were killed in an attack on an oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, as renewed hostilities in one of the world’s most critical shipping corridors once again heightened concern over food security, fuel prices and broken global supply chains.

Nearly four months after the latest Middle East crisis erupted and despite a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran, tensions continue to reverberate across the region and beyond. The UN Security Council held a high-level debate on advancing political solutions in the Middle East on Wednesday, amid continuing conflicts, humanitarian emergencies and concerns over regional stability. Follow live in-depth meetings coverage here.

Lebanon has suffered more than $365 million in damage to buildings across Beirut and Mount Lebanon since the latest escalation, according to a new UN-led assessment released on Tuesday, as fresh strikes in Tyre underscored the fragility of a ceasefire that has failed to stop the fighting.

Palestinian civilians are trapped between escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank and fear-based Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip, investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Tuesday in a new report.

When US and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran on 28 February, triggering one of the most serious geopolitical crises in years, the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow channel just 34 kilometres wide at its narrowest point – became a global flashpoint overnight.