Darfur
(UN News) Twenty years after the conflict in Darfur first sparked global outrage, children in the region are once again trapped in a catastrophic cycle of violence, hunger, and displacement – but this time, the world is failing to take notice. In a new Child Alert report titled Darfur: 20 Years On, Children Under Threat, UN children’s agency UNICEF warns that while the horrors of 2005 are repeating, the scale of need is now far greater, and international attention is dangerously constrained. – Darfur: Two decades on, a new generation of children faces ‘horrific violence’ | UN News
Global Health
(UN News) Countries are making measurable progress in combatting viral hepatitis, but the disease remains a major global health challenge, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new report published on Tuesday. It highlights significant gains made in the fight against hepatitis B and C, which together account for 95 per cent of all hepatitis-related deaths worldwide. These infections claimed 1.34 million lives in 2024. Meanwhile, transmission continues at a rate of some 1.8 million infections annually – or more than 4,900 cases every day. – WHO calls for stepped up action to eliminate viral hepatitis | UN News
Middle East, Strait of Hormuz, and beyond
(UN News) Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to send shockwaves through global food systems, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has warned, as a widening crisis across the Middle East continues to strain humanitarian operations and deepen instability. Addressing the agency’s governing body in Rome on Tuesday, Director-General Qu Dongyu said the closure of key maritime routes is disrupting energy supplies, fertilizer flows and agricultural inputs, with potentially far-reaching consequences. “Peace and stability are prerequisites for food security, and the right to food is a basic human right,” he stressed. The Strait of Hormuz – a vital chokepoint for global trade – normally carries roughly a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil, alongside significant volumes of natural gas and fertilizers. But ship traffic has collapsed by almost 95 per cent since late February, delaying millions of tonnes of fertilizer shipments and driving sharp price increases. “The crop calendar is central to understanding the urgency of the fertilizer crisis,” Mr. Qu warned, noting that delays in supply could result in permanent losses in agricultural production. The FAO chief said the crisis is already pushing up food prices, squeezing farmers’ margins and threatening to deepen hunger, particularly in import-dependent countries. Lebanon and Yemen are among those most at risk, with hundreds of thousands already facing acute food insecurity. – From Hormuz to Lebanon, crisis reverberates through trade routes, upending humanitarian networks | UN News
(UN News) The Security Council turns again to the Middle East crisis in New York on Tuesday, with debate focusing on the fragile Gaza ceasefire, a worsening humanitarian crisis there and efforts to advance a US-backed peace plan.UN senior political affairs official Khaled Khiari warned of increasingly dire conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, while former UK Prime Minister and US-led Board of Peace member, Tony Blair, said the council needs to mobilise funds for recovery at this “pivotal juncture”. – SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Gaza ceasefire is ‘increasingly fragile’, UN warns | UN News
North Korea
(Amos Chapple – RFE/RL) As the sun set during an April 26 ceremony opening a memorial to North Korean troops killed in the Ukraine war, “countless white balloons of remembrance” floated into the sky from grave sites to approximately 280 soldiers. Those graves, surrounding Pyongyang’s new Memorial Museum of Combat Feats in Overseas Military Operations, represent a fraction of approximately 2,000 soldiers that South Korean intelligence says fell during the campaign to drive Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s Kursk region. North Korea had earlier commemorated just 101 soldiers fallen in the military campaign in western Russia. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have released casualty figures from the Kursk campaign. – North Korea Is Honoring Some Of Its Soldiers Killed In The Ukraine War. But What About The Rest?
Russia – Africa Corps – Mali
(Mike Eckel – RFE/RL) Hundreds of masked Russian soldiers rumbled out of the northern Mali city of Kidal over the weekend, leaving in their wake huge caches of weaponry, equipment, and a downed helicopter — not to mention major questions for the future of the Russian Defense Ministry mercenary group known as Africa Corps. The Russian abandonment of Kidal came amid a lightning offensive by a jihadist militia along with ethnic Tuareg secessionists, who have clashed with Russian forces in the past. The Malian government called the attacks, which also took place in the capital Bamako and other towns, an attempted coup. The pullout came almost 30 months after the Russian mercenaries staged a victorious photo op, hoisting their flag after fighting alongside government forces to capture the city, known as a stronghold of the Tuareg rebels. It was unclear if the pullout was a precursor to a complete withdrawal of the Africa Corps from Mali; Russian military officials suggested it was not. What was clear, experts said, is that the Russian operation is in disarray. – Russia Hoped Africa Corps Would Replicate Wagner’s Success. It’s Not Going Well.
South Sudan
(UN News) Conflict and displacement are intensifying South Sudan’s hunger crisis, with 7.8 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity while 2.2 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to a joint statement on Tuesday from UN agencies. Hunger is pushing 56 per cent of South Sudan’s population into high levels of acute food insecurity between April and July 2026, reaching Phase 3 or above on the world’s hunger classification system, the IPC. Among those projected to face acute food insecurity, 73,300 people are facing catastrophic levels (Phase 5), the most severe level under the internationally-backed alert system. This represents a dramatic increase of 160 per cent from the last estimate. UN agencies said the crisis is being driven by escalating conflict, mass displacement, economic decline, climate shocks, flooding and below-capacity agricultural production. Meanwhile, 2.5 million people are in IPC Phase 4 – Emergency level, and 5.3 million are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). – Over half of South Sudan’s population faces acute hunger crisis | UN News
US – Anthropic
(Maria Curi, Ashley Gold – Axios) The White House is developing guidance that would allow agencies to get around Anthropic’s supply chain risk designation and onboard new models including its most powerful yet, Mythos, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Trump administration appears to be performing a 180 on a company it previously claimed was such a grave security risk that it had to be ripped out of the federal government. A draft executive action that is currently in the works could, among other steps related to the government’s use of AI, give the administration a way to dial down the Anthropic fight, two sources said. – Trump officials draft plan to bring Anthropic back amid Pentagon fight
US – China – Iran
(Colin Hood – RFE/RL) Beijing has pushed back on a US decision to sanction the Hengli oil refinery, rejecting Washington’s accusations that the company “plays an outsized role” in buying Iranian oil. The US Treasury Department last week sanctioned the Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, based in China’s northeastern Liaoning Province, for having “purchased billions of dollars’ worth” of Iranian petroleum. Washington accuses Hengli of playing an instrumental role in sustaining Iran’s oil economy since US and Israeli air strikes on Iran sparked a war that has spread through the Middle East. Hengli is China’s second-largest “teapot” refinery — the name for independent Chinese oil refineries — and plays “an outsized role in purchasing crude oil from Iran’s armed forces,” according to the Treasury Department. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian rejected the US decision to sanction Hengli at a news conference, saying Beijing has “always opposed illegal unilateral sanctions that are not based in international law.” Lin urged Washington to “stop the indiscriminate application of sanctions.” – Beijing Pushes Back As US Sanctions Chinese Oil Refinery Over Iran Links
US – Cuba
(Kathleen Hunter – Axios) The Senate rejected an effort to advance legislation that would bar U.S. military action against Cuba without Congress’ green light. It’s lawmakers’ latest failed attempt to rein in Trump’s use of military force overseas, underscoring the support he maintains from Republicans who control Capitol Hill. The vote was 51-47 on Tuesday in favor of blocking the resolution from moving forward. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted in favor of advancing the measure. Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman was the only Democrat in opposition. – Senate rejects curb on Trump military action in Cuba
