A deadly air strike on a crowded market, mass deportations from Malaysia, drought money for Africa and fresh violence in Gaza and the West Bank all featured in the UN’s latest global briefing.
The United Nations has raised alarm over an air strike on a busy market in Myanmar, hours before Malaysia began deporting thousands of Myanmar nationals back to the same country.
Market hit at midday
Forces loyal to Myanmar's military junta struck a market in Kyauktaw township around midday on Monday, when more than 200 shops were full of traders, shoppers and transport workers, UN News reports.
Women and children were among those killed. At least 58 people were injured, many of them critically, and the death toll is expected to climb.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the attack raised serious questions about respect for international humanitarian law in a country he described as "wracked by extreme violence". He also pointed to abuses against the Rohingya minority by both the army and the opposition Arakan Army.
Malaysia urged to pause deportations
Hours after the strike, Malaysia started carrying out a plan to deport about 5,000 Myanmar nationals. The plan follows a reported understanding between Kuala Lumpur and Myanmar's military rulers. Malaysia says only voluntary returns are involved.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says it played no part in identifying the people being sent back, who have reportedly been held in detention centres. Around 1,500 people have reportedly already been returned.
Türk called for the process to stop immediately, saying conditions in Myanmar are "far from safe and sustainable". UNHCR insists nobody should be returned to a place where they face persecution or torture, noting that fighting continues in Rakhine state.
For Ghanaians abroad, the case is a reminder of how migration agreements between governments can move faster than protection checks for the people involved.
Money released ahead of African drought
UN relief chief Tom Fletcher has released funds from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the UN's pooled emergency pot, to act before El Niño-driven drought bites in three African countries.
South Sudan gets $6 million, where more than 10 million people — over two in every three — already need aid. Zimbabwe gets $4 million and Chad $3.6 million, the latter to help 350,000 people prepare. The money will go into food, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and protection services.
The releases were triggered automatically once agreed thresholds were met. In Chad, anticipatory funding across seven regions now stands at $8 million this year.
Gaza and the West Bank
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said Israeli fire was reported near UN facilities and aid convoys in Gaza several times in recent days, with no casualties recorded.
UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, says 1,394 Palestinians have been killed since the shaky October 2025 ceasefire, citing local health authorities, and that 94 per cent of people need shelter help.
In the West Bank, OCHA has logged more than 1,600 settler attacks this year — an average of 6.7 a day — with over 4,300 Palestinians displaced.
