Ukraine, Lebanon, Yemen & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (29 October 2026) | United Nations

Noon Briefing by Shirin Yaseen, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Highlights: Chief Executives Board Ukraine Security Council Occupied Palestinian Territory Lebanon Yemen Haiti Democratic Republic of the Congo / MONUSCO Democratic Republic of the Congo Central African Republic Afghanistan Biodiversity International Day of Care and Support Briefing ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHIEF EXECUTIVES BOARD The Secretary-General is spending today and tomorrow outside of New York City, presiding over his final session of the UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), which brings together all the senior heads of the UN Secretariat and the agencies, funds and programmes. As you’ll recall, the Board meets twice each year, and this session is happening just outside the city. CEB Members will reflect on current world affairs as they affect and are related to the U.N. system. They will engage in deliberations on “tackling the global inequalities emergency” and “the global risk landscape”. UKRAINE The Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, condemned this morning’s deadly drone strike on a train at a railway station in Dnipro that killed and injured civilians. According to preliminary information from Ukrainian authorities, at least 13 people were killed and 10 injured in the strike on a train travelling between Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) notes that the casualty figures may rise as emergency services continue their response. In a statement, Mr. Schmale highlighted the growing risks faced by passengers and railway workers in Ukraine. Elsewhere in the country, attacks reportedly killed and injured dozens of civilians, including children, across several regions. Renewed strikes on energy infrastructure disrupted electricity supplies in the regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Sumy, while emergency power cuts continued in the capital Kyiv and its surrounding region, following earlier attacks. As winter approaches, OCHA warns that millions of vulnerable people face growing risks from disruptions to essential services. According to a new analysis by the International Organization for Migration, some 3.3 million older people and 1.5 million men, women and children with disabilities who are living alone in urban areas could face severe challenges during prolonged electricity, heating and water outages. SECURITY COUNCIL This morning Courtenay Rattray, the Chef de Cabinet, briefed the Security Council in its open debate on emerging technologies and maritime security. He said that maritime spaces carry more than 90 per cent of global trade in goods, while more than 99 per cent of the global flow of data travels through submarine cables. Meanwhile, he said, autonomous and remotely operated systems, unmanned aerial and surface vehicles, advanced sensing, satellite imagery and cyber technologies are changing both the opportunities available to us and the threat environment at sea. The Chef de Cabinet said that seafarers and affected communities must remain at the centre of our response. Technology must serve humanity, he said, not the other way around. This requires meaningful human oversight, clear accountability and appropriate safeguards. He added that a world in which only a handful of countries can evaluate the misuse of emerging technologies, detect vulnerabilities or implement safeguards is not a resilient world. We shared his statement with you. OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that in Khan Younis in Gaza yesterday, a U.N. warehouse sustained damage from flying debris following an Israeli air strike nearby. Thankfully, no U.N. staff were injured. This is based on information received from U.N. safety and security partners. Meanwhile, partners report that over the past week, about 100 Palestinian families lost their tents and other belongings in air strikes, fires and other incidents. Humanitarian partners have mobilized support for these families through a rapid response process. The U.N. reiterates that all parties must uphold their obligations to protect civilians, including humanitarian personnel. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that acute respiratory infections remain the, the infections remain the leading health condition reported in Gaza; this is from a report covering the month of September. WHO says that overcrowding, degraded water and sanitation infrastructure, and shortages of essential treatments continue to heighten transmission risks of viral meningitis increasing in the Gaza strip. Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon...