The number of people facing hunger rose to 193 million last year as conflict, climate change and economic crises ravaged people's livelihoods, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday.

Duwa Lashi La is the acting president of the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar, a parallel government formed in opposition to the junta after the latter seized power in a February 2021 coup. Speaking to FRANCE 24 from a secret location in the country, Duwa Lashi La said that "within a year, we achieved significant success on the military and administrative fronts". He claimed that his People's Defence Force (PDF) controls 15 percent of Myanmar and that combined with the ethnic resistance groups, the "collective resistance forces" control "almost 50 percent" of the country.

In a UN Security Council briefing, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said the streets in Iraq could "boil over" if political leaders were unable to end a political stalemate that has gripped the country for over seven months.

The UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has traveled to China at Beijing's invitation. But the US has raised doubts about Chinese officials giving her "necessary access" to asses the situation.

The 13-2 vote in favor of the resolution was not enough to secure its adoption as Beijing and Moscow have veto-rights. The US said the rejection means Pyongyang "will feel free to take further escalatory actions."

Activists slammed UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet for her restrained criticism directed at China's leaders after her return from Xinjiang. But Bachelet noted that her visit was "not an investigation."

The UN says it is the sixth time a peacekeeping convoy has been targeted in less than a month. The West African country has been gripped by a jihadist insurgency for the past decade.

At a UN General Assembly meeting, China and Russia explained their vetoes of a proposal that would have imposed new sanctions on North Korea.

Human rights campaigners say China is committing cultural genocide against its minority Uyghur residents in Xinjiang, where an estimated 1 million to 2 million residents have been incarcerated

The UN Refugee Agency said this was the highest number of displaced people recorded since World War II. Refugees coming to the EU from Africa's Sahel region could rise, said the report.

Markus Potzel will be the United Nations' new deputy representative to Afghanistan. Between 2014 and 2016 he was Germany's ambassador to Kabul.