A Swiss soldier holds a Quantum Vector AI drone by the firm Quantum System during a media event, 27 August 2026, at the Waffenplatz, Thun, as part of Switzerland's efforts to bolster its defence capacities. (Keystone/Anthony Anex)

🪖New UN initiative will aim to tackle the military uses of AI. The Geneva-based UN Institute for Disarmament Research announced in New York yesterday that it was launching a new forum to bring together diverse actors to tackle growing concerns around the use of artificial intelligence for military purposes.

🇦🇪UAE nominates official to lead UN. Lana Nusseibeh, a former Emirati foreign ministry official, makes a late entry into the UN secretary general race as the contenders fail to rally enough support from key powers at the UN Security Council.

⚠️Time still open to prepare for powerful El Niño; humanitarian system cannot cope alone: UN. The head of the World Meteorological Organization and the UN humanitarian aid chief jointly warned that a “behemoth” El Niño of unprecedented strength was poised to cause humanitarian disasters if regions did not prepare in advance.

🦠Nigeria confirms Ebola case, as Congo outbreak spreads. The national authorities and the World Health Organization confirmed that a woman who travelled from Uganda had been diagnosed after showing symptoms earlier this month, making Nigeria the fifth country affected by the infectious disease spreading at an unprecedented rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

🌡️ United Nations report highlights significant increase in US climate pollution. The report, released annually by the UN Environment Programme and authored by scientists, warns that global temperatures are on track to climb by 2.8ºC this century – far above the 1.5ºC limit set in the Paris agreement, and large emissions emitters are not curbing emissions fast enough.