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A man picks up a Lebanese flag from the rubble after an Israeli airstrike on an apartment block in Beirut on Thursday.

Israel strikes heart of Beirut, killing six

Witnesses reported hearing a massive blast, and a security source said it targeted a building in the central district of Bachoura, near parliament.

  • 1 hr ago
  • Timour Azhari and Ari Rabinovitch
Sorting through rubble in Dahiya, the predominantly Shia southern suburbs of Beirut, after a barrage of Israeli airstrikes.

In Beirut’s once-bustling suburbs, smoking rubble and eerie quiet

Most of the residents of the Dahiya – the collection of neighbourhoods on the southern outskirts of Beirut where Hezbollah is the dominant power – have fled this week.

  • Christina Goldbaum and Hwaida Saad

This Month

Speakers from 190 countries included 71 heads of state, 42 heads of government, six vice presidents and crown princes, eight deputy prime ministers and 53 ministers.

Leaders depart UN empty-handed, facing wider Middle East war

There was no expectation of major breakthroughs at the annual gathering of presidents, premiers and other leaders. There rarely is. But this year was especially grim.

  • Edith Lederer and Jennifer Peltz
Israeli shelling hit an area in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, early on Tuesday (AEST).

How far will Israel’s ground invasion go?

The Israeli defence minister has announced the “next stage” of war following the assassination of the militant group Hezbollah’s leader.

  • James Shotter

September

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.

Australia favourite to host COP31 climate talks

A growing coalition of countries is backing Labor’s plans for the 2026 summit to be hosted in concert with Pacific countries.

  • Tom McIlroy
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A hole in the ground near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Nasrallah’s funeral could coincide with IDF invasion

The Hezbollah leader’s funeral – like his speeches – is likely to garner considerable attention across the region and may be exploited by anti-Israeli forces.

  • Melanie Swan, Paul Nuki and Adrian Blomfield
Australia is planning to co-host alongside Pacific islands that are vulnerable to sea level rise and severe storms.

Bringing COP31 Down Under will be an unprecedented opportunity

Australia could co-host the global climate meeting in 2026 well on the way to emissions targets, and ready to drive fresh momentum.

  • Kerry Schott and John Connor
Smoke rises behind a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike on Khiam village in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah fires missile at Mossad HQ as tensions rise

The military said Hezbollah fired the missile from Lebanon, in what appeared to be the first attempted attack by the group on a target as far south as central Israel.

  • Updated
  • Abby Sewell and Melanie Lidman
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in Muwasi, Gaza Strip.

As fight with Hezbollah heats up, people of Gaza fear being forgotten

Palestinians fear miserable conditions in Gaza will become permanent. Most of the population is homeless, with hundreds of thousands in unsanitary tent camps.

  • Julia Frankel and Wafaa Shurafa
Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition with ultrareligious and far-right parties would still fall short of a majority in fresh elections.

Netanyahu’s polls rebound after aggressive Israeli operations

The recovery in his party’s fortunes has become more pronounced since the end of July, when Israel assassinated senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Beirut and Tehran.

  • James Shotter
Australian Zomi Frankcom was one of seven aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike while helping to deliver food in Gaza.

Aid worker’s family lash Israel’s ‘careless disregard’ for her death

The family of Zomi Frankcom are backing Penny Wong’s global push for better protection of aid workers in combat zones.

  • Andrew Tillett
Israeli security forces examine a site in Kiryat Bialik hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon.

Israel urges civilians to flee Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon

The warning came shortly after Israel began what it said was a new round of “extensive strikes” across Lebanon – and suggested it was preparing another round of attacks.

  • Updated
  • Melanie Lidman and Bassem Mroue
Israeli security and rescue forces work at a site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik.

Israel, Hezbollah launch bombing blitz as region ‘on the brink’

Israel says it struck around 400 targets in Lebanon, while Hezbollah targeted a key Israeli airbase, in the most intense bombardment in almost a year.

  • Updated
  • Timour Azhari and Miro Maman
Mourners carry the coffins of victims killed after their hand-held pagers exploded, during funerals in Beirut.

Australia pleases no one after abstaining on anti-Israel vote

Penny Wong defended Canberra’s stance on a resolution demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of West Bank and East Jerusalem, warning about escalation.

  • Andrew Tillett
Israeli soldiers arrest a blindfolded Palestinian during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.

Australia set to break with US on West Bank vote

The Albanese government is disappointed Palestinians have not made more concessions on a UN resolution demanding an end to Israel’s occupation but won’t vote no.

  • Andrew Tillett
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A bulldozer from the Israeli Forces moves on a street during a military operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Faraa in August.

Australia joins push to water down anti-Israel UN vote

A fresh vote at the United Nations on Thursday will revive the damaging domestic debate for Labor over Palestinian policy.

  • Andrew Tillett
Pope Francis in Dili, East Timor, on Monday.

East Timor gives Pope Francis a massive welcome

Timorese jammed the motorcade route, waving Vatican and Timorese flags and toting yellow and white umbrellas – the colours of the Holy See.

  • Nicole Winfield and Niniek Karmini

August

High school students danced and marched in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, on Tuesday to promote awareness of climate change’s impact on Pacific nations.

Australia pressed to spend more climate dollars in Pacific

As he heads to the Pacific Islands Forum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under pressure to boost Australia’s contribution to poorer nations’ fight against climate change.

  • Andrew Tillett
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in Beijing earlier this year. In China, Russia and many parts of the Global South there is suspicion that the rules-based order is really a liberal order crafted after the Second World War, largely to suit the purposes of Western powers.

Australia should focus on rules, not ‘rules-based order’, in Asia

Support for the transition from a US-led world to a multipolar world is gaining traction.

  • Anthony Milner

July

Mourners attend a funeral held for 10 of the victims of Saturday’s rocket attack in the Golan Heights.

Israel hits Hezbollah for Golan carnage, but eyes Gaza truce talks

PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to exact a ‘heavy price’ from Hezbollah, which has been trading fire with Israel across the Lebanese border in solidarity with Hamas.

  • Updated
  • Dan Williams

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/united-nations-63j