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Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.
On our radar
Mass displacement as Yemenis flee shifting frontlines
Yemen’s war is shifting and ramping up quickly, forcing more than 104,000 people to flee their homes across the country’s west coast in just over two weeks. That number is quickly changing, given how rapidly entire displacement camps are emptying out, frontlines are moving, and both Saudi Arabia-backed groups and Iran-linked Houthi rebels appear to be digging their heels in. Since the Houthis (officially called Ansar Allah) took the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb strait on 11 September, Saudi warplanes have been bombing inside Yemen, and Houthi drones have hit inside Saudi Arabia. Casualties are rising, and multiple healthcare facilities have been attacked. More than 2,800 people have fled to Djibouti, and those who are internally displaced have had to leave in a hurry, with almost nothing, in search of safety. This is a massive escalation of the war and an already severe humanitarian crisis, and it’s worth keeping in mind that, even before this flare-up, Yemen’s economy was in a downward spiral – worsened by the US-Iran war – with many people struggling to buy food. Read more here.
South Sudan polls remain in doubt as government fires election chief
With just weeks to go before South Sudan’s long-delayed elections – supposed to be its first since independence – President Salva Kiir has thrown yet another obstacle in the way, this time removing the head of the country’s election commission. No reason was given for the change, but it's been interpreted as yet another stalling tactic from the government, which announced prior deferrals in 2022 and 2024 having failed to put in place the required legal, financial, logistical, and security arrangements. The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said last week that many of the conditions for peaceful and credible elections are missing, and the east African regional bloc IGAD called for an “inclusive dialogue” between political parties. Such a dialogue would currently prove tricky given opposition leader Riek Machar is standing trial for treason. He was suspended from office last year as first vice president by Kiir, and there has been renewed conflict between his SPLM-IO forces and government troops. The two sides had signed a post-war power-sharing accord in 2018 that was supposed to guide the country through a transition and culminate in elections.
Somaliland offers Trump a deal on recognition
Breakaway Somaliland is pulling out the stops to win US recognition, offering access to its strategic Berbera Port, mineral deals, and even a Trump Tower. Recognition may not immediately be in the cards, but Berbera is particularly significant at the moment. It sits close to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the global shipping lane Yemen’s Houthis can potentially close at will. Somaliland is juicing its proposal with the prospect of a base for US forces (there have already been US military visits) and Israel – the only country to recognise its independence. The conservative Hudson Institute, among others in the US establishment, is pushing Somaliland’s case as a “bulwark” against the Houthis – and even Chinese influence. Meanwhile, the so-called “Berbera axis” has redefined Red Sea competition over Africa’s coastline, accelerating regional fragmentation. The four-party coalition of Somaliland, Israel, Ethiopia, and the UAE – and by association Sudan’s RSF – directly challenges the Türkiye-Saudi Arabia-Qatar bloc supporting Somali sovereignty. Türkiye’s direct military backing of Mogadishu – including strengthening its federal army – is a source of frustration for the coalition, and increasingly Somalia’s political opposition.
Gaza building collapse and attacks highlight Israeli ceasefire violations
At least 21 people – including 11 children – are dead and dozens more wounded following the collapse of a building housing displaced families in Gaza City on 16 September. The building, badly damaged by Israeli bombing, collapsed overnight as people were sleeping and fell on nearby tents. About 90% of Gaza’s population of around 2.1 million people remains displaced almost a year after Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement last October. Thousands are living in unsafe structures as Israel continues to block reconstruction efforts while also carrying out attacks as well as seemingly random acts of violence. A double-tap Israeli drone strike in Gaza City killed Palestinian paramedic Sharif Shadi Labad and 15-year-old Mohammad Abdul Zinati, when Zinati rushed to help Labad after the first strike. Israel claimed Labad was a Hamas operative. On 12 September, 27-year-old Iman Shalouf, who was nearly eight months pregnant, was shot in the head while she was in her tent in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. Both Shalouf and her unborn child died. More than 1,380 people have been killed and nearly 4,800 injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire agreement was signed. Continue reading below for more on the US’s pending arms deal with Israel.
UNGA: Leadership hunt may grab the spotlight, but neglected crises loom large
As high-level meetings for a new session of the General Assembly open in New York, the UN finds itself in desperate need of rejuvenation – and still in search of a leader. The closed-door race-walk to pick a new Secretary-General will be top of mind. The successor to current SG António Guterres will be expected to revitalise multilateralism, leverage diplomacy to end wars, guide UN renewal in a time of deep cuts and scepticism, and hack a new path to relevance for a beleaguered world body – easy, right? Humanitarian issues aren’t usually the main focus during the politics and pageantry of high-level week, when world leaders descend on New York and the rank-and-file network and nibble on finger food amid midtown Manhattan’s extra-snarled traffic. But crises are ever-present, especially now – from Gaza’s future; to the latest escalation in Yemen; to Sudan’s conflict (globally neglected despite foreign meddling); to who’s responsible for Nepal’s catastrophic climate-worsened floods.
War fears redraw the global risk map
Large-scale war has moved from a distant danger to one of the world’s most immediate threats, according to the UN’s 2026 Global Risk Report. The report surveyed 1,300 respondents from governments, civil society, business, international organisations, and expert communities, and reflects perceptions, not predictions. It also reflects biases – half the survey’s respondents were from Europe and North America. More than a third of those surveyed believe large-scale war will have a major global impact within a year, and three-quarters within seven years. Compared to the prior survey in 2024, war has jumped 16 places in the report's ranking of how imminent the 28 risks it tracks are. Political risks today outstrip environmental concerns with large-scale war and geopolitical tensions each ranking among the top five risks in six of seven world regions. Yet confidence in the multilateral system has fallen, and 86% say risk reduction is underfunded. That unease is shaping policy in the UK which is updating its decades-old “war book” and urging citizens to prepare for disruption by stockpiling canned food and water. Still, experts cited by the BBC describe a “crisis of disbelief” and low levels of psychological preparedness across Western Europe.
Weekend read
British-held asylum seeker dies by apparent suicide in Eswatini
KP spent two years in a legal limbo after a British authority granted him international protection.
And finally…
Punishment of pro-Palestinian speech meets popular resistance
The internet has been buzzing after rapper Macklemore was dropped from singer Ed Sheeran’s tour for saying “free Palestine” on stage at a US concert. Billionaire Robert Kraft, the owner of an upcoming tour venue and a longstanding donor and advocate for Israel, and the owners of several other venues threatened to cancel Sheeran’s shows if Macklemore remained on the bill. The tour’s promoter removed Macklemore, and Sheeran planned to go ahead, saying he “wasn’t complicit” because “I choose not to speak publicly”. However, all of Sheeran’s support acts for the remainder of his North and South America tour withdrew in solidarity with Macklemore and Palestine. Perhaps flying further under the radar, the Israeli documentary NAZA debuted at the Venice Film Festival on 10 September to a record 25-minute standing ovation. The film lays bare the AI algorithm used by Israel to select targets in the Gaza Strip as well as the biases and disregard for civilian lives baked into the system. The film won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, but Israel’s minister of culture accused the directors – Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor – of treason, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to strip them of citizenship. Right-wing activists protested outside of the home of Szor’s parents, and explicit calls for violence are circulating on right-wing chat groups. More than 1,500 film-industry figures, including prominent Israelis, have since signed a petition supporting Abraham and Szor and condemning the campaign against them.
