People who fled El Fasher take refuge in Tawil. Top news of the day | Thursday: Sudan, Jamaica, Doha, temperature records UN
The main news of the day in the UN and in the world: refugees in North Darfur live in extremely difficult conditions, Hurricane Melissa caused damage to Jamaica amounting to 30 percent of GDP, the results of the World Summit on Social Development are summed up in Doha, 2025 will be one of the warmest years on record.
Crisis in Sudan
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning of a critical humanitarian situation facing thousands of families who fled El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur following a recent surge in violence. In the city of Tawila and surrounding areas, internally displaced people live in extremely difficult conditions, without access to food, clean water, housing or medical care. Moreover, more than 650 thousand refugees were already in Tawil before the latest events. Humanitarian organizations and their local partners are setting up new camps to accommodate recent arrivals from El Fasher.
Hurricane Melissa
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that approximately 1.5 million people in Jamaica were affected by Hurricane Melissa, losing housing, livelihoods, and access to water and electricity. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimates that the disaster caused damage equivalent to 30 percent of the country’s GDP. More than 4.8 million tons of rubble and debris remain in western Jamaica, according to a UNDP analysis. Satellite data shows that the equivalent of 480,000 truckloads of rubble, vegetation and household waste have blocked access to roads, schools and markets.
Doha Summit
The Second World Summit for Social Development concluded in Doha on Thursday. The event was attended by almost 14 thousand delegates, including more than 40 heads of state and government and more than 230 ministers. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the results of the high-level meeting demonstrate the urgency of addressing social problems. She said action based on the Doha Political Declaration must be aimed at reducing poverty, creating real jobs and ensuring that no one is left behind.
New temperature records
The planet continues to break temperature records in 2025. This year is likely to be the second or third warmest year on record, with the last 11 years already ranked as the hottest in 176 years, according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) data released Thursday. The average temperature on the Earth’s surface from January to August 2025 was 1.42 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is slightly lower than in 2024, when the influence of the El Niño atmospheric phenomenon was observed, but overall the heat remains unchanged.