UN News Today 28 May 2026 |

DRC Ebola outbreak: WHO chief appeals for ceasefire 

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) is travelling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to lead the response to an Ebola epidemic that has killed dozens in the country’s northeast. 

WHO Director-General Tedros announced he will visit Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, where more than 90 per cent of all cases in the current outbreak have been reported. 

In an open letter to affected communities, Tedros issued a direct appeal to armed groups operating in the region to lay down their weapons. “Please, declare a ceasefire,” he wrote. “Even briefly. Even just enough to let health workers through.” 

Unlike most previous outbreaks caused by the Ebola Zaire strain for which vaccines and treatments exist, this one is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are currently no approved medical countermeasures. 

Tedros, acknowledged the added burden facing communities already grappling with malaria, hunger and ongoing insecurity. 

“Together, you have overcome every single one before,” he said, noting this is the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak. “We will get through this one too.” 

WHO said its teams are already on the ground and will remain for as long as necessary. 

Warnings against dangerous escalation in Ukraine 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Thursday against a dangerous military escalation between Russia and Ukraine, urging both sides to return to negotiations as civilian casualties keep rising. 

The conflict has become increasingly deadly for civilians, with the number killed or injured in Ukraine rising by 21 per cent in the first four months of 2026 compared to the same period last year. 

Mr. Türk pointed to recent large-scale attacks, including a strike on a residential building in Kyiv earlier this month that killed 24 and injured dozens. He also cited a Ukrainian strike on an educational complex in occupied Starobilsk which Russia says killed 21 people, many of them students. 

He stressed that international humanitarian law requires all parties to avoid harming civilians and called for independent investigations into attacks that have killed or injured civilians in both Ukraine and Russia. 

UN torture experts warn French prison conditions may breach international law 

Turning to France, where independent experts on torture prevention supported by the UN human rights office have warned that conditions inside some French prisons may amount to inhuman or degrading treatment under international law, following a week-long inspection of 18 detention facilities. 

The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) said prison overcrowding was the most alarming problem found during its first visit to France, carried out from 17 to 23 May. 

“In some of the facilities visited, the conditions observed may constitute inhuman or degrading treatment under international law. France must take structural and sustainable measures to remedy this,” said Suzanne Jabbour, who led the delegation. 

The experts warned that overcrowding was directly undermining the fundamental rights of prisoners, with consequences that extended well beyond prison walls. 

The SPT also criticised French authorities for failing to act on recommendations issued by the country’s own national detention watchdog. While praising the body’s monitoring work, Jabbour said its findings were meaningless without follow-up. 

The SPT will send France a confidential report with its full findings and has urged Paris to make it public. 

Independent rights experts are not UN staff and receive no salary for their work. 

Ed de Bray, UN News.