The number of refugees worldwide has exceeded 122 million in 2024, surpassing last year’s figures, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In a statement, Peter Ruhenstroth-Bauer, UNHCR’s National Director in Germany, described the figures as alarming, emphasising that behind every statistic is a person seeking safety and a future. He called for enhanced protection and opportunities for these individuals.
The annual report by UNHCR's German partner revealed that the global refugee population stood at 117.4 million in 2023. The increase was primarily attributed to the mass displacement caused by the civil war in Sudan.
The statement highlighted that over 11.8 million people have been forced to flee since violence escalated in Sudan in April 2023. It also noted that the situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar have further contributed to the rise in refugee numbers.
Additionally, the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon has led to the forced displacement of more than 1.7 million people.
Russia's second city of St. Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region came under a large Ukrainian drone attack overnight on Saturday, with a local port and oil infrastructure struck, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said.
US President Donald Trump called on Americans to protect the freedoms the nation's founders envisioned 250 years ago against what he has portrayed as the "communist" threat posed by progressive Democrats, speaking on the eve of Independence Day at Mount Rushmore.
Ukraine still controls the strategically important eastern city of Kostiantynivka, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the General Staff said on Saturday, rejecting Russian claims that it has been captured.
After weeks of protests, fraud accusations and review of contested ballots in a razor-thin race, conservative Keiko Fujimori was officially declared the winner of Peru's presidential race by the country's electoral office on Friday.
Rescuers cleared the rubble in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday in a search for survivors, as flags were lowered to half mast to mark a day of mourning, a day after a Russian missile and drone attack killed at least 30 people.