South Sudan’s security bill evolves into law without presidential assent, allows warrantless arrests
Yasmin Sooka, chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, said on Thursday that the new law will give security agencies powers to conduct “more arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances.”
Taliban took my life: No respite for scientists and researchers during three years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan
More than 15 million people in Afghanistan needed emergency food or cash assistance in 2023, according to the World Food Programme. Women’s rights have deteriorated and girls are banned from education once they reach 12, albeit with some recent exceptions made for medicine. Female university staff are restricted from teaching.
Russian military on the backfoot as it is pummelled by Ukrainian forces in Kursk region
Ukraine pummelled two Russian regions with drones on Tuesday as its ground forces tried to smash through defensive lines in a bid to carve out even more territory in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the war began. Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border, about 530 km (330 miles)...
Israeli whistleblowers expose the horror Palestinian prisoners live in at Sde Teiman military base
Since October 7, the number of imprisoned Palestinians has nearly doubled, from 5,192 before the war to 9,623 as of early July, exacerbating a preexisting issue of overcrowding, according to human rights group HaMoked, which tracks Israel’s prison population and was among the groups who petitioned to close Sde Teiman.
UN health agency convenes experts to assess if mpox outbreak in Africa is a global emergency
Officials at the Africa CDC said nearly 70 per cent of cases in Congo are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85 per cent of deaths. Mpox was reported last week in Burundi and Rwanda for the first time while other countries including Kenya and the Central African Republic also identified cases.
WHO chief Ghebreyesus convenes emergency committee to assess threats posed by mpox outbreak
An emergency committee is made up of international experts who provide technical advice and recommendations to the WHO chief about whether a disease outbreak is a “public health emergency of international concern” – the agency’s highest level of alert. The final decision is made by the director general.
Cameroonian refugee Cindy Ngamba makes history with first ever medal for Refugee Olympic Team
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offered his congratulations immediately after Sunday’s fight “for reaching the boxing semi-finals at Paris 2024 and being assured of a medal – the first ever medal for the Refugee Olympic team”.
Big Three lie? Questions raised about credit rating of Africa as experts doubt methodology
At the UN Development Programme, the agency instrumental in the push to get credit ratings for sub-Saharan nations, senior economist Raymond Gilpin disagreed, saying it was “unconscionable” that the Big Three didn’t have a larger presence on the continent. At the same time, he said he saw no bias in the way the Big Three apply their methodologies, and he echoed other officials and academics when he told said that the rating agencies’ work can be hampered by local realities.
New UN report details ‘unprecedented’ levels of insecurity and sexual violence displaced women in Haiti face
Women and girls account for more than half of the 580,000 displaced people in Haiti, and the UN Women Rapid Gender Assessment highlights how makeshift camps, which lack basic necessities, are putting them at particular risk of sexual and gender-based violence.
Another contingent of 200 Kenyan police arrives in Haiti for UN-backed mission to stamp out criminal gangs
More Kenyans are expected to arrive in coming weeks and months and will be joined by police and soldiers from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica for a total of 2,500 personnel. They will be deployed in phases at a cost of some $600 million a year, according to the UN Security Council.
