UN: Deal reached with Syria to reopen main border crossing from Türkiye

UN: Deal reached with Syria to reopen main border crossing from Türkiye

For the next six months, the Bab al-Hawa border crossing will be accessible and allow much-needed assistance to reach millions of people in northwest Syria. Bab al-Hawa has been used since 2014, when the UN Security Council authorized cross-border relief deliveries “across conflict lines”. Around 85 per cent of aid deliveries have passed through Bab…

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UN refugee agency concerned about situation at Mexico-US border

UN refugee agency concerned about situation at Mexico-US border

At a press conference in Geneva, agency spokesman William Spindler pointed out that “the capacity to receive and provide assistance to refugees and migrants has been exceeded for months” in that border area. “The humanitarian situation on the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border continues to be serious,” he stressed, explaining that families with young children arrive…

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UNHCR warns of deteriorating health conditions in Sudan

UNHCR warns of deteriorating health conditions in Sudan

“As many families have been on the move for weeks, with very little food and medicine, rising malnutrition rates, disease outbreaks and related deaths continue to be observed,” the UN agency’s William Spindler told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday. Highlighting particular concern for conditions in refugee camps and transit centres, Mr. Spindler said that mental…

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It’s official: July 2023 was the warmest on record, says UN weather agency WMO

It’s official: July 2023 was the warmest on record, says UN weather agency WMO

“The global average temperature for July 2023 is confirmed to be the highest on record for any month,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director at the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. “The month is estimated to have been around 1.5C warmer than the average for 1815 to 1900, so the average for pre-industrial times.”  Briefing journalists…

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‘Increasingly brazen’ war crimes evident in Myanmar, reports Independent Mechanism

‘Increasingly brazen’ war crimes evident in Myanmar, reports Independent Mechanism

These include indiscriminate attacks on civilians from aerial bombing, mass executions of civilians and detained combatants, and large-scale and intentional burning of civilian homes and buildings, resulting in the destruction of entire villages in some cases, the Mechanism said in a news release. “Every loss of life in Myanmar is tragic, but the devastation caused…

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Guterres concerned over continued detention of Niger’s President

Guterres concerned over continued detention of Niger’s President

ECOWAS is scheduled to hold another meeting on the crisis on Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria, according to media reports. This follows an extraordinary summit last week where the 15-member bloc issued a communiqué calling for the reinstatement of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum.  Failing this, ECOWAS had threatened to “take all measures necessary to restore constitutional…

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