Uganda: UN rights chief calls on President not to sign anti-homosexuality bill

Uganda: Guterres voices deep concern as Anti-Homosexuality Act signed into law

The draconian law foresees the application of the death penalty and long prison sentences for consensual sex between adults. Non-discrimination principle Mr. Guterres called on Uganda to fully respect its international human rights obligations, “in particular the principle of non-discrimination and the respect for personal privacy”, irrespective of sexual orientation and gender identity. He also…

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UN commends Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, as final judgement is delivered

UN commends Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, as final judgement is delivered

Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović were convicted by the court – part of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) which took over from the ICTY – in 2021, for their roles training death squads accused of ethnic cleansing during the conflict that saw the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s….

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UN humanitarians complete first food distribution in Khartoum as hunger, threats to children, intensify

UN humanitarians complete first food distribution in Khartoum as hunger, threats to children, intensify

WFP’s Country Director in Sudan, Eddie Rowe, told reporters in Geneva that in a major breakthrough, the agency distributed food assistance to 15,000 people in both Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) controlled areas of Omdurman, part of the Khartoum metropolitan area, beginning on Saturday. Speaking from Port Sudan, Mr. Rowe highlighted other recent…

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WMO makes urgent call to action over melting cryosphere

WMO makes urgent call to action over melting cryosphere

WMO warned on Tuesday that glaciers and ice sheet melt in Greenland and Antarctica accounts for some 50 per cent of sea level rise, which is accelerating, with disastrous impacts on small island developing states (SIDS) and densely populated coastal areas. Glacier melt The average thickness of the world’s glaciers has plummeted by almost 30 metres since 1970. “The cryosphere…

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Nearly half of Haiti going hungry, new food security report warns

Nearly half of Haiti going hungry, new food security report warns

The latest integrated food security phase classification (IPC) analysis, reported on Sunday that of the total number of affected people, 1.8 million are in an emergency-level phase of need. This means that households face large food consumption gaps resulting in high acute malnutrition and excess mortality, or are forced to adopt negative coping mechanisms to…

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Fresh diplomatic gains must match action on the ground in Syria to end war

Fresh diplomatic gains must match action on the ground in Syria to end war

“It is vital that the recent diplomatic moves are matched with real action,” said Geir Pedersen, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, briefing the Security Council on recent political and humanitarian developments. A range of diplomatic initiatives have quickened the pace towards finding solutions on, among other things, continuing a direct dialogue with the…

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Racism which scars societies, must be stamped out, forum for people of African descent hears

Racism which scars societies, must be stamped out, forum for people of African descent hears

“Racism and xenophobia continue to spoil our communities, like scars that spoil the fabric of society. The hatred and violence they engender persist, demanding our collective efforts to eradicate racial violence in all its forms,” he told the second session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.  Transforming injustice  Mr. Kőrösi said overcoming…

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Belarus: ‘Unprecedented level of repression’ must end, say UN rights experts

Belarus: ‘Unprecedented level of repression’ must end, say UN rights experts

“The practice of incommunicado detention of members of the political opposition and prominent figures sentenced to lengthy prison terms for voicing dissent increased in 2023,” the 18 Special Rapporteurs and Human Rights Council-appointed Working Group rights’ experts said. In their statement released by UN rights office OHCHR, they reported that according to the Viasna Human Rights Centre, 1,511…

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IAEA chief outlines five principles to avert nuclear ‘catastrophe’ in Ukraine

IAEA chief outlines five principles to avert nuclear ‘catastrophe’ in Ukraine

Delivering his latest update, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi reported that the situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) – the largest in Europe – remains extremely fragile and dangerous. Military operations continue in the region “and may well increase very considerably in the near future,” he warned. Rolling the dice The Zaporizhzhya plant…

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