You’ve probably heard of COP – the big climate conference that takes place every year. Sometimes it makes headlines for breakthrough deals or new pledges to boost climate action, sometimes for controversies or worries about slow progress. Beyond the media reactions, what is COP really all about? The COP (Conference of the Parties) is a […]
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“Eleven months after the fall of the former government in Syria, we continue to receive worrying reports about dozens of abductions and enforced disappearances,” Spokesperson Thameen Al-Keetan said at a press briefing in Geneva. Syria is undergoing a political transition following the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024 and 13 years of brutal civil war. Families in distress In […]
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Minister Heydon hosts high-level engagements to showcase Ireland’s water quality efforts and bioeconomy innovation. Dublin, Ireland – November 7, 2025 — European Commissioner for the Environment, Jessika Roswall, visited Ireland today at the invitation of Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, as part of ongoing efforts to secure a continuation of […]
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📈 Business & Macro 🇿🇦 South Africa – TFG Profit Slumps Amid Weak Consumer DemandThe Foschini Group (TFG), one of South Africa’s largest fashion retailers, reported a 21.3% drop in headline earnings per share and a 9.9% decline in operating profit to R2.3 billion for the six months ending September 2025. Despite a 12.2% rise […]
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🏗️ Infrastructure Overhaul to Address Overcrowding Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan TD, has announced a record €527 million investment in the prison system between 2026 and 2030, aimed at tackling chronic overcrowding and modernizing the penal estate. The announcement follows the Office of the Inspector of Prisons’ 2024 Annual Report, […]
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Filippo Grandi reported that for the first time in nearly a decade, the number of refugees and other people fleeing war, violence and persecution, has decreased – from 123 million at the end of 2024 to about 117 million today. “This may seem surprising. Because the world has not become safer – on the contrary,” he said, pointing to conflicts in places such as […]
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In the aftermath of the floods in 2022, Pakistan’s financial sector was in crisis. But for different types of financial institutions, this crisis didn’t look the same. For microfinance banks, this was a crisis of capital adequacy; as non-performing loans (NPLs) in flood-impacted areas increased, capital was eroded, and capital adequacy fell from a regulatory […]
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Three research scholars from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were charged today in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the United States and for making false statements to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. These are the latest charges in a long […]
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Proposed changes could reintroduce institutionalization and undermine independent living for persons with disabilities. Lima, Peru – November 6, 2025 — A group of United Nations human rights experts has issued a strong warning against a proposed amendment to Peru’s General Law on Persons with Disabilities, cautioning that it could reverse progress on deinstitutionalization and violate […]
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Activists, journalists, and opposition figures face incitement and treason charges amid rising censorship concerns. Phnom Penh, Cambodia – November 6, 2025 — Cambodian authorities have arrested 16 individuals for posting political content on social media, sparking international condemnation from Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other civil liberties organizations. The arrests, carried out between August and […]
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