Venezuela quake: Search goes on for survivors amid ‘impossible odds’

The UN response: Key facts OCHA has coordinated relief from 27 countries, involving more than 2,200 rescuers and 140 search dogs. Three UN field hospitals are operating in La Guiara, one of the worst-hit areas. UNICEF says 1.8 million people need humanitarian assistance, including 680,000 children. IOM warns up to 6.76 million people could be […]

Continue Reading

As elections near, South Sudan risks new atrocity crimes, warns rights probe

Key points ‘Rushing’ to elections could fuel conflict, says Commission Hundreds of ceasefire violations confirmed Peace deal still largely unimplemented  Inclusive politics ‘abandoned’ With the country on the cusp of its first national elections since independence, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan stressed that “multiple risk factors for atrocity crimes are converging…The […]

Continue Reading

As elections near, South Sudan risks new atrocity crimes, warns rights probe

Key points ‘Rushing’ to elections could fuel conflict, says Commission Hundreds of ceasefire violations confirmed Peace deal still largely unimplemented  Inclusive politics ‘abandoned’ With the country on the cusp of its first national elections since independence, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan stressed that “multiple risk factors for atrocity crimes are converging…The […]

Continue Reading

Occupied West Bank: Settler siege of Palestinians marks a new low

Key points The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war  Israeli settlements began expanding in the occupied West Bank soon after 1967 In 2005, Israel evacuated four settlements in the northern West Bank The occupied territory is central to plans for a future Palestinian state, but violent settlement expansion is […]

Continue Reading

Shock and devastation remain, a day after Himalayan flood disaster

Key points Hundreds remain missing after devastating floods in Nepal and China  $2 million funding released by UN emergency relief chief  World Health Organization (WHO) sends medicines, supplies and tents  An initial $2 million has been released from the United Nations Global Emergency Fund (CERF) “to save lives with emergency medical care, shelter, water”, the UN’s […]

Continue Reading