World News in Brief: Deadly strikes in Ukraine, justice must be served over custody deaths, FIFA urged to challenge law-breaking by Israeli clubs

Attacks in the northeast city killed or injured more than 190 people in September alone, said the UN’s top aid coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale. “One thought that’s going through my mind is the mental trauma that people suffer from these repeated strikes,” he continued. “In September alone, there were 53 strikes in Kharkiv. That’s […]

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Chad: Discussion on Justice for Past Crimes Blocked

(Nairobi) – Police in Chad forced the cancelation of a conference in the capital, N’Djamena, on October 2, 2024, that was planned to discuss justice for the victims of abuse by Hissène Habré, Human Rights Watch said today. The police also detained a former Human Rights Watch counsel who was to be a keynote speaker at the […]

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EU and Canada strengthen cooperation on crisis response and new rescEU firefighting fleet production launched

Today, Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič met with Canada’s Minister of Trade Mary Ng to discuss the strengthening of EU and Canada cooperation on crisis response efforts. This is part of the EU and Canada’s efforts announced at the Strategic Partnership Summit on disaster response and emergency management last year.  At the Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination […]

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Sudan war: ‘Horror’ grows as reports of summary executions emerge

The warning on Thursday comes as the SAF launched a major offensive last month to regain control of key areas currently held by the RSF. The two armies led by rival generals have been locked in a brutal power struggle since April 2023. The fighting has driven more than 11 million people from their homes […]

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Chagos Islands: UK’s last African colony returned to Mauritius

The agreement follows 13 rounds of talks that began in 2022 after Mauritian calls for sovereignty were recognised by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the UN General Assembly in 2019 and 2021. The world court, as the ICJ is known, is the principle judicial organ of the UN which adjudicates disputes between nations. […]

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Indian Authorities Unlawfully Detain Himalaya Climate Activist

This week, Indian authorities detained Sonam Wangchuk, a prominent climate activist and educator from the Himalayan territory of Ladakh, and others participating in a nearly 1,000-kilometer march from Leh, the provincial capital, to the national capital, Delhi. Wangchuk and approximately 120 activists were demanding a greater say in local governance and stronger environmental safeguards. The police […]

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Egypt Should Release Prominent Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah

Alaa Abdel Fattah, the British-Egyptian writer and activist, should have been released on September 29 after serving an unjust five-year prison sentence. Instead, Egyptian authorities have kept him imprisoned, refusing to count over two years he spent in pretrial detention toward his time served. After spending most of the last decade behind bars, authorities told his […]

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UN: Reject Saudi Bid for Human Rights Council Seat

(New York) – United Nations member countries should reject Saudi Arabia’s bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council because of the government’s widespread human rights violations, including possible crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said. On October 9, 2024, the UN General Assembly will select 18 new members for three-year terms on the Human Rights […]

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Tunisia: Authorities Undermine Election Integrity

(Beirut) – Tunisian authorities have undermined the integrity of the October 6, 2024 presidential election by amending the electoral law just days beforehand, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities excluded or arrested opposition candidates, and took arbitrary measures against political opponents, independent media, and civil society. On September 27, Tunisia’s Assembly of the Representatives of […]

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Syria: immediate emergency funding of €500,000

Amid ongoing hostilities in Lebanon, over 100,000 civilians, including Lebanese and Syrians have crossed into Syria in search of shelter. The majority of those crossing, notably women and children, are traveling on foot and urgently require humanitarian assistance. Reports indicate that at least 60% of those crossing are under the age of 18. The current […]

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