News headlines
Lebanon: Medical aid arrives in Beirut amid intensifying Israeli strikes
- UN News
As Lebanon suffered another night of heavy Israeli bombing, UN humanitarians and partners described how people desperate to flee the violence found the country’s main border crossing into Syria cut by a new dawn strike, forcing them to skirt “a huge crater” and rubble on foot, to reach the other side.
Prostitution an ‘Egregious Violation of Human Rights’—UN Special Rapporteur
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 03 (IPS) - Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, calls prostitution a "system of violence" that does not benefit society at all, especially the women and girls forced into this system.
Human Toll on Lebanon Under Threat of Israeli Invasion
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 03 (IPS) - On September 23, Israel began launching a barrage of airstrikes on Lebanon, targeting the Iran-backed militant group, Hezbollah. According to statements from the Israeli Defense Force (IDP), approximately 3,600 sites have been struck, making this the deadliest aerial campaign on Lebanon in the last 20 years.
Nepal's Deadly Flash Floods: What Went Wrong?
- Inter Press Service
KATHMANDU, Oct 03 (IPS) - Nepal is trying to recover from recent flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall over the last weekend of September, which claimed at least 226 lives. The mid- and eastern parts of the country, including the capital, Kathmandu, experienced the heaviest monsoon rains in two decades from September 26-28, leaving many parts of Kathmandu underwater. Experts say this is one of the deadliest and worst flash floods that impacted thousands of people in decades.
BRICS+ Prioritising Expansion to Fight Western Hegemony
- Inter Press Service
MOSCOW, Oct 03 (IPS) - In an interview with Sky News Arabia on September 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed scepticism but was straight to the point about the strategic expansion of BRICS, an association comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Under Russia's BRICS presidency which began in January 2024.
Report highlights links between child trafficking and grave violations during conflict
- UN News
Armed conflict puts children at an increased risk of grave violations while their risk of being trafficked similarly increases, including in transitional periods, a new UN study has revealed.
Chagos Islands: UK’s last African colony returned to Mauritius
- UN News
The United Kingdom announced on Thursday that agreement has been reached to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, ending decades of dispute and negotiation over Britain’s last African colony.
World News in Brief: Deadly strikes in Ukraine, justice must be served over custody deaths, FIFA urged to challenge law-breaking by Israeli clubs
- UN News
Russian shelling has hit another apartment block in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv, UN aid teams said on Thursday.
Lebanon: UN peacekeepers to stay the course amid escalating hostilities
- UN News
Peacekeepers positioned along the “Blue Line” of separation between Israel and Lebanon remain committed to their mandate, and will remain in place until conditions allow, the UN’s peacekeeping chief said on Thursday.
Somalia: UN official reports on electoral progress, ongoing security challenges
- UN News
Authorities in Somalia remain focused on national priorities, and the battle against Al-Shabaab terrorists is their chief security concern, senior officials from the UN and the African Union (AU) said on Thursday.