News headlines in June 2024, page 10

IDLIB, Syria, Jun 18 (IPS) - Twelve-year-old Walid Al-Hussein, displaced from the city of Kafranbel to a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in northern Idlib on the border with Turkey, has given up his dream of becoming a lawyer.

The State of Global Air (SoGA) report published in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns on Wednesday that air pollution is increasingly impacting human health - and is now the second leading global risk factor for premature death.

The UN’s top human rights official said on Tuesday that Myanmar is in “agonizing pain”, suffocated by an illegitimate military regime which uses “horrific war tactics” and commits brutal atrocity crimes.

The World Food Programme (WFP) will increase its food and nutrition assistance programme this month in West and Central Africa in hopes of reaching 7.3 million people as the June-August lean season is under way at a time when hunger levels are high and food resources are low.

The UN’s top political affairs official on Tuesday reiterated that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited by international law. More than 170 civilians lost their lives and a further 690 were injured in continued Russian strikes across Ukraine last month.

A conference focused on small arms and light weapons is taking place at a “difficult and dangerous moment for humanity,” according to the UN Chief António Guterres.

On World Refugee Daymarked annually on 20 June, meet some of the multi-talented teachers and principals of migrant learning centres in Thailand along the border with Myanmar, who, with UN support, are doing all they can to keep up with the influx of children seeking sanctuary.

The UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday focused on the worsening crisis in Sudan as civilians continue to suffer amidst the brutal fighting between rival militaries, while the Geneva-based Human Rights Council heard independent investigators describe combatants’ “blatant disregard” for fundamental human rights and international law.

The systemic oppression against Afghan women and girls is “so severe and extensive that they appear to form a widespread and systematic attack” which could amount to crimes against humanity said Richard Bennettthe independent rights expert monitoring Afghanistan, addressing the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

As the war drags on in Gaza, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday condemned Israel’s “relentless” attacks across the war-shattered enclave, while repeating longstanding calls for the release of all remaining hostages.