World

Oct. 4, 2016 – Climate Action Network, a network of over 1100 civil society organizations in 120 countries, working to fight climate change hails the historic moment as the double threshold of 55 countries representing 55% of global emissions ratifying the Paris Agreement was crossed today, thereby enabling the Agreement to enter into force in 30 […]

October 5, 2016 – More than 1.5 million people in Aleppo have been without running water for five days, as battles rage around key water infrastructure and power to pumping stations is cut, leaving civilians at risk of water-borne diseases, Oxfam warned today. The international agency called for action to halt attacks on civilians and […]

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Oct. 4, 2016 – Cybercriminals are the latest losers at the CoP17 of CITES following the Decision to ratify a commitment by all 183 Parties to stamp out illegal online wildlife trade. The Decision requires all Parties to take a raft of measures to ensure that cybercrime is stopped, bring together governments, […]

Geneva/Rome 3 October 2016: Three years ago today, almost 400 people drowned off the coast of Italy’s Lampedusa island as they attempted to escape violence and poverty for safety in Europe. The overcrowded wooden boat carrying more than 500 people caught fire and capsized half a mile from the shore, causing one of the highest […]

LONDON, Sept. 30, 2016 – A rise in world temperatures of 1.5°C degrees can no longer be avoided, according to the world’s leading climate scientists, who say that the majority of people have yet to wake up to the stark realities and dangers of climate change. In a devastating summary of the crisis the world […]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2016 – Nearly a year on from a bloody spike in violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) Israeli forces continue to display an appalling disregard for human life by using reckless and unlawful lethal force against Palestinians, Amnesty International said today. Amnesty International USA joined 15 other organizations in […]

BARCELONA/NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2016 – Two hospitals in eastern Aleppo were severely damaged last night during the ongoing, indiscriminate bombing of the city and have been forced to halt all activities. These attacks caused the death of at least two patients inside the hospitals and injured two medical staff members as well. Both of […]

Top United Nations officials have condemned attacks last night against a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) aid convoy, as well as a SARC warehouse and health clinic in Urum al-Kubra (Big Orem), northwest of Aleppo city in Syria, in which about 20 civilians and one SARC staff member were killed and vital food and medical […]

Sept. 21, 2016 –  The outcome of President Obama’s Leaders’ Summit on Refugees in New York marks a small step forward but falls far short of what is needed to address the global refugee crisis, said Amnesty International today. Leaders at the summit increased commitments on resettlement, humanitarian funding, refugee education and access to work. […]

LONDON, Sept. 21, 2016 – The social and economic impacts of climate change have already begun to take their toll – but most people do not yet know this. Politicians and economists have yet to work out how and when it would be best to adapt to change. And biologists say they cannot even begin […]

Washington, D.C. September 21, 2016 – 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Máxima Acuña de Chaupe was hospitalized after being attacked, allegedly by security forces hired by Minera Yanacocha, a subsidiary of Denver-based Newmont Mining, according to information provided by the Chaupe family. The attack took place on Máxima’s property in northern Peru that the mining company […]

September 19, 2016 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has welcomed the historic adoption of the New York Declaration by 193 governments at today’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, during the first-ever UN Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.  Amidst unprecedented levels of people on the move, the Summit […]

GENEVA September 16, 2016 – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, today called on the Eritrean Government to urgently provide information on the whereabouts and state of health of senior government officials and independent journalists arrested on 18 September 2001 and in the following days. Fifteen […]

GENEVA/KYIV  September 15, 2016 – A new UN report released on Thursday describes the deterioration of the human rights situation in eastern Ukraine, as a result of escalating hostilities between June and August, and the continued disregard for the protection of civilians by both sides of the conflict. The report*, which covers the period from […]

Aug. 14, 2016 – Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager won wide support from MEPs, in a Wednesday afternoon debate, for the Commission’s state aid verdict that the tax benefits that Ireland granted to Apple Inc., enabling it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years, were illegal. Some MEPs criticised Apple and Irelands’ […]

NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 12, 2016 – After Amira’s husband was killed in the Syrian war, she found herself adrift in Lebanon. Barred from working and with two young children to feed, she resorted to marrying off her nine-year-old daughter and putting her 12-year-old son to work. Amira is not a real person but her […]

Sept. 12, 2016 – The economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory could easily produce twice the gross domestic product (GDP) it generates now, while unemployment and poverty could recede significantly, according a new United Nations report. “Surveying a number of studies, the report reveals the channels through which occupation deprives the Palestinian people of their […]

Geneva, September 8, 2016 – Nations attending the annual meeting of the international treaty banning cluster munitions on September 7, 2016, condemned the continued use of these weapons in Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. During the three-day meeting in Geneva, first responders, local activists, and journalists reported at least eight cluster munition attacks in […]

September 8, 2016 – The European Parliament should give its consent to the ratification of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, recommended Environment Committee MEPs on Thursday. They also urged all EU member states to conclude the ratification process, to ensure its rapid entry into force. In a separate resolution, they also called on […]

September 8, 2016 – In a closely watched decision, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) today ruled that the mere act of linking to copyrighted content can in and of itself be a breach of copyright. Today’s decision went against the advice of the CJEU’s own Advocate General, who stated earlier this […]