UN rights chief urges free and open space for debate in Venezuela
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reported increasing restrictions on civic spaces, urging stakeholders to reverse course. “My Office (OHCHR) continues to receive reports of detentions as election day approaches, including of supporters and members of the opposition,”…
UN urges international solidarity as Hurricane Beryl devastates Caribbean islands
A Category 5 storm, Hurricane Beryl has claimed at least six lives as it barrels through the Caribbean Sea. Initial reports indicate severe damage to homes, infrastructure and power and communications. UN Spokesperson Stephané Dujarric told journalists at the regular…
Haiti: Violence displaces one child every minute, reports UNICEF
Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, highlighted the horrific impact of violence on children and adolescents. “The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes is taking a devastating toll on children. Displaced children are in desperate need of a safe and protective…
Economic turmoil in Bolivia fuels distrust in government and its claim of a ‘failed coup’
LA PAZ — Signs reading “I’m buying dollars” line the doors of Víctor Vargas’ shoe shop in the heart of Bolivia’s biggest city, a desperate attempt to keep his family business alive. Just a few years ago, the 45-year-old Vargas…
Beryl strengthens into a hurricane, forecast to become major storm
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Beryl strengthened into a hurricane Saturday as it churned toward the southeast Caribbean, with forecasters warning it was expected to strengthen into a dangerous major hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday or early Monday. A…
Haiti: Longing to live again, amid trauma of displacement
Displacements in this Caribbean country have reached record levels, with nearly 600,000 people forced to leave their homes this year – double the number from last year. This makes Haiti the country with the highest number of displacements due to…
Haitian capital’s crippled health system ‘on the brink’
The Haitian health ministry estimates that almost 40 per cent of facilities providing beds for treatment, including the country’s main university hospital, have shut down in the last two months alone because of insecurity and looting, mainly perpetrated by gangs….
Canada’s 2023 fires spewed more heat-trapping gas than millions of cars
WASHINGTON — Catastrophic Canadian wildfires last year pumped more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air than India did by burning fossil fuels, setting ablaze an area of forest larger than the U.S. state of West Virginia, new research finds. Scientists…
Climate change intensifies US, Mexico heat wave, study finds
A recent study shows that intense and perpetual heat in the United States, Mexico and Central America is the result of human-caused climate change. Daytime temperatures that cause heat stroke cases in the United States were found to be 35…
Haiti faces record displacement amid escalating gang violence
“Violence, particularly in the capital Port-au-Prince, has reached alarming levels, with armed groups controlling large areas and complicating humanitarian access,” the experts, including the Special Rapporteur on the rights of internally displaced persons, said. The clashes between gangs and the…