Young Venezuelan refugees get a fresh start in Trinidad’s schools
When 11-year-old Venezuelan refugee Astrid Saavedra walked into her fourth-grade classroom in Trinidad and Tobago for her first day of school in September, she was eager to begin lessons in her favourite subject, mathematics. But the prospect of teaching fellow students…
Haiti gangs crisis: Top rights expert decries attacks on hospitals
William O’Neill, who reports to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, highlighted an attack on the Bernard Mevs Hospital in Port-au-Prince on 17 December and the killing of several journalists and a police officer at the General Hospital on…
UN chief condemns New Orleans truck attack
Media reports indicated that a US male citizen had intentionally driven a pick-up truck into a crowd of people celebrating the new year in the city’s French quarter shortly after 3am local time. The 42-year-old suspect was killed in a…
Major step forward for child protection in Colombia, as politicians ban underage marriage
In November, following several failed attempts, politicians of all stripes approved a bill to overhaul legislation that has been in effect since 1887, reflecting a deep-rooted practice that violates the rights of children and adolescents: according to the United Nations…
Venezuela fines TikTok $10 million over viral challenge deaths
Caracas, Venezuela — Venezuela’s highest court Monday fined TikTok $10 million in connection with viral challenges that authorities say left three adolescents dead from intoxication by chemical substances. Supreme Tribunal of Justice Judge Tania D’Amelio said that the popular video-sharing…
UN chief hails ‘peacemaker, human rights champion’, former President Jimmy Carter
The Democratic Party icon lived longer than any president in US history, serving one term between 1977 and 1981, going on burnish his reputation on the international stage by being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and establishing a major hub…
Drought, fire, deforestation ravaged Amazon rainforest in 2024
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — 2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that’s a critical counterweight to climate change. A warming climate fed drought that in turn fed…
Brazil views labor violations at BYD site as human ‘trafficking’
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Authorities in Brazil said Friday they are probing Chinese auto giant BYD and one of its contractors for suspected “trafficking” of Chinese workers building a factory in the South American country. Federal prosecutors in Brazil…
Haiti’s destiny ‘bright’ despite terrifying escalation of violence
Haiti is faced with a multifaceted crisis including rising gang violence, political instability, the displacement of over 700,000 people as well as widespread hunger. UNICEF has reported a sharp increase in the recruitment of minors by armed gangs, with the number…
Over 207 executed in Port-au-Prince massacre: UN report
The report by the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) covers the period between 6 and 11 December, during which 134 men and 73 women were killed. Most of…