Weeks after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti, the need for humanitarian aid and investment remains urgent. 1.2 million people, including some 540,000 children, lack shelter, clean water, healthcare, and sufficient food, according to UNICEF. On August 25th, the United Nations launched a Flash Appeal calling for $187.3 million to
On Wednesday, August 4th, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on the world’s wealthy nations to delay administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines to their populations until vaccination rates increase in vulnerable low and middle-income countries. The more deadly, more infectious Delta variant has driven a surge
A stark divide has emerged between the more developed world and the less developed world in the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Wealthier nations have secured most of the global vaccine supply and have had the capacity to deliver massive economic stimulus packages. In poorer nations, vaccination rates remain
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s efforts to suppress dissent and cling to power ahead of the November 7th presidential elections have intensified, pushing the country still further toward dictatorial rule. At least six high-level opposition leaders have been arbitrarily detained, including four would-be challengers who had intended to run against Ortega.
For seven months, unrest and violence have rocked Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. Widespread atrocities have been reported, including dozens of civilian massacres, pervasive sexual violence, and alleged starvation crimes. Thousands have been killed, more than two million have been displaced, and the region has been plunged into a dire humanitarian
A series of incidents on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan has generated fears of renewed violence between the two countries. The escalating tensions have highlighted the fragility of last November’s Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which put an end to six brutal weeks of war that killed an estimated 6,000 people.
Amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the war-torn Ethiopian region of Tigray, reports of massacres and rapes committed by soldiers have prompted an international outcry. Many of these atrocities have been blamed on Eritrean troops, who aided Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s national forces in the assault on Tigray, and
For decades, the Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem has been a source of tension between Israelis and Palestinians. In the lead-up to a contentious Israeli Supreme Court hearing on the evictions of several Palestinian families in favour of Israeli settlers, the neighbourhood has once again become the
After 24 hours of violence on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, the two countries have reached a ceasefire agreement. More than 40 people were killed in the violent clash, which broke out on Thursday, 29th April over contested water reserves. The fighting began as Kyrgyz and Tajik villagers hurled
President Joe Biden has officially recognized the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks that took place over a century ago as a genocide. The recognition signals Biden’s commitment to promoting human rights in his administration’s foreign policy. Saturday, April 24th was Armenian Remembrance Day, marking the 106th
Paraguay is desperate to get ahold of enough doses of a Covid-19 vaccine to mitigate an increasingly devastating surge in infections. The wealthier nations of the West continue to hoard vaccine doses, and have been slow in taking steps to make vaccines accessible to lower-income countries. China, however, is more
The National People’s Congress, China’s highest legislative body, has unanimously approved a bill of radical changes to Hong Kong’s political system aimed at suppressing pro-democracy opposition. The bill, which passed on March 30th, drastically reduces the number of directly elected representatives in the legislature and gives national security bodies new
A massive fire tore through the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on the afternoon of Monday, March 22. The blaze began around 3:00 p.m. local time and quickly grew out of control. According to officials at the Inter-Sector Coordination Group, the humanitarian organization overseeing the camp, at least
