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Week in Review

13 July 2024

Scammers who do not meet their quotas are often tortured

Southeast Asia: Torture rooms and karaoke bars in gang-run 'scam farms'

Transnational crime syndicates based in Southeast Asia are fuelling the trafficking of people, either forcing them to commit crimes or for sexual exploitation in so-called "scam farms" that have spread across the region, according to the United Nations.

Law and Crime Prevention

UNRWA has been providing vital humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict. (file photo)

Gaza: There is no alternative to UNRWA, Guterres declares

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, standing alongside top officials in New York on Friday, underscored the essential need to bolster the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) across the Middle East amid continued attacks on its mandate, staff, premises and operations.

Humanitarian Aid

Families in Gaza continue to be forced to find safer places to shelter.

UN humanitarians report severe displacement and critical needs in Gaza City

Humanitarians from the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) witnessed severe civilian displacement, a lack of fuel and dire humanitarian needs in three areas in Gaza City while on a mission trip on Friday, according to Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric.

Humanitarian Aid

Food assistance is distributed to displaced people in the eastern DR Congo.

DR Congo: Conflict escalation linked to deadly Mpox threat

At least 25 million people have been caught up in the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where a neglected health emergency continues to unfold at an alarming rate, the UN health agency said on Friday.

Peace and Security

The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. (file photo)

General Assembly demands immediate end to Russian aggression in Ukraine

The UN General Assembly on Thursday demanded that Russia immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and unconditionally withdraw all military forces from Ukrainian territory.

Peace and Security

Items recovered in a warehouse in the former Yugoslavia where men and boys were held, were used as evidence in trials at the ICTY.

Srebrenica genocide: Mothers send warning to future generations, urging 'never again'

The UN on Thursday observed the first International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, honouring the memory of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims brutally killed by the Bosnian Serb army.

Human Rights

The global population reached nearly 8.2 billion in mid-2024 and is expected to continue to grow until the latter half of this century.

Growing or shrinking? What the latest trends tell us about the world's population

The global population reached nearly 8.2 billion by mid-2024 and is expected to grow by another two billion over the next 60 years, peaking at around 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s.

Economic Development

Young women study at a centre in Bol in Chad.

UN chief calls for 'dramatic shift' to transform education worldwide

The global crisis in education needs a "dramatic shift" to shape a more peaceful, sustainable and just world, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday.

Culture and Education

Electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing domestic waste stream in the world.

Digital boom could well be a bust for the environment, warns UN trade agency

Did you know that producing a computer weighing two kilogrammes (kg) requires a staggering 800kg of raw materials? Or that the energy required for data mining for bitcoins reached 121 terawatts last year – more than the amount consumed by most small countries?

Economic Development

Guillaume Junior Atangana, a Cameroonian vision-impaired sprinter, and his guide Donard Ndim Nyamjua, are competing at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

'Off-the-charts awe inspiring' Refugee Paralympic Team heading to Paris

Eight athletes and one guide runner are set to compete in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games as the largest-ever Refugee Paralympic Team, the International Paralympic Committee announced on Tuesday.

Migrants and Refugees

Temperatures have hit record highs across the world in 2023.

Earth's hottest June on record

Last month was the hottest June since records began and the thirteenth month in a row to set a temperature record, according to new data released on Monday from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Climate and Environment

Hurricane Beryl has caused devastation on Union Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

UN official describes total devastation in Carriacou following Hurricane Beryl

The island of Carriacou in Grenada has been virtually "flattened" by the devastating Hurricane Beryl, a senior UN official there reported on Friday, as humanitarian teams ramp up their support to communities affected across the Caribbean.

Humanitarian Aid