KARACHI, Pakistan, Jul 30 2025 (IPS)* — “The last thing she asked for was a sip of water,” recalled Najma Maheshwari, referring to 19-year-old Shanti, a newlywed who died last week after brutal sexual violence allegedly inflicted by her husband, who is now in custody.
“Then she closed her eyes and never opened them again,” she said quietly, her voice steeped in sadness.
From beautiful bride, to victim of marital rape, this is the story of Shanti, a 19-year-old whose husband has been charged under the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act of 2013.
29 July 2025 – While summer rains typically offer some relief, this year’s cumulative rainfall is expected to drop by 40 per cent in some regions, leaving 15 million people who are water insecure in a precarious state without safe drinking water or reliable sanitation.
Mureshed, 75, surrounded by his grandchildren in Hajjibah camp, Yemen. Suleiman Al-Shara’abi/NRC
Low seasonal rainfall in Yemen has severely exacerbated an already dire situation, with Yemenis in both rural areas and cities struggling to access clean water, warns the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
“With every year that passes, Yemenis see their ability to access water shrink,” said Angelita Caredda, NRC’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director.
MOGADISHU, Somalia –“I didn’t know if she would make it.” When Faduma Mohamed gave birth to her daughter at Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, the silence that followed was terrifying. Her premature daughter was tiny, underweight and barely breathing.
Just months earlier, she might not have; the hospital’s newborn intensive care unit was severely under-resourced, lacking essentials such as incubators and oxygen support machines.
(UN News)* — In Gaza, UN aid teams continued their efforts on Thursday [] to help people of the war-shattered enclave by retrieving urgently needed fuel and other supplies from the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south of the Strip.
UN News | Crowds move towards an aid delivery point in the northern Gaza Strip.
Without fuel, many basic facilities cannot function, from water treatment plants to medical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Gazans now on the brink of famine have been reduced to taking desperate measures in their search for food, scouring the roads taken by aid convoys, UN aid worker Olga Cherevko told UN News.
“While we were driving, I saw an elderly man on the side of the road completely alone, kneeling down, and he was picking up handfuls of lentils that had spilled on the ground from one of the previous convoys that had been passing,” she said.