()* — The UN-designated human rights expert on Sudan has called for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), along with their allied militias, to take immediate steps to protect civilians in greater Khartoum amid escalating violence and alarming reports of summary executions.
The warning on Thursday [3 October 2024] comes as the SAF launched a major offensive last month to regain control of key areas currently held by the RSF. The two armies led by rival generals have been locked in a brutal power struggle since April 2023.
(UN News)* —Action is needed now to stop the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea from “becoming mass graves for migrants”, two UN agencies on warned the Security Council.
“The scale of this tragedy, its impact on survivors, families and communities and the frequency with which we witness deaths in transit constitute an intolerable and utterly soluble, humanitarian crisis,” said Pär Liljert, director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Office to the UN, referring to one of the world’s most deadly routes for migrants and refugees, as they attempt to reach countries of the European Union.
KATHMANDU, Oct 3 2024 (IPS)* – Nepal is trying to recover from recent flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall over the last weekend of September, which claimed at least 226 lives.
Kathmandu under water because of heavy rainfall, which claimed more than 225 lives in last week of September. Photo: Barsha Shah/IPS
The mid- and eastern parts of the country, including the capital, Kathmandu, experienced the heaviest monsoon rains in two decades from September 26-28, leaving many parts of Kathmandu underwater.
Experts say this is one of the deadliest and worst flash floods that impacted thousands of people in decades.
Children amid the devastation in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, where the war has destroyed hundreds of schools. Photo: WFP/Ali Jadallah
In her village in Sudan’s West Darfur region, Samar once eagerly attended class, especially math, her favorite. Today, she lives in a teeming refugee site just across the border in Chad, fetching water and milling sorghum so her family can survive.
NEW YORK, Sep 30 2024 (IPS)** –The world is standing at a critical juncture. Climate change is not just a future threat—it’s here, and it’s already devastating lives. From record-breaking heat waves to floods and landslides, the planet is sending us clear signals that we cannot afford to ignore.
.
Nakabuye speaks to a crowd of over one thousand at the Youth Climate Strike rally in New York City on September 20, 2024.
But for many of us in the Global South, this crisis is not new. It is a daily reality that we have been living with for years, despite contributing almost nothing to the problem.
27 September 2024 (UNEP)* — Record-setting wildfires tearing through South America are likely to become the new normal unless the region makes dramatic investments in fire prevention and limits slash-and-burn agriculture in places like the Amazon, experts are cautioning.
IBAMA/ASCOM
Since May, blazes have ravaged forests and savannahs across Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru as drought has created tinderbox-like conditions in many places.
Even the world’s largest tropical wetland, the wildlife-rich Pantanal, has been smouldering for months.
26 September 2024 —There is a stand-alone article in the European Union’s founding Treaty that puts human rights at the core of EU foreign policy.
There are authoritative guidelines and a comprehensive action plan on human rights and democracy, adopted by EU governments, to guide the bloc’s external actions.
MVOMERO, Tanzania, Sep 24 2024 (IPS)* – In the scorching sun of Mikese village in Tanzania’s eastern Mvomero district, 31-year-old Maria Naeku tirelessly tends to her small vegetable patch. Each time she pulls a weed, the red soil stains her hands as she guides the trickle of water from a maze of pipes through an elevated bed to nurture her plants. In a drought-stricken area, Naeku’s small garden is a lifeline for her family, giving them food and income.
.
Maria Naeku, a Maasaiwoman in Mikese village in Mvomero district tends to her vegetable garden.Credit: Kizito Makoye Shigela/IPS
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Sep 26 2024 (IPS)* – In 2017, South African activist Nonhle Mbuthuma took a stand against the powerful oil giant Shell, halting their plans to explore the pristine Wild Coast.
Environmental activist Nonhle Mbuthuma.
Despite facing death threats, she refused to back down. As a co-founder of the Amadiba Crisis Committee and a 2024 Goldman Prize winner, Mbuthuma continues to fight for her community’s rights and the environment.
Her bravery reflects the countless risks land and environmental defenders face across the globe.
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 26 2024 (IPS)* –Sudan has been plunged into a deadly cholera outbreak in the midst of the Sudanese Civil War.
.
In a Cholera information campaign, 9-year old Eiad demonstrates safe hygiene practices to mitigate the spread of disease. Credit: UNICEF/ Aymen Alfadil
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 