UN officials warned of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Lebanon on Thursday as death tolls mounted from Israeli air strikes. On Wednesday, advocacy group Human Rights Watch called for urgent UN action, reporting that some 1,600 Israeli strikes had killed at least 558 people, including 50 children, and injured thousands in the span of [...]

A US federal court on Wednesday partially blocked enforcement of an Alabama law criminalizing absentee ballot assistance. The court sided with a coalition of plaintiffs who argued the law would violate the rights of disabled, blind, and low-literacy voters. The judge enjoined several sections of Senate Bill 1 (SB1). The bills Submission Provision restricted an [...]

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced on Tuesday that it has suspended its medical activities in Yei, South Sudan, following an attack on its staff. The charity organization, known in English as Doctors Without Borders, recounted the incident that occurred on Friday, September 20, when armed men force personnel out of their vehicle at gunpoint and [...]

The United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, and several other nations, including France, Germany, and Japan, released a joint statement on Wednesday, urging an end to the “situation between Lebanon and Israel” — a reference to the cross-border conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah. The coalition of states called for a “diplomatic settlement” to [...]

The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, urged a reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to enhance its inclusivity, legitimacy, and effectiveness, in an address before the UNSC on Wednesday. In his speech, Michel highlighted ongoing conflicts in regions such as Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan, emphasizing the need for collective responsibility [...]

Canada’s Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Persons with Disabilities, Kamal Khera, unveiled the federal government’s inaugural comprehensive strategy to address the rising tide of hate incidents across the country on Tuesday. The landmark initiative brings together 20 key federal programs under a unified network and details the creation of a new “Combatting Hate: Community Information Resource Hub” in [...]

Eswatini’s main opposition leader Mlungisi Makhanya was poisoned in an attempted assassination, according to his party, the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), on Wednesday. This accusation drew attention to the southern African nation, which is one of the last absolute monarchies still in existence and where the government has been working for years to suppress [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday called on the Texas legislature to impose stricter oversight and deny additional funds to the Texas Military Department (TMD), which oversees Texas’s National Guard (TNG) forces. This follows reports of TNG troops firing pepper-spray projectiles, commonly known as “pepper-ball,” against migrants at the US-Mexico border as part of Operation [...]

Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), a Canadian advocacy organization, identified a widening gap between the demand for homes within the Greater Toronto Area and housing starts, with a drop from 2,428 housing start applications in 2021 to 1,225 in 2024, in its report issued on Monday. The report reviewed the number of build [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on Wednesday highlighting significant gaps in the comprehensive care framework for individuals with disabilities in Uruguay. According to the HRW report, while Uruguay is a leader in the Americas in integrating personal assistance for people with disabilities into its national care system, significant gaps remain in the provision [...]