By Reuters July 13, 2026 Sheikh Hasina speaks during a meeting with foreign observers and journalists at the Prime Minister's residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 8, 2024. Credit: Reuters, Mohammad Ponir Hossain DHAKA, July 13 (Reuters) - Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be jailed if she returns from self-imposed exile in India, a senior official said on Monday, ​days after Hasina told Reuters she planned to go back in December ‌and surrender to a court. Hasina faces a death sentence in Bangladesh and her party is banned following a popular uprising against her long rule in 2024 that the United Nations ​said killed 1,400 people. She has been living in New Delhi since ​August of that year. "Sheikh Hasina is a convicted criminal. If she ⁠surrenders, action will be taken against her as per the laws of ​Bangladesh," Shama Obaed Islam, Bangladesh's state minister for foreign affairs, told reporters. "She will have ​to go to jail and further proceedings will follow as per the provisions of the law." The country's war-crimes court sentenced Hasina in November to death in absentia for ordering a deadly ​crackdown on a student-led uprising. She has denied the charges from exile. Bangladesh is ​now governed by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's administration, which took office in February after elections and ‌is ⁠seeking to stabilise the country following two years of political turmoil. Bangladesh has asked India to extradite Hasina, and New Delhi said in April it was examining the request and that it wanted to "engage constructively with the new government and further ​strengthen bilateral ties". Hasina, ​in her first ⁠interview during her exile, told Reuters last week she intended to return voluntarily. She said many of her party colleagues ​living abroad since her ouster would also return to face ​trial. "Cases have ⁠been filed against almost all of our leaders and workers, and many of them are in hiding," Hasina said. "So I said that this time I am returning ⁠home, and ​one day, all of you should come. All ​together, we will all surrender in court." Obaed said Hasina's recent statement was "an attempt to mobilise fugitive ​party leaders and activists". Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Krishna N. Das and Helen Popper © 2026 Reuters. All rights reserved

Why Pride Month Still Matters: Is Costa Rica Truly "Up to Date" on Human Rights? By TCRN Staff July 1, 2026 Jonathan Jiménez / The Tico Times A few days ago, the President of the Republic made a statement that sent ripples through the country: “I do not want to see Costa Rica anymore in those forums related to rights, diversities, and those things where the country is already, thank God, up to date.” Her words force us to confront a fundamental question: What does it actually mean to be “up to date” regarding human rights? If being up to date means having achieved a society where all people are treated with equality, respect, and dignity, then Costa Rica still has a long road ahead. The Reality: Why Costa Rica is Not Yet “Up to Date” True equality is not just a matter of checking boxes or attending international forums. It is measured by the daily lives of vulnerable populations. Currently, Costa Rica falls short in several critical areas: Political Bargaining Chips: We will not be up to date as long as people of sexual and gender diversity continue to be used as bargaining chips in political debates to attract votes from conservative sectors. Human rights are neither an electoral strategy nor a topic that can be toggled on and off based on momentary partisan convenience. Systemic Discrimination: We will not be up to date as long as discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity continues to exist in workplaces, schools, high schools, healthcare services, and public spaces. Barriers for Transgender People: We will not be up to date as long as many trans people face enormous obstacles to accessing employment, housing, education, and personal development opportunities simply because their identity does not fit the prejudices of a segment of society. Harassment in Schools: We will not be up to date as long as LGBTQI+ youth continue to suffer harassment, exclusion, or violence in educational centers—with consequences that heavily impact their mental health, academic performance, and life paths. Disinformation in Education: We will not be up to date as long as comprehensive sexual education remains the target of disinformation and fear campaigns, instead of being understood as a tool to cultivate informed, responsible citizens who respect human diversity. Prejudice in Healthcare: We will not be up to date as long as healthcare decisions are based on prejudices, personal beliefs, or ideological pressures, rather than scientific, technical, and human rights criteria. The Struggle to Be Heard: We will not be up to date as long as sectors of the population must keep fighting just to be heard by government authorities, as if equality were a concession rather than a constitutional obligation. Fear of Being Oneself: We will not be up to date as long as people of sexual and gender diversity continue to feel afraid to express who they are, to hold hands in public spaces, or to build a family without fear of social rejection. Enforced Invisibility: We will not be up to date as long as the LGBTQI+ population is treated as an uncomfortable minority that must remain invisible so as not to discomfort certain political or religious groups. Imposition of Beliefs: We will not be up to date as long as there are attempts to impose specific religious beliefs on the general citizenry. Religious freedom is a fundamental right, but so is freedom of thought and the State’s obligation to guarantee equality for all people, regardless of their beliefs. The bottom line: It remains necessary to explain that lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, intersex, and other diverse individuals do not seek privileges or special treatment. The only demand is equality—the same rights, the same opportunities, and the same protection as anyone else. This is Precisely Why Pride Month Exists Pride was not born as a superficial celebration or a passing trend. It was born as a necessary response to exclusion, persecution, and violence. It exists to remind us that the rights won were not gifts handed down by any government, but the hard-fought result of decades of struggle by thousands of people who refused to accept discrimination as a normal condition of life. The Pride March remains deeply necessary because: There are still people who cannot fully live their identity without facing social, professional, or family consequences. Visibility remains a fundamental tool against prejudice. Each generation must defend the rights achieved and work to expand those that are not yet fully guaranteed. The Pride March is not a demonstration against anyone. It is a manifestation in favor of equality, human dignity, freedom, and respect. It is a reminder that democracy is strengthened when everyone has the space to exist and participate under equal conditions. The Path Forward Costa Rica will truly be “up to date” when no person is discriminated against for whom they love, how they identify, or how they choose to live their life. We will be up to date when equality stops being an aspiration and becomes a daily reality; when diversity stops being viewed as a threat and is recognized as one of our society’s greatest strengths. Ultimately, we will be up to date when we finally understand that the rights of one group do not diminish the rights of another—and that love, human dignity, and freedom will always be stronger than fear, prejudice, and exclusion. © Copyright 2009-2026 The Costa Rica News / 17 Years of Pura Vida in Costa Rica / Alternative News For Costa Rica

By Fatma Khaled and Samy Magdy July 14, 2026 Houthi supporters walk in front of posters of some top Iranian scientists who have been killed in Israeli strikes, in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, July 13, 2026. Credit: AP Photo, Osamah Abdulrahman CAIRO (AP) — A truce that ended nearly a decade of war in Yemen has mostly held since 2022. It is being severely tested four years later, as tensions tied to the war in Iran risk spilling over. The civil war in Yemen that began in 2014 eventually pitted Iran-backed Houthi rebels against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the country’s government. While the Iran war that began on Feb. 28 reignited all sorts of regional rivalries, the peace between the Houthis and Saudis had mostly prevailed -- until Monday. That’s when Houthis launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport in response to airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport earlier in the day that they blamed on Saudi Arabia. No casualties were reported, but it was the most significant confrontation between these enemies in years, raising fears that they could be moving closer to another war. Yemen, one of the world’s poorest countries, is still recovering from the civil war that plunged parts of the nation into famine. Here’s a closer look at the renewed tensions: A Flight from Iran Triggered the Fighting Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year to try to restore the government to power. The country is now divided between the Houthi-controlled north and a southern region mostly ruled by the internationally recognized government. Tensions began to flare earlier this month when the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of trying to prevent an Iranian plane from carrying a Houthi delegation to Tehran for the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. When the plane returned to Yemen on Monday, Saudi Arabia attacked the Sanaa airport to prevent it from landing, the Houthis said. The plane was diverted and landed safely at another airport. Saudi Arabian officials did not respond to a request for comment about the airstrikes in Yemen. Rashad al-Alimi, who leads Yemen’s internationally recognized government, said it had rejected a request from Iran to return the Houthi delegation. He accused the rebel group of receiving the Iranian flight “outside the legal and sovereign frameworks governing civil aviation.” On Tuesday, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the Houthis are prepared to confront any violation of Yemen’s airspace; he said on Telegram that the group downed a Saudi reconnaissance aircraft at dawn in Al Bayda province in central Yemen. There are deeper issues at play Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Monday’s exchange of fire was about more than a single Iranian flight. Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government viewed the flight as an attempt to weaken their control over Yemen’s airspace. The Saudi-led coalition imposed an air and sea blockade on Yemen in 2015 to put pressure on the Houthis. By allowing a direct international flight to land without the approval of the Saudi-led coalition, the Houthis were seeking to establish a new reality in which they could independently make decisions over Yemen’s airspace and end what they view as a blockade of the international airport. “The Houthis were testing a new red line. If they succeeded, they could become more emboldened, raise their demands, and seek to cross additional red lines,” Nagi said. Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, said Saudi Arabia has so far shown restraint in the broader U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. But it is far less likely to stay on the sidelines when it perceives its influence in Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia to the south, to be under threat. Could the Exchange Signal Further Regional Instability? It is too early to say whether Monday’s confrontation will lead to further escalation or was just an isolated incident. But Abdel-Bari Taher, a political analyst in Yemen, said the country’s fragile security and economic landscape provides fertile ground for renewed conflict and regional power competition. “The region now is in a state of an all-out confrontation,” he said. “Yemen provides a conflict-prone environment because it’s divided with militias fighting each other and lacks full control over its maritime and airspace.” Yemen also risks getting dragged into the broader conflict. The Iran-backed Houthis have carried out numerous missile attacks against Israel throughout the war — and the rebel group has a history of attacking ships in the Red Sea, disrupting international trade. Taher said Iran might try to use its Houthi allies as a way to gain negotiating leverage against the U.S. An interim ceasefire is on life support as the U.S. and Iran fight for control over the Strait of Hormuz, and the risks are rising of a return to all-out war. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

By Tariq Maqbool July 14, 2026 People chant slogans as they walk during a protest and shutter-down strike called by the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), an alliance of civil society groups, in Neelum Valley, Pakistani Kashmir, June 21, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. Credit: Reuters, Naseer ud Din MUZAFFARABAD, July 14 (Reuters) - Clashes between security forces and supporters ​of a banned protest group in Pakistan-administered Kashmir ​killed nine people on Tuesday, officials said, a ⁠day before the group planned a march against ​controversial electoral arrangements ahead of regional elections later this ​month. The violence stems from a dispute over 12 seats reserved in the regional assembly for refugees who live elsewhere in Pakistan, ​a system protesters say dilutes local representation. Poonch Divisional ​Commissioner Waheed Khan said protesters blocked a security convoy and attacked ‌officials ⁠in the Poonch sector. "Police and security officials responded in self-defence," Khan told Reuters. Six protesters and one police officer were killed in Tararkhal, while a protester and ​a security official ​died in ⁠a separate clash in Rawalakot, he said. The Joint Action Committee (JAAC), banned in June ​under anti-terror laws, has called for a ​march on ⁠Rawalakot on Wednesday. Khan said security forces were prepared to prevent marchers from entering the city. Around 30 people ⁠have ​been killed in the unrest ​since June, according to local estimates. Reporting by Tariq Maqbool in Muzaffarabad, writing ​by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani © 2026 Reuters. All rights reserved

July 3, 2026 By Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs At UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, July 03, 2026. Credit: Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs The State of Qatar has expressed deep concern over the continuing humanitarian crisis in Sudan, calling on all parties to the conflict to respect international law and engage in dialogue to reach a lasting peace. The remarks were given on Friday by HE Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Dr Hind Abdulrahman Al Muftah, during an urgent debate to "address the human rights situation in and around El Obeid, North Kordofan, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan." The debate was part of the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Her Excellency said the State of Qatar voices concern over the continued suffering of the Sudanese people and repeated attacks on civilian and vital infrastructure in and around the city of El Obeid. She urged all sides to comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, de-escalate tensions, exercise restraint and avoid further fighting, warning that continued hostilities would have catastrophic consequences for civilians. HE Al Muftah reiterated Doha's call for dialogue among all Sudanese parties to bring the armed conflict to a permanent end, address the humanitarian situation and launch broad negotiations leading to a comprehensive agreement and sustainable peace. She also reaffirmed Qatar's support for Sudan's unity, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as its opposition to any form of external interference in the country's internal affairs. Her Excellency stressed the importance of respecting the Sudanese government's preference to build on existing Human Rights Council mechanisms that have the government's confidence and are able to operate effectively on the ground. [Genocide Watch comment: It's fine to express concern about the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis in Sudan and to call for adherence to international law and to peace negotiations. But then to oppose any non-Sudanese "interference" to stop the genocide absolves the UN and other nations of any responsibility. Such empty words absolve the financiers and arms suppliers for this double genocide, namely the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Russia. This speech is really opposition to humanitarian intervention to stop the mass murder and starvation in Sudan.]

By Rédaction Africanews Last updated: 12/07 - 14:20 Zimbabweans fleeing xenophobic violence and threats in South Africa arrived at a reception centre in the border town of Beitbridge, Zimbabwe. Some returnees described being assaulted, robbed and forced from their homes and jobs, while aid workers provided medical care and transport to their final destinations. Zimbabwe's government said Tuesday it had helped nearly 21,300 of its citizens to return from South Africa in just over five weeks as pressure mounted on undocumented migrants to leave. More than 56,800 others had made their own way back across the porous border in that time, Information Minister Soda Zhemu said at a post-cabinet briefing. Foreign nationals from a host of African countries, including Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe, have for weeks been leaving South Africa through government-assisted programmes. The exodus began weeks ago as fringe South African groups stepped up demands for undocumented migrants to leave by June 30 in a campaign that saw violent protests and clashes in which at least four foreign nationals were killed. "To date, approximately 21,291 Zimbabwean nationals have been repatriated through government-assisted arrangements since the commencement of the exercise on May 26," Zhemu said. More than 56,830 returned "independently through self-repatriation mechanisms during the same period", Zhemu said, without giving details of how they came home. Zimbabwe and South Africa share a busy border that sees large numbers of crossings both ways daily, many of them reportedly clandestine and unregistered.

By : Amarachi Okonkwo Date: 13 July 2026 11:50am WAT "Benue State Map" Credit: The Guardian (Nigeria) No fewer than 18 people have been killed in coordinated attacks by suspected gunmen on farming communities in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State, with several others injured and many residents forced to flee their homes. The attacks, which occurred between Friday and the early hours of Sunday, targeted Akpachi village in the Ugboju community and Otukpo-Nobi community, according to Security Analyst Zagazola Makama. The violence began on Friday when armed men reportedly invaded farmlands in Akpachi village, killing two farmers while a third victim escaped and alerted members of the community. Search teams later recovered the bodies on Saturday, and the victims were buried shortly afterwards. However, in what residents described as a renewed assault, the attackers allegedly returned at about 4:00 a.m. on Sunday and stormed Otukpo-Nobi community, opening fire indiscriminately on residents while they slept. At least 16 people were reportedly killed during the attack, while several others sustained gunshot wounds. Local volunteers and security personnel were said to have continued search operations in nearby bushes for missing persons, raising fears that the death toll could increase. The attacks have thrown communities across Otukpo into mourning, with many residents abandoning their homes over fears of further violence. The latest killings came barely two weeks after the murder of the Benue State Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Ardo Risku Mohammed, and his associate, Yakubu Isah. The two men were reportedly ambushed and killed at Okutu community while returning from a peace meeting in Idekpa, Ohimini Local Government Area. Authorities are investigating whether the latest attacks were carried out in retaliation for the earlier killings. The fresh violence triggered protests across Otukpo on Sunday as hundreds of youths took to the streets, carrying the bodies of some of the victims to the palace of the Och’Idoma during a church service to demand urgent government intervention. The protesters accused the government and security agencies of failing to protect farming communities from recurring attacks. The demonstration spread across Otukpo town, with protesters barricading major roads and causing severe traffic disruptions that left commuters stranded for several hours. Businesses were temporarily shut as security operatives monitored the situation to prevent a breakdown of law and order. One of the protesters, identified as Ebi Adoyi, said many families had been devastated by the attacks and warned that the casualty figure could rise as search efforts continued in nearby forests. Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed both attacks and said preliminary findings suggested they might be linked to reprisals following the killing of the MACBAN chairman. According to him, security personnel and local vigilantes had searched the surrounding bushes after Friday’s attack at Akpachi village, believing the attackers had fled the area. He said the renewed assault on Otukpo-Nobi in the early hours of Sunday came as a surprise. “The bandits came and killed two farmers on Friday. One escaped and alerted the community. We recovered the bodies on Saturday and buried them,” Ogiri said. “After searching the surrounding bushes, we believed they had left the area, but around 4 a.m. on Sunday, we received distress calls that they had invaded Otukpo-Nobi, killing several people and injuring many others.” Security agencies have yet to issue an official statement on the attacks as of the time of filing this report, while investigations into the incidents are ongoing.

By Alex Milan Durie and AFP Published On 27 Jun 2026 Six found and one missing, NGOs say, after arrests at memorial gatherings for protesters killed in 2024. "Kenyan police officers watch as activists place flowers on barbed-wire barrier during demonstrations to mark the second anniversary of the deadly June 2024 youth-led anti-Finance Bill protests, on June 25, 2026 [AFP]" Credit: Al Jazeera Six people who were found “abandoned by the roadside” in Kenya allege that they were “beaten” and subjected to “torture” after they were arrested during a memorial gathering for protesters killed in 2024, rights groups say. Amnesty International Kenya said on X on Saturday that the six Kenyans – Collins Ochieng, Muteti Mulinge, Michael Ngigi, Elisha Alam, Fredrick Ojiro and Christine Walubengo – went missing after being arrested on Thursday. The six were found “dumped” in different parts of Nairobi on Saturday morning, but one protester remains missing, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) added. “Three more comrades have been found dumped. Together with the three who were found earlier, they report being brutally assaulted by police while in custody,” KHRC said in a post on X. “Meanwhile, Davis Lichuma remains forcibly disappeared. His whereabouts are still unknown,” it added. Amnesty Kenya said the group is “currently receiving medical treatment after alleging that they were beaten and subjected to torture while in custody”. About 355 people were arrested across the country on Thursday, according to Kenyan Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen, as demonstrators marked the second anniversary of a 2024 protest where 60 people were killed by security forces. Many appeared in court on Friday. The six protesters were arrested outside Parliament and were unreachable since Thursday, as rights groups called for their immediate release. They were found with injuries and rushed to hospital, local media reported. “These allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment demand an immediate, independent and impartial investigation by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and those responsible must be held accountable,” Amnesty Kenya said. The East African nation has a long history of police violence and enforced disappearances. At least 127 people were killed during protests in Kenya in June-July 2024 and during a similar period in 2025, according to a police watchdog, as security forces shot protesters with near-total impunity.

By Paolo Affatato Catholic Cambodia Phnom Penh (Fides News Agency) – "Cambodia is facing a dual humanitarian emergency. On the one hand, there are the people displaced by the conflict along the border with Thailand; on the other, there is a silent crisis involving the victims of the 'scam cities', people caught up in human trafficking, abducted and reduced to slavery." This is how Spanish Jesuit Fr. Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzález, SJ, Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, describes the situation in an interview with Fides News Agency. He explains that the Cambodian Church is currently committed to addressing difficulties and violence that especially affect the country's most vulnerable people. "The social situation is far from encouraging," the Apostolic Prefect says. "The problem of the so-called 'scam cities' is generating chaos and poverty. We feel its impact especially here in Battambang Province, near the border, but in reality the phenomenon affects the entire country." Over the past few years, Cambodia has emerged as one of Asia's main centers for so-called "scam compounds", heavily guarded complexes run by transnational criminal networks, where thousands of people are lured with fake job offers and then forced, under threat, to carry out online fraud targeting victims around the world. Since July 2025, the Cambodian government has launched a large-scale crackdown, announcing the closure of nearly 200 compounds, the arrest of some of their leaders, and the repatriation of thousands of people. However, international organizations such as Amnesty International argue that many of these facilities have merely relocated or resumed under different names, while continuing to document collusion between criminal groups and local officials. Cases of forced labor, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and killings also remain well documented. It is precisely this crisis that now absorbs much of the efforts of Caritas Cambodia, headed by Fr. Figaredo. "All these people are victims of human trafficking," the priest explains. "They leave their countries full of hope, believing they have found a good job. Instead, they fall into a trap. As soon as they arrive, the criminal networks confiscate their passports, threaten them, use violence, and turn them into slaves." The victims come from numerous countries across Asia and Africa. "They come from Indonesia, the Philippines, China, but also from several African countries," he explains. "Some manage to escape and eventually reach us, exhausted and desperate, with no identity documents because their passports have been confiscated." For Church organizations such as Caritas, the first priority is simply to welcome them. "The first thing is to recognize their suffering humanity and welcome them," the Apostolic Prefect says. "We have a place where they can stay and begin to recover a sense of their humanity, surrounded by people who care for them instead of exploiting or abusing them. Then we begin a very delicate process, working together with the Ministry of the Interior and the embassies of their respective countries. Since they no longer have any documents, we must obtain new ones so they can eventually return home." The process, however, is often long and complicated. "Sometimes these people come from countries that do not even have diplomatic representation in Cambodia," Fr. Figaredo explains. "In those cases, we contact Caritas in their home countries, especially in Africa, so they can help local authorities identify them." Each individual case requires careful discernment. "It is not always easy to understand who is standing before us," Fr. Figaredo admits. "Sometimes we do not know whether we are dealing with a genuine victim or someone simply looking for a way out of a difficult situation. Some have been kidnapped. Others may once have belonged to the criminal organization but now want to leave it. In a sense, they too are trapped. If they try to escape from the criminal groups that recruited them, they risk being killed. That is why we welcome them all," he continues. "Before anything else, they are human beings. Everyone needs to be loved, cared for, and listened to. Many are deeply traumatized. They live in constant insecurity, have suffered violence, and in some cases sexual abuse. Every person carries different wounds, a different story, and every case demands individual attention." Over recent months, this service has become one of the principal activities of the local Caritas. "We are overwhelmed," he says. "There are periods when we host groups of fifty or sixty people at the same time. We have to feed them, care for them, help them reconnect with their families, contact the authorities, and accompany them through the entire repatriation process." Alongside this silent emergency, Cambodia continues to grapple with the consequences of tensions along its border with Thailand. "Today we are at a stalemate," says Fr. Figaredo, who lives in Battambang, one of the border provinces. "Officially there is a ceasefire, and the foreign ministers continue their dialogue. But the border remains closed, trade has come to a standstill, and Thai and Cambodian soldiers are still camped opposite one another in the forests. From time to time, shots are still fired." According to the Apostolic Prefect, there is a growing danger that the rule of force will prevail: "Looking at what is happening around the world, we are deeply concerned about the consequences for our own region: if international law is no longer the guiding principle and relations between states are governed only by the law of the strongest, then everyone will feel justified in acting the same way, and only military force will count, resulting in an arms race. It is deeply saddening to see international agreements apparently losing their value." Fr. Figaredo also fears that the conflict is overshadowing other humanitarian emergencies. "This war overshadows cases of human trafficking, scandals, and the suffering of the most vulnerable. And, as always, it is the poor who pay the highest price." The humanitarian consequences of the conflict remain severe in Cambodia. According to United Nations agencies, around 400,000 people were still internally displaced during the first months of 2026, while the return of hundreds of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers from Thailand has deepened the economic crisis in the border provinces, leaving many families without income or prospects. "There are essentially two categories of displaced people," the Apostolic Prefect explains: the first are those who can no longer return to their villages because these are now located in areas under Thai control. For them, the government has built new settlements inland, with thousands of housing units. They do not yet own these homes permanently, but at least they provide families with the opportunity to rebuild community life." Then there are those who have sought refuge in Buddhist temples or with relatives. "I have visited these communities," Fr. Figaredo says. "Some people are being welcomed in monasteries, others are staying with relatives, often in very difficult conditions, while others have moved into the new villages. Some of these settlements also include Catholic communities, and we hope that one day we will be able to build a chapel there." The Church's response is based on collaboration among the country's Catholic institutions: "We have established a joint task force under the coordination of Caritas," Fr. Figaredo explains. "Each organization or community offers its own contribution: the Jesuits work in the field of education; others care for children with disabilities; others assist the elderly or distribute food. Everyone has its own role, but everyone works together." For the Apostolic Prefect, this network of solidarity, patiently woven by the different Catholic groups, has become one of the most concrete signs of hope for a Cambodia that continues, largely away from the international spotlight, to bear the wounds of war, human trafficking, and poverty. (Fides News Agency, 17/7/2026) ©Agenzia Fides - Palazzo “de Propaganda Fide”

Here's a look at the controversial Palestinian exhibit unveiled at Winnipeg's human rights museum. Public outrcry over Nakba display comes 'from people who haven't seen it,' CEO says. June 26, 2026 Ozten Shebahkege Fouad Sahyoun, a Palestinian who now calls Canada home, views the new Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on Friday. (John Woods/The Canadian Press) Fouad Sahyoun flips through replicas of his grandfather's property deeds from the early 1900s, documents connected to buildings in Haifa his family hasn't returned to after fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. "We were never allowed to go back. So, we lost our properties [and] our bank accounts, our furniture, our cars and our identity," the Palestinian Canadian told CBC News on Friday. The original documents are part of the new Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which is set to open publicly Saturday after four years of development. The collection explores the displacement of around 750,000 Palestinians during Israel's establishment — an event also known as Nakba, Arabic for "catastrophe" — and the consequences for the generations that followed. "After 78 years, we're able to tell our story … at such a high level in public," Sahyoun said. He says he hopes the exhibit will lead to public pressure on the federal government to take action. "We have to go back home," Sahyoun said. "We can read about trauma and displacement, we can hear about bombardment, but the eventual aim [is] justice has to be made." A pair of keys to a home Winnipegger Rana Abdulla's family was expelled from, in what is now Israel, is featured in the exhibit. (Tyson Koschik/CBC) CBC News got an early look at the exhibit in Winnipeg on Friday. The contents have been largely under wraps until now. It includes an interactive "memory box" encasing artifacts such as the Sahyoun property deeds, as well as traditional Palestinian embroidery and a pair of keys to a home Winnipeg resident Rana Abdulla's family was expelled from in what is now Israel. "These objects are related to personal stories of displacement and disposition. And what is interesting is that we created reproductions of the objects, so that when visitors come, they can touch and decide which films they would like to listen to," exhibit curator Isabelle Masson said. "We came to this project with an awareness that Palestinian voices are often marginalized, spoken over or even silenced." 'This is not only about the past' Masson's curatorial approach focused on centering Palestinian Canadian voices and lived experiences while "resisting from the dehumanization that Palestinians face," Masson said. "This is not only about the past, what happened in 1948, it's about an ongoing experience, and so the exhibit creates a continuing conversation between past and present." It's a relatively small exhibit housed in the museum's gallery on the fifth floor, which focuses on contemporary human rights. That hasn't stopped it from attracting big controversy. More than 100 protesters lined the sidewalks outside the museum on Friday afternoon, some carrying Israeli and Canadian flags, others holding signs with messages that included "Don't erase Jewish experience" and "Human rights demand the truth." Some of the scores of people who gathered outside the museum to protest the exhibit Friday. (Rudi Pawlychyn/CBC) The exhibit has drawn criticism from Jewish Canadian organizations for a lack of consultation during its development and for not acknowledging the estimated 850,000 Jews who were expelled from Arab countries in the wake of Israel's creation. Mark Berlin, a professor at McGill University with a background in human rights law, argued the exhibit will fuel anti-Jewish hate in Canada when he resigned from the museum's board of directors this week. "I do think there has been an activist ideological narrative being put forward by the creation team by omitting certain factual truths about the history of the time, and to me, that's problematic," Berlin, who was the board's only Jewish member, told CBC News on Wednesday. Berlin was not able to view the contents of the exhibit before he resigned, he said. The exhibit explores the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians during Israel's establishment — an event also known as Nakba, Arabic for 'catastrophe' — and the consequences for the generations that followed. (John Woods/The Canadian Press) The displacement of Jews after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war has been acknowledged elsewhere in the museum since its inception. A multimedia gallery on the second floor that introduces visitors to a timeline of human rights through 100 selected historical moments says that "before, during and after the war, hundreds of thousands of people became refugees." "These included Palestinian Arabs as well as Jews from surrounding countries." The gallery also acknowledges that Arab leaders rejected a 1947 United Nations resolution calling for Palestine, then under control of the British government, to be divided into Arab and Jewish states. Isha Khan, the museum's CEO, says she wants people to come and see the Nakba exhibit for themselves. "So much of the critique has come from people who haven't seen it, and have fears about what it is and what it could be," she said. "We've tried to explain and rationalize why this exhibit is about Palestinian Canadians, about the human rights impacts that they've faced over generations, and why it belongs here in this museum in its current form." The purpose of the display was not to pit two communities against each other, Khan said. A multimedia gallery on the museum's second floor that introduces visitors to a timeline of human rights through 100 selected historical moments acknowledges 'hundreds of thousands of people became refugees' in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, including Palestinian Arabs and Jews from surrounding Arab countries. (Tyson Koschik/CBC) "This is about our shared humanity and really, sharing one community's experiences," she said. "It doesn't negate that Jewish people have faced displacement and been impacted by that, or certainly that they're experiencing record levels of antisemitism today." The exhibit is meant to address longstanding concerns Palestinian Canadians and their experiences have been underrepresented in the museum's galleries, she said. "It helps us understand what the impacts of forced displacement are, and Palestinian Canadian stories belong in our collective memory, and that's what museums like ours do." ©2026 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved.

Palestinian woman protests the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes on Beit Hanun, northern Gaza credit: Mahmun Hams/AFP/Getty Images in The Guardian Gaza Report July 2026 By the Gaza Task Force In September 2025, a U.N. Commission Report concluded that Israel has committed four of the five acts of genocide in the Genocide Convention. Yet Israel has continued its atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. 1.9 million people have been internally displaced as Israeli forces continue to destroy high-rise residential buildings. Evacuation directives from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) designate entire districts as active combat zones. Israel persists in its ceasefire violations and pushes the demarcation line for Israeli control ever westward. Israel’s campaign began after October 7, 2023, in response to Hamas’ genocidal attacks on Israeli civilians, which killed over 1200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 Israeli hostages. Israel continues to commit acts that constitute genocide: killing Palestinians; bombing hospitals to inflict conditions of life intended to destroy part of the Palestinian people; causing severe bodily and mental harm with bombing throughout Gaza and severe mistreatment in detention, including rape and torture; and imposing measures to prevent births through attacks on maternity centres in hospitals and destruction of Gaza’s largest fertility clinic. The Israeli Military Campaign has killed of over 73,000 Gazans, 80% civilians, and wounded over 173,000 Gazans through intense combat operations, producing wounds typically seen only among professional soldiers. Israeli snipers have killed hundreds of Palestinians in queues for food, including children shot in the head or back. Displaced Gazans face overcrowding and inadequate shelters in tents without proper protection. In conjunction with Israeli bans on international NGOs, many are unable to afford tents or other basic necessities. Displaced Palestinians in Southern Gaza are confined to overcrowded areas that lack basic sanitation, forcing families to build makeshift shelters and dig unsanitary latrines behind tents. Civilians are ordered to leave combat zones, many in private cars, causing severe fuel shortages, leaving many Gazans unable to move despite evacuation orders. Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage exchange plan on October 9, 2025, mediated by the United States. Hamas committed to release all remaining living hostages and the bodies of deceased hostages, and to hand over authority in Gaza. Hamas refuses to yield areas it controls. Israel agreed to free 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and to begin withdrawing forces to a demarcated “yellow line” in Gaza. Israel expanded its area of control. Israel’s initial withdrawal left over 50% of Gaza under Israeli control, expanding to over 70% of Gaza as of June 2026. Israeli airstrikes have continued. Civilians face deadly sniper fire when they cross unclear boundaries. Recent air strikes have killed whole families, including children. Humanitarian aid is limited by Israeli entry-point restrictions. Gaza continues to be devastated by forced displacement, hunger, and destroyed infrastructure. Plans have been proposed to rebuild Gaza under President Trump’s “Board of Peace” (BoP), authorized by Security Council Resolution 2803. The BoP pact doesn’t mention Gaza and doesn’t include a Palestinian role in the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which includes “demilitarisation, technocratic governance and reconstruction.” Prime Minister Netanyahu’s position on the Board of Peace raises deep concerns about bias in the peace and reconstruction process. At the BoP’s inaugural meeting, held in Washington in February 2026, the US pledged $10 billion and other member countries pledged $7 billion for reconstruction. But no pledged money has been collected. Due to intentional killing of Palestinian civilians, massive destruction of housing and hospitals, officially expressed intent to destroy part of the Palestinian population of Gaza, and official Israeli government denial, Genocide Watch considers Gaza to be at Stage 8: Persecution, Stage 9: Extermination, and Stage 10: Denial. Genocide Watch recommends: The U.N. should deploy an international monitoring mission to ensure Israeli and Hamas compliance with the ceasefire agreement, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and enforcement of international legal prohibitions on expanded Israeli settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. The International Criminal Court should investigate responsibility for genocide and war crimes in Gaza. · Israel must guarantee full, unfettered humanitarian access for U.N. agencies and NGOs to deliver food, water, medical aid and temporary shelters by lifting all entry-point restrictions. International Stabilization Forces must include Palestinians in rebuilding civil service and infrastructure.

Credit...Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Let’s Name the Country That’s Financing Mass Murder The New York Times July 11, 2026 By Nicholas Kristof Opinion Columnist Last year, human rights experts warned for many months that a brutal militia was about to overrun a major Sudanese city, El Fasher, and massacre inhabitants. President Trump and other world leaders mostly shrugged. The militia went ahead and overran El Fasher, slaughtering some 60,000 people in a few weeks. Now the same militia is besieging another major Sudanese city, El Obeid, which has half a million or more people, and is also threatening populations to the north in the Darfur region. Some inside El Obeid are starving, yet, again, Trump and many other world leaders seem largely indifferent. Preventing the slaughter would not require military action. It would not even require money. Put aside the arguments over whether humanitarian assistance is worthwhile. (But first, let me say that I believe the billions spent on the Iran war would have been better allocated to $2 bed nets to save children’s lives from malaria.) It may be that all we need to do to avert atrocities in Sudan is to speak up. The backdrop: Sudan is probably the world’s worst humanitarian crisis right now. The country is caught in a civil war between the army and a largely Arab militia, the Rapid Support Forces, or R.S.F., and while both sides have behaved viciously, the R.S.F. is particularly notorious for savagery, including for killing and raping members of several Black African ethnic groups. While reporting on the Chad-Sudan border in 2024, I interviewed survivors who described the R.S.F.’s systematically killing men and boys over the age of 10 and gang-raping many women and girls. “We don’t want to see any Black people,” one woman quoted an R.S.F. leader telling villagers before the militia slaughtered the men and boys, among them her five brothers. The R.S.F. is now massing forces around El Obeid and attacking it with drones. Food is scarce and people are weakening. The region is suffering an outbreak of cholera, which, if it spreads, could greatly increase the suffering. “Another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan,” Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, warned a few days ago. He added that people in the region are being subjected to summary executions and sexual violence. “Families have to queue for long hours to get water that is often unsafe for drinking,” the Norwegian Refugee Council reports. “Once they manage to bring water home, they must choose whether to use it to drink, cook or wash.” It’s not entirely clear if the R.S.F. plans to overrun El Obeid or whether there would be a blood bath if it did. Compared to El Fasher, fewer people in El Obeid are members of the Black African ethnic groups that the R.S.F. targets. It’s even possible that the siege of El Obeid is a feint to distract from an attack elsewhere, such as on the Darfur city of Tawila. Still, the risks are immense, and the United Nations Security Council issued a statement last month warning of the “imminent risk of mass atrocities.” Leaders are willing to speak about the violence itself. Both the Biden and Trump administrations described the situation in Sudan as genocide. The State Department just last month warned of “alarming indications that mass atrocities could be imminent.” But what American, European and United Nations officials won’t say openly is that the power behind the R.S.F. is the United Arab Emirates. Although the Emirates denies it, its backing of the R.S.F. is well established. Yet the Emirates is rich and influential, so it has become The Country That Must Not Be Named. Tough public comments and other pressure from Washington and European capitals might shame the Emirates enough for it to tell its murderous friends in Sudan to back off; similar pressure led the Emirates to pull most of its forces out from a brutal war in Yemen in 2019. Instead, world leaders today tiptoe around the Emirates’ role. The Emirates has particularly close financial ties to the Trump family. Indeed, Trump’s family income surged last year partly because an investment firm tied to the Emirates paid hefty sums for a stake in the family’s main crypto company. Members of Congress, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Sara Jacobs, have sponsored legislation that essentially would limit sales of weaponry to the Emirates as long as it arms the R.S.F. “This awful conflict could be ended if we had the political will to do so — instead of starting stupid wars with Iran,” Van Hollen said. I share the belief that such a measure could end this catastrophe — but it is languishing from indifference. We should have the fortitude to speak up about human rights outrages whether the responsible party is Russia, China, Israel, America or the Emirates; if you care about human rights in only some places, you don’t actually care about human rights. Sudan isn’t getting much attention, partly because the crisis areas are difficult to enter. I was organizing a trip to the conflict areas last month, but my route closed at the last minute, and I had to put the trip off. Enough information is trickling out for diplomats and aid groups to be able to ring the alarms; it’s just that the world is ignoring them. “The international community must stop reacting to atrocities and start preventing them,” noted Rabab Mohamed Ali Baldo, a Sudanese activist originally from El Obeid. This is an excellent moment to apply public pressure, for the Emirates [incredibly] appears to be lobbying for one of its top Foreign Ministry officials, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, to be the next United Nations Secretary General. “This won’t end until the Emirates are pressured to stop their advanced weapons superhighway to the R.S.F.,” said Nathaniel Raymond of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, which closely follows the crisis in Sudan. “This war could end in two weeks if the R.S.F. entered an ammo drought because the Emirates decided it was no longer worth it.” So, this is in part on us. Will we find the courage to speak up? Nicholas Kristof Opinion columnist I may get pushback from readers who say that what happens in Sudan is none of our business. My response would be that if we describe something as a genocide, then it should be our business to speak out and do what we can. Is that persuasive? What other arguments can I marshal? Read 77 replies More from Nicholas Kristof on Sudan Opinion | Nicholas Kristof This Is What the Murder of a Whole City Looks Like Dec. 24, 2025 Opinion | Nicholas Kristof The World Has Again Failed to Prevent Atrocities in Darfur Oct. 30, 2025 Opinion | Nicholas Kristof Where There’s No Debate About Genocide — and No Response, Either Aug. 30, 2025 Copyright 2026 The New York Times Company