Israel rebuffs UN tribunal, continues bombing in Gaza
Today's headlines: WFP says floods in Afghanistan have exacerbated the country’s hunger crisis. Over 300 people are killed and 1,182 houses buried in a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea. Tens of thousands of people take to the streets in Taiwan against pro-Chinese reforms currently before parliament. Laos fails to stop human trafficking, especially of young people.
ISRAEL – PALESTINE
Disregarding the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered the end of military operations in Rafah, the Israeli military continues to bomb the area, intensifying its attacks. Since 7 October, 35,857 Palestinians have been killed and 80,293 wounded. The ICJ ordered the end of the military offensive to allow investigators into the Strip to investigate war crimes, and open the Rafah crossing to let aid in. For their, Israeli settlers and right-wing extremists, including children, continue to attack aid convoys.
AFGHANISTAN
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), sudden floods that have devastated Afghanistan are exacerbating hunger in the country. Since 10 May, hundreds of people have been killed, thousands of homes destroyed, and hectares of land wiped out. The UN agency is struggling to help some 80,000 people, especially in the provinces of Baghlan and Ghor. Nearly 24 million out of 40 million Afghans need humanitarian assistance this year, and nearly 16 million are severely food insecure.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
More than 300 people have been killed and 1,182 homes buried in a massive landslide that destroyed Kaokalam, a village in a remote part of Papua New Guinea. More than six villages in the Mulitaka region have also been affected by the landslide, which might have been caused by gold mining. With roads cut off, rescuers can only rely on helicopters.
SOUTH KOREA
According to 2022 data, South Korea has the worst gender wage gap among the 38 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The latest study, released today, marks the 27th straight year that South Korea recorded the worst gender gap among member states. Female workers were paid, on average, 31.2 per cent less than their male counterparts.
TAIWAN
Tens of thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets around the country’s parliament yesterday to protest against a series of proposed reforms as well as China's influence on the country’s democratic institutions. Meanwhile, China carried out a series of military exercises around the island. The changes sought by pro-mainland opposition parties and opposed by President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would grant parliament greater power of oversight over government activity.
LAOS
The Laotian government does not have the resources to respond to the numerous reports regarding human trafficking. In fact, many young Laotians continue to be hired in cyber scam operations in neighbouring countries. Recently, 14 young people were freed after they were caught up in a scam at a Chinese-run casino in Myanmar’s Kayin state.
RUSSIA – INDIA
Rosatom, Russia's nuclear energy company, is discussing with Indian partners to include them in the Proryv project, a new platform to generate energy to be built in Seversk (Siberia), as director Alexey Likhachev said when receiving the Indian delegation, “to make real what until now was only a 3-D drawing”.
CHINA - MONGOLIA – RUSSIA
A Mongolian-Russian-Chinese Environmental and Engineering Centre recently opened in Lanzhou, the administrative capital of China’s Gansu province. Set up by major academic institutions in the three countries, it is designed to “further the study of changes in the cryospheres and address hydrological crises”.
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