President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had already agreed to resign. Protesters had stormed his home and office and the official residence of his prime minister amid a three-month economic crisis.
Israel topped the 2021 UN report for violations of children’s human rights
Israel should be blacklisted by the United Nations if it continues inflicting violence on Palestinian children at such high levels, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared on Monday, following the publication of the international body’s latest Children and Armed Conflict report.
The UN verified 2,934 “grave violations” against 1,208 Palestinian children and nine Israeli children in the report, which covered Israel, the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Additionally, Israeli forces killed 78 Palestinian children, maimed 982, and detained 637, the report found, adding that 75% of the detainees reported having suffered physical violence.
“I am shocked by the number of children killed and maimed by Israeli forces during hostilities, in air strikes on densely populated areas and through the use of live ammunition during law enforcement operations,” the UN leader wrote.
“Should the situation repeat itself in 2022, without meaningful improvement, Israel should be listed,” he argued, referring to the “blacklist” found at the end of each annual Children and Armed Conflict report. Israel has not yet been included on the list, which is aimed at pressuring named countries and armed groups known to be committing violations of children’s human rights. Some diplomats have suggested the country – along with Saudi Arabia – recently pressured the UN to keep its name off the list.
The 2021 report found a total of 2,515 children were killed and 5,555 maimed in all global conflicts over the course of the year, with 6,310 children being recruited or otherwise used in such conflicts. While the worst numbers were reported in Israel and Palestine, Yemen – where the Saudi-led coalition continues to attack despite a UN-brokered truce – Syria, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia also had high numbers of violations.
The 2022 edition of the report will include UN-verified violations in Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Mozambique, Guterres said. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet counted 335 children known to be killed in Ukraine as of July 3 and said the real figure is likely higher. She did not elaborate on who was to blame for the deaths.
Ottawa, Jul 12 (IPS) – Lisa Argiropulos, a single mother of two teenage sons and a resident of Ottawa, Ontario, has been facing food insecurity since 2016, after an accident that left her with chronic pain and disabilities.
Monkeypox has been a developing problem for decades and the current global outbreak was avoidable, but the looming threat was largely ignored, according to a leading expert on the virus.
(Image credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)
Exemptions from sanctions will only embolden Moscow, the Ukrainian president says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has argued that Canada’s move to return a turbine required for a pipeline transporting Russian gas to Germany will be seen as “weakness” by Moscow.
Zelensky said the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has summoned a Canadian envoy over the “absolutely unacceptable” decision to allow the return of a repaired turbine to Germany. The turbine is required for the functioning of Nord Stream, a Baltic Sea pipeline that delivers gas from Russia to Germany.
“The decision on the exemption from the sanctions will be viewed in Moscow only as a sign of weakness,” Zelensky argued in a video address published on Tuesday.
“If a terrorist country can claw out such an exemption from the sanctions, what exemptions will it want tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? It is a very dangerous matter.”
“Now, there can be no doubt that Russia will try not just to limit as much as possible, but to completely shut down the supply of gas to Europe at the most acute moment. This is what we need to prepare for,” Zelensky said.
The turbine had been held up in Canada due to the sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to its military campaign in Ukraine. Russian state gas giant Gazprom said last month that it was forced to reduce the flow through the Nord Stream because the turbine had not been returned on time. The company then suspended the flow completely for 10 days starting Monday, citing planned maintenance.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck argued at the time that Gazprom’s decision to reduce the flow through the Nord Stream was politically motivated. At the same time, he also urged Canada to let the turbine be shipped to Germany.
“Strong sanctions mean it must hurt and harm Russia and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin more than it does our economy,” Habeck told Bloomberg last week. “Therefore, I ask for understanding that we have to take this turbine excuse away from Putin.”
On Monday, Ottawa greenlighted the return of the turbine. “Canada will grant a time-limited and revocable permit to Siemens Canada to allow the return of repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany,” Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said.
The US Department of State backed the move, saying that, “in the short term, the turbine will allow Germany and other European countries to replenish their gas reserves, increasing their energy security and resiliency and countering Russia’s efforts to weaponize energy.”
