There are 304 articles

  • Malnutrition stunts millions of lives: UNICEF

    Some 165 million children worldwide are stunted by malnutrition as babies and face a future of ill health, poor education, low earnings and poverty, the head of the United Nations children's fund said on Friday. Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF, told Reuters the problem of malnutrition is vastly under-appreciated, largely because poor nutrition.. More

  • UK urged to speed up detainee torture probes

    The UN torture watchdog has called on the UK to widen and speed up investigations into allegations that British forces tortured detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan and prosecute those responsible. British inquiries into alleged abuses by its forces in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 have been slow and there have been no prosecutions for torture.. More

  • Amnesty condemns abuse of refugee rights

    The rights of millions of refugees and migrants have been abused in the past year, Amnesty International has said in its annual report on global human rights. The London-based rights group said on Wednesday that state authorities and employers were equally responsible for the suffering of vulnerable groups. "The world is becoming an increasingly.. More

  • How Guantanamo's horror forced inmates to hunger strike

    When the military doctors force-feed Guantánamo Bay detainee Fayiz al-Kandari with a tube shoved into his stomach there are three stages to the pain. First, there is the sensation of the tube passing near his sinuses as it is pushed through his nose and into his throat, which causes his eyes to water. Then there is an intense burning and gagging.. More

  • Anger at UNRWA in Gaza grows

    Anger and protests against the UN relief agency continue in Gaza, where Palestinians believe the agency should do more. “It’s all so surreal to me,” 15-year-old Ala’a al Masri told Al Jazeera. “We have to try and satisfy our physical needs for vitamins and fruit by watching it on TV.” The teenager and her family.. More

  • Mogadishu rebuilds despite uncertain peace

    The Somali capital has suffered decades of war and failed governance, but is still looking to its future. Here in Mogadishu, Somalia's shattered capital, a sustained period of relative calm holds, allowing the city's buildings to come back to life, thanks to a massive reconstruction effort. Laborers gather at dawn, hauling pails of stone and work tools,.. More

  • Half of Syrian population 'will need aid by end of year'

    More than half the population of Syria is likely to be in need of aid by the end of the year, the UN high commissioner for refugees has warned, while labeling the ever-worsening crisis as the most serious the global body has dealt with. António Guterres, who has led the UNHCR through the worst of the refugee crises in Afghanistan and Iraq, said.. More

  • How to write about Muslims

    The Western press and social media often seem to exercise two options for dealing with the Muslim population of the world: overt, unabashed Islamophobia or slightly subtler Islamophobia. As Georgetown University's John L Esposito writes in the foreword to Nathan Lean's The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims, 9/11 and.. More

  • Israel harms Palestinian economy: report

    Israeli restrictions and closures coupled with the worsening fiscal situation of the Palestinian Authority is causing "lasting damage" to the competitiveness of the Palestinian economy, the World Bank warns. In a report issued on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of global donors in Brussels on March 19, the World Bank explored the long-term damage.. More

  • Did Arafat Jaradat Die Under Interrogation?

    On Saturday, Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat died from wounds suffered while being held in an Israeli prison. Israeli officials claimed Jaradat died from a heart attack but now say the autopsy evidence is inconclusive. Palestinian officials determined his death was the result of torture. Described as being in good health by his family and friends,.. More

  • UN warns of 'humanitarian tragedy' in Syria

    UN agencies have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in Syria, as an estimated four million people there are in need of assistance. UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said the opposition-held north of Syria remained largely out of reach of aid operations, even though they had been stepped up elsewhere in the country torn by war. "We are watching.. More

  • Horsemeat scandal reveals unpalatable truth

    An escalating scandal in the United Kingdom about horsemeat illicitly included in processed foods has shed light on the complex cross-border nature of food industry supply chains and sparked concern about the European Union's food safety system. British ministers have hinted that they would ban some EU imports if health is at risk, after the Tesco.. More

  • Israel's 'Great Book Robbery' unraveled

    Documentary sheds light on large-scale pillaging of books from Palestinian homes in 1948, when Israel was founded. Rasha Al Barghouti takes a few steps towards one of several large bookcases in her Ramallah home, treading slowly just four months after having hip replacement surgery. She takes out a thick blue book, and opens it to a bookmarked page,.. More

  • France’s War in Mali: Neo-imperialist grab dressed up in “war on terror” rhetoric

    By Finian Cunningham France’s intervention in Mali is simply this: a neo-imperialist power grab dressed up in “war on terror” rhetoric. Since the old colonial power began bombing the West African country on 11 January, the Paris government has wrapped its actions up with chivalrous language of saving the region, Europe and indeed.. More

  • UN: Prisoners still tortured in Afghan custody

    Afghan authorities are still torturing prisoners, such as hanging them by their wrists and beating them with cables, the United Nations said, a year after it first documented the abuse and won government promises of detention reform. The latest report shows little progress in curbing abuse in. The report released Sunday also cites instances where.. More