International Headlines
Aug 3: N.Korea Flood
North Korea has requested immediate food aid from the United Nations after flooding killed 119 people and left tens of thousands homeless. The damage to farmland exacerbates the country’s existing food shortage, ongoing since the mid 1990s. International aid groups are gathering supplies and donations, with the Red Cross already allocating more than $300,000 for flood victims.
Aug 2: Kofi Resignation
Kofi Annan announced that he will resign from his post as UN Special Envoy to Syria at the end of August. Annan criticized the international community and the UN for not supporting his efforts to enforce a ceasefire to the conflict which has now killed over 14,000 people. His departure comes two weeks after the third veto by Russia and China blocking a resolution that would have enforced his mediation efforts with sanctions.
Aug 1: Religious Freedom
In its annual report on international religious freedom, the US State Department cited China as one of eight countries where religious freedom is “of particular concern,” and stated that official interference in Tibetan Buddhist traditions had contributed to the self-immolations of at least 12 Tibetans since 2011. China’s Xinhua news agency dismissed the report as being unjustified, calling it “full of prejudice, arrogance, and ignorance.”
Apr 6: Hungry in Syria
Worsening security in Syria means aid groups are unable to reach a million people who may be going hungry as winter closes in, reported the head of the World Food Programme (WFP). Ertharin Cousin of the WFP said 2.5 million people needed help. "Security... doesn't exist”, she said. “The WFP lacks access and equipment and it has been estimated that the numbers needing help can go up to 4 million".