Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias
Civil Society
- On Friday, an estimated 11 activists were detained in Moscow while reading aloud Russia’s constitution. [Guardian]
- On Wednesday, the government in Venezuela announced it will deploy 2,000 soldiers in response to the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators that have been protesting the government since April. [Guardian]
Freedom of Expression & Access to Information
- On Thursday, independent experts from the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the killing of Javier Valdez Cárdenas, a prominent journalist in Mexico. [OHCHR Press Release]
- On Friday, a local court in Baku, Azerbaijan upheld the government’s decision to block access to several independent news media websites. [Washington Post]
LGBTI
- This week, Lebanon was set to be the first Arab country to celebrate gay pride, but the landmark events were canceled due to threatened violence. [Reuters]
- On Wednesday, the International Day Against Homophobia, 100 activists demonstrated in Russia to protest gay persecution and violence in Chechnya. [Washington Post]
Violence & Humanitarian Crises
- On Sunday, authorities in Yemen declared a state of emergency due to a cholera outbreak that has killed 115 people. [Guardian]
- On Monday, at least 20 people died in attacks on a village in Nigeria that may be connected to land disputes in the region. [Washington Post]
- On Wednesday, it was reported that the Red Cross found 115 people dead in Bangassou, Central African Republic after days of attacks. [Washington Post]
Environment
- This week, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization launched a two-year worldwide effort to gather data to improve predictions of weather, particularly in the Arctic and Antarctic. [UN News Centre]
- The United States Secretary of State signed a document to protect the Arctic, extend scientific cooperation, and acknowledge the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. [Guardian]
Politics
- On Sunday, North Korea test-fired a mid-to-long-range missile; North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, claims the United States is in range of the rocket. [Guardian]
- On Monday, the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, ordered sanctions against Russia, including blocking access to popular Russian websites for three years. [Guardian]
- This week, the European Union threatened to sanction Hungary for its anti-European Union rhetoric. [Al Jazeera]