Senior UN officials have been meeting representatives of the new caretaker government in Damascus, following the overthrow of the Assad regime. Later today, the Security Council in New York will hear updates from the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, and the UN’s emergency relief chief, Tom Fletcher. Meanwhile in Geneva, the head of a UN probe into the most serious crimes committed in Syria since March 2011 has provided updates on its work. UN News app users can follow our coverage here. Source link
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The head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism Investigating Serious Crimes in Syria (IIIM), Robert Petit, told reporters in Geneva that with an “interlocking series of crime scenes” across the country now accessible, there is the possibility of accessing evidence and “finally” establishing the fate of tens of thousands who had been “illegally arrested, detained and suffered years of violence inside the prison system”, almost 14 years after the start of a brutal state crackdown against Arab Spring protesters. Golan communities face evacuation orders Meanwhile, UN humanitarians warned that Syria’s humanitarian crisis is worsening, with fighting in the northeast,…
Lisa Doughten, Director of Financing and Partnerships at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted the unrelenting toll on civilians. “Daily attacks continue, inflicting death, injury and untold suffering on ordinary Ukrainians, and destruction and damage to civilian infrastructure,” she said, adding that for those near the frontlines, lives is even more difficult. “They face constant shelling and impossible choices: flee in perilous conditions leaving everything they have – perhaps for the second or third time – or stay, and risk injury or death.” In regions like Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kherson, dozens of civilians have…
NEW ORLEANS – More than 100 people working as home care companions will receive their share of nearly $355,000 in back wages and damages after investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division of two southern Louisiana home care providers under common ownership. Investigators determined SafeCare LLC in Franklin misclassified many employees as independent contractors and paid them straight-time rates for all hours worked, including for overtime hours over 40 in a workweek. In New Iberia, the division found ApexCare LLC denied overtime to six workers for hours over 40 in a workweek. “Home care workers are among the highest employees misclassified as…
In 2018, L.L. Bean ended its century-old “lifetime” return policy, limiting returns to one year after purchase and requiring receipts. The demise of this popular policy sparked backlash, with several customers filing lawsuits. It also inspired my team of operations management researchers to study how customers respond when retailers make their return policies more strict. Our key finding: Whether they often or rarely return products they’ve purchased, consumers object – unless those retailers explain why. I work with a group of researchers examining product return policies and how they affect consumers and retailers. As we explained in an article published…
The text of the following statement was released by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the High Representative of the European Union. We, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the High Representative of the European Union condemn in the strongest possible terms the increasing military cooperation between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Russian Federation, including the deployment of DPRK troops to Russia for…
Abdou Abarry, UN Special Representative for Central Africa, told ambassadors in the Security Council that disasters and extreme weather events displaced more than three million people in the region this year alone. This has worsened an already fragile socio-economic situation and underscored the need for stronger climate action. Climate and humanitarian crises “The Congo Basin forest, the ‘second green lung’ of the planet, which absorbs 1 to 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually and plays a strategic role in global climate regulation, was recognised as critical at COP29,” Mr. Abarry stated. However, international climate financing remains inadequate, with less…
At his regular press briefing, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric noted the dire situation, and the efforts to alleviate suffering and provide essential aid. In the north central area around Gaza City, limited deliveries of fuel on 6 and 8 December allowed four bakeries to resume operations at full capacity, enabling the resumption of bread distributions to shelters and community kitchens, alongside cooked meals. However, the situation remains dire in other areas. “In North Gaza and Rafah governorates, seven bakeries remain shut down due to the ongoing hostilities. And in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, all eight bakeries are closed,…
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs has issued a final rule revising the regulations under the Black Lung Benefits Act related to self-insurance by coal mine operators.Under the new standard, self-insured coal mine operators will be required to post adequate security for their Black Lung benefit liabilities. It also will protect the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund against assuming the liabilities of bankrupt coal mine operators. The final rule also includes the following changes: Reduces the required security amount of an operator’s liability from 120 percent to 100 percent.Provides option for operators to…
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, arrived there a week after President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebel forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTC). Responding to questions from the press upon his arrival, Mr. Pedersen noted the “immense” change since the fall of the Assad regime. “This change in itself creates great hopes, but we all know that many challenges still lie ahead. So we have to get it right from the beginning,” he said. He considered it necessary to launch a political process that includes all Syrians and which “must obviously be led…