Switzerland

GENEVA (AP) — Venezuela’s government has intensified efforts to curtail democratic freedoms with use of threats, surveillance and harassment as President Nicolás Maduro faces a re-election contest next year, U.N.-backed human rights experts reported on Wednesday.

GENEVA (AP) — The rights situation in Russia has “significantly deteriorated” since President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine in February last year, an expert commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body said in her first report on the country on Monday.

Mariana Katzarova, the special rapporteur on Russia’s rights situation mandated by the Human Rights Council, chronicled the domestic crackdown that has largely targeted critics of Putin’s war as well as other opposition voices in Russia.

GENEVA (AP) — Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions are striving to prevent erosion in support for the deal after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales from office on Saturday while its disciplinary committee investigates his conduct at the Women’s World Cup final, which included kissing a player on the lips without her consent.

The ruling comes six days after Rubiales was accused of becoming a national embarrassment in front of a global audience at the final in Sydney, Australia — overshadowing the enormous accomplishment of Spain women’s first World Cup title.

GENEVA, Aug 24 (NNN-KBC) — The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is grappling with a dire humanitarian crisis fuelled by ongoing political instability and armed conflicts, severely impacting the entire food supply, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said.

The situation is particularly alarming in the east, where malnutrition has taken hold among 4.4 million people, exacerbated by compromised health services, lack of clean water, and an uptick in gender-based violence, highlighted Peter Musoko, WFP Country Director, during a press briefing in Geneva.

22 August 2023; MEMO: According to international law, all of Israel’s Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal and pose a major obstacle to peace, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, told the Security Council on Monday.

GENEVA, Aug 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization and US health authorities said Friday they are closely monitoring a new variant of Covid-19, although the potential impact of BA.2.86 is currently unknown.

The WHO classified the new variant as one under surveillance “due to the large number (more than 30) of spike gene mutations it carries”, it wrote in a bulletin about the pandemic late Thursday.

So far, the variant has only been detected in Israel, Denmark and the United States.

GENEVA, August 16. /TASS/: Switzerland sided with the eleventh package of anti-Russian sanctions adopted by the European Union, the Federal Council - the Swiss government said.

"On 16 August, the Federal Council decided to enact further sanctions against Russia. This aligns Switzerland with the EU, which adopted these latest measures as part of its eleventh package of sanctions," the government said. New measures will become effective since August 16 of this year, it added.

GENEVA, July 31. TASS/: Civilians should not be deliberately targeted, UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell told TASS in connection with Ukrainian shelling of civilian infrastructure in Taganrog.

GENEVA, July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Only four countries — Brazil, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Turkey — have adopted all the anti-tobacco measures recommended in the fight against the “deadly scourge” of smoking, the World Health Organization said Monday. 

In a fresh report, the UN health agency urged countries to scale up their use of recognised measures to reduce tobacco use, including enforcing advertising bans, plastering health warnings on cigarette packages, raising tobacco taxes and providing assistance to those who want to quit.