Source: United Kingdom UK House of Lords (video statements)
In this question from Baroness Gale, members pressed the government on its plans to reduce violence against women and girls in line with the Labour Party Manifesto 2024.
Read a transcript of this question: https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2025-11-27/debates/20A4CBA4-06E2-4BBA-82BB-DECB9F88D313/ViolenceAgainstWomenAndGirls
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Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
National Qualifications Framework (NQF) partners – the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO), Council on Higher Education (CHE), and Umalusi addresses media on areas of common interest with specific reference to the following key topics:
* New developments in the NQF space
* The persistent challenge of unaccredited institutions
* Steps to verify institutions and certificates
* Latest measures to combat fraud and protect students
Remarks by Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, on behalf of António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the Informal meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures.
Press conference by Matthias Schmale, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine on the situation in the country.
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Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine said, “At the moment, I don’t sense any optimism that we’re getting closer to ending this terrible tragedy.” Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters, he cautioned that earlier “moments of cautious optimism” had faded as Ukraine enters another winter under bombardment.
Schmale warned that continued strikes on energy infrastructure pose one of the gravest risks. “We are particularly worried about the winter,” he said, noting that the “big worry is people potentially getting stuck in high rise buildings in cities.”
He pointed to a recent close call in the northeast, saying a city of 40,000 people in Sumy region “was cut off for several days.” Authorities had begun considering evacuations, he said, adding that the worst was fortunately avoided. But he warned that the winter months could bring “a catastrophe within a catastrophe.”
Despite ongoing strikes, Schmale said Ukraine is living through a dual reality in which “development and recovery work goes on” even as fighting continues. In Kherson, he noted that “every day there’s been shelling this year,” leaving the streets desolate and largely empty. Yet beneath that devastation, he visited an underground maternity ward, a setting he described as a stark counterpoint to the destruction above. Schmale said, “And you couldn’t experience a starker contrast: above ground the horror of war, below ground in the same place people helping women give birth to new life. And it sort of characterizes the defiance of the Ukrainians.”
He also highlighted “innovative work” combining de-mining with agricultural recovery, with NGOs and UN agencies clearing fields and helping farmers return to their land. He said such efforts keep alive the hope of a better future.
Still, he cautioned against “romanticiz[ing] resilience.” After nearly four years of war, he said “the population is getting weary and more tired,” even as red lines remain firmly in place. That fatigue, he added, will shape “the receptiveness to whatever deal might come out in the future.”
Schmale said the conflict is becoming increasingly technological, with drone warfare reshaping conditions for civilians and aid workers alike. On a recent trip to Donetsk region, he observed “kilometers of the road being covered by fishnets” to disrupt drone surveillance. Humanitarian groups, he said, report that their biggest worry is “drone attacks targeting them very directly.”
As the war in Ukraine continues with no ceasefire in sight, civilians face mounting risks amid ongoing strikes and harsh winter conditions. Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, describes the deepening challenges for communities and outlines how UN agencies and partners are supporting people through winterization efforts.
Reporting from the war-torn maternity hospital at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, Nestor Owomuhangi, UNFPA representative in Palestine, says the agency is working to keep maternity care alive amid the ruins. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the UN agency responsible for reproductive health worldwide, supporting safe childbirth, maternal care and services for women and girls. Despite the destruction of hospitals across the Gaza Strip, UNFPA continues to deliver medicines and equipment and deploy trained midwives, ensuring that women in Gaza can still access essential maternity services even in the most difficult conditions.
Source: United States Department of Justice (video statements)
Brian J. Cole, Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was arrested this morning and charged for transporting and planting two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on January 5, 2021, at the headquarters of both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee in Washington D.C., announced Attorney General Pamela Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Cole is charged in a complaint unsealed today with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce with the intent to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property. He is also charged with attempted malicious destruction by means of fire and explosive materials.
