Source: United States Department of Justice (video statements)
On August 7, 2025, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from the Justice and State Departments.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
@unitednations
▶ https://youtu.be/6UQcxNLPAnk
Why I’ll always champion Afghan women, with Georgette Gagnon | United Nations ‘Awake at Night’ podcast teaser
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With her background in human rights law, Georgette Gagnon was once said to represent the conscience of war. Currently serving as the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, she has been devastated by the sweeping loss of rights for women and girls there.
“You used to see across the country hundreds of girls going to school… Now, of course, you don’t see that, and it’s heartbreaking. It’s such a huge loss for the entire society,” she says.
Afghanistan has one of the highest numbers of people in need of humanitarian support, and drastic cuts to humanitarian assistance affect access to critical care for millions. In this episode, Georgette Gagnon shares her hopes and fears for a country close to her heart, and reflects on a career serving in some of the world’s toughest places, from Syria to Sudan and Libya.
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
‘Invisible Warriors: The Force Behind Viet Nam’s Plastic Action’ takes you into the daily lives of two remarkable women in Hanoi – part of an invisible workforce of nearly 10,000 informal waste collectors who form the backbone of Viet Nam’s waste management system.
Viet Nam generates around 1.8 million tonnes of plastic waste, according to Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. But the number is likely much higher.
Informal waste workers like Ms Nguyen Thi Kenh and Ms Nguyen Thi Lanh handle 90% of Viet Nam’s recycled waste. Most of them are women. It is only recently, however, that their essential work started to be recognized.
‘I don’t want people to misunderstand or view this as a bad job. It helps keep the environment clean and green,’ explains 59-year-old Ms Nguyen Thi Lanh, a collector who has done this job for over twenty years.
The flexibility to collect and sort in her own time while caring for her family is why she chose to be a scrap collector. Ms Nguyen Thi Lanh’s experience echoes many others’ working in this informal sector.
While the job of a waste worker comes with certain freedoms, there are major challenges, from how it affects workers’ health to financial instability.
VietCycle, a Hanoi-based company, provides informal waste workers, or ‘#GreenWarriors’, with protective equipment, fire-hazard training and microfinance courses. Through the support of the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership (#GPAP), they have directly reached 3,500 people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and hope to assist 10,000 in the future.
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/
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Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
As Big Ben strikes at 12 midday today, a national two-minute silence will begin to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. #VJDay80
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
First Convention of the National Dialogue of South Africa
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
First Convention of the National Dialogue of South Africa
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
First Convention of the National Dialogue of South Africa
Source: United Nations (video statements)
UNICEF’s documentary Gaza’s Silent Threat offers a powerful and rare glimpse into the challenges of conducting an emergency vaccination campaign in Gaza, through the personal accounts of two humanitarian workers, Dr. Younis Awadallah and Fairuz AbuWarda. The film highlights the profound direct and indirect impacts of conflict on children’s health and underscores the critical importance of a well-coordinated emergency response.
UN Video interviewed the director/producer of the filim, Ms. Maria Fernanda Lauret of UNICEF in time for the release of the documentary and for World Humanitarian Day 2025.
The 2024 polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip was a collaborative effort of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and countless humanitarian actors, health workers and social mobilizers on the ground.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Report
Ukraine
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Syria
Lebanon
Sudan
Myanmar
Shipwreck/Lampedusa
Guest
CONFLICT-RELATED SEXUAL VIOLENCE REPORT
The Secretary-General’s 16th annual Report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence has been published today.
The Report marks a staggering 25% increase from the previous year, with the highest number of cases recorded in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan.
63 State and non-State parties are listed in the annex of the report, credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict on the agenda of the Security Council.
The report also introduces, for the first time, an appendix whereby parties are put on notice for potential listing in the next report of the Secretary-General.
The consistent denial of access to United Nations monitors in the context of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, has made it challenging to verify and definitively determine the patterns, trends and systematicity of sexual violence in these contexts.
The report also includes recommendations to the Security Council to address conflict-related sexual violence.
UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that as front lines shift, intense hostilities continue to inflict a heavy toll on civilians on a daily basis, causing widespread destruction and forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
In the Donetsk Region, where fighting has escalated, Ukrainian authorities ordered the mandatory evacuation of families with children from over a dozen towns and villages. Between Monday and Wednesday this week, authorities report that more than 6,000 people fled high-risk communities along the front lines, either through organized evacuations or on their own.
Relentless attacks are also impeding both the evacuation of civilians and the delivery of aid to Pokrovsk Town, located just a kilometre from the front line.
Local authorities estimate that more than 1,000 people are still living there. Humanitarian access is also worsening in Kostiantynivka Town, where approximately 7,000 residents need urgent support.
Aid organizations are working around the clock to assist those fleeing the violence, providing transportation and other assistance at transit sites for newly displaced people.
The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, is visiting the south of Ukraine today. He met with displaced people in a community centre in Mykolaiv and discussed urgent needs with our partners and the local authorities.
On its latest update, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine reached another three-year high in July. With 286 civilians killed and 1,388 injured, the July casualty number was the highest since May 2022.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission said that the high July casualty numbers continued a pattern of steadily increasing civilian casualties in 2025. Casualty numbers for the first seven months of 2025 were 48 per cent higher than in the same period in 2024.
Full Highlihts: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=14%20August%202025
Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
You can explore the Palace of Westminster, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its stories this summer.
Search ‘UK Parliament tour’ to book a tour.
