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U.N. investigators alleged Wednesday that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has committed crimes against humanity that include murders, torture and other atrocities.

The number of children living in multidimensional poverty has soared to approximately 1.2 billion due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new UNICEF and Save the Children analysis published on September 16, 2020. This is a 15 per cent increase in the number of children living in deprivation in low- and middle-income countries, or an additional 150 million children since the pandemic hit earlier this year.

This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Greece Representative Luciano Calestini, reporting from Lesvos Island – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on September 15, 2020.

To urge action on addressing the urgent risk of famine, the UK’s first Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs Nick Dyer met the United Nations World Food Programme’s Executive Director David Beasley to jointly call for other countries to step up.

A U.S. Marine convicted in the Philippines of killing a transgender woman was released from prison Sunday, after receiving a pardon from President Rodrigo Duterte.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday granted a $1.5 billion loan to Belarus as a show of support for its embattled leader, Alexander Lukashenko, after weeks of street demonstrations that have accused him of rigging last month's election to retain power in Minsk.

The World Bank Board of Directors approved $300 million in additional financing to the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Program for Results (UgIFT) to boost local governments (LGs) service delivery in education, health, water and environment, and micro irrigation, including in areas hosting large populations of refugees on September 14. The financing includes a credit of $240 million and a grant of US$60 million, of which US$50 million will be from the IDA Refugee Support Window (RSW). The additional financing builds on the initial success of the original UgIFT, amounting to US$200 million to support service delivery in health and education sectors.

The 100th anniversary of Afghanistan’s Independence was celebrated in Kandahar and across the country in August 2019 with hundreds of people taking to the streets with Afghan flags.

At least 100,000 Belarusians took to the streets in the capital of Minsk on Sunday in one of the biggest protests yet against President Alexander Lukashenko after he claimed victory in a disputed election last month that his opponents say was rigged.

The operator of a Japanese-owned bulk carrier that crashed into a reef in late July, causing a widespread oil spill in Mauritius, will pay at least $9.4 million over several years to fund environmental projects and support local fishing communities.