World | WPN World People News

The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 18 September 2016 State Duma elections in the Russian Federation recommends that national legislation concerning the freedoms of association, assembly and expression be aligned with international standards and that these fundamental freedoms be fully respected.

In May 2015, the World Bank Poverty team rolled out the “Listening to Tajikistan” (L2T) survey to monitor the impact of emerging trends throughout the country at high frequency. The survey rapidly clarifies the severity of the economic downturn, the evolution of vulnerabilities, and household responses to risk and deprivation over time. It enables a focus on poorer and more vulnerable households, and generates evidence for targeted policy-making.

President Obama, in the last press conference of his term in office, accused Russia and Russian President Putin personally of having manipulated the American presidential election through cyber-attacks, and announced that there would be reprisals—some explicit and open, and others so that Russia would recognize the author. This announcement of covert operations should cause alarm worldwide—what kind of operation does he mean? Drone strikes, “collateral damage” of all sorts? Obama apparently wants to use his remaining time in the White House for a confrontation with Russia, a confrontation whose end is signaled by Trump’s cabinet appointments. Clearly the neocons—in whose camp Obama belongs, given his continuation of the policies of Bush and Cheney—do not accept their loss of power.

Expressing concern over renewed violence in the Somali city of Gaalkacyo, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for the country, Michael Keating, has called on all parties to honor the ceasefire agreement.

Agreement on 23 December in Cyprus means that the EFSI guarantee is now helping to boost investment throughout the EU.

Concluding the main part of its 71st session, the United Nations General Assembly at the night on 23 December adopted 15 texts – 14 resolutions and one decision – recommended by its Fifth Committee which is responsible for administration and budgetary matters.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says that during 2016, funding from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) has been critical to WFP’s support for hundreds of thousands of people affected by conflict in South Sudan.

Risking their lives to reach Europe from North Africa, a boatload of people, some of them likely in need of international protection, are rescued in the Mediterranean Sea by the Italian Navy.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a contribution of £3 million (approximately US$3.7 million) from the Government of the United Kingdom to respond to the critical needs of more than 164,000 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan on Dec 22.

The World Food Programme (WFP) urges donors to provide immediate support so 150,000 highly vulnerable people, displaced by violence, can continue to receive life-saving assistance in the Central African Republic (CAR).