This Tuesday, we cover: the UN chief in New Zealand’s Christchurch calls for end to hate speech; how a healthy lifestyle can prevent dementia; updates on fighting in Libya and Yemen; the human rights of detainees in Lebanon and people affected by leprosy in Brazil.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed, on Friday, the announcement of a new Government in Lebanon; the result of eight months of negotiation, following general elections last May.
Storm-force winds and snow across Lebanon have worsened the plight for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who’ve been forced from their homes by nearly eight years of conflict, a top UN humanitarian official said on Thursday.
In Lebanon, the plight of Syria’s 900,000 registered refugees just got a little worse, with the arrival of Storm Norma, which brought heavy winds and snow across the country last weekend. In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, Philippe Lazzarini, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, explained what the organization is doing to help.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has confirmed the existence of at least two tunnels crossing the “Blue Line” – the border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel – but they “do not appear thus far” to have exit points leading to the surface on Israeli territory, the United Nations top peacekeeping official told the Security Council on Wednesday.
The head of the United Nations peace mission in Lebanon has urged an end to “rumours and speculations” over tunnels which have been discovered along the UN-drawn “Blue Line” – the border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel.
Although Lebanon ‘is groping our way to rise from consecutive crises’, President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday that his country was being buffeted by regional crises and called on the United Nations to show global leadership by taking action to resolve conflicts in the Middle East.
In a unanimous action, the United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of the Organization’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon until 31 August next year.
With a gradual return of better economic conditions and a generation of children growing up without the horrors of conflict, there is a “good buzz” in southern Lebanon, says General Michael Beary of Ireland, concluding his two-year tour as Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
