international

Geneva: The United Nations called Tuesday for international investigators to be granted to access to all of Gaza “to assist with evidence-gathering” as hundreds of bodies are pulled from the rubble.

“The discovery of extensive remains under the rubble in Gaza City resurfaces these concerns of war crimes and other atrocity crimes,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia marked the International Day of Charity on Saturday by highlighting a global humanitarian, development and charitable footprint spanning 9,030 projects worth more than $145 billion across 175 countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Kingdom ranked second globally and first among Arab nations in providing humanitarian and relief assistance in 2025, according to the United Nations Financial Tracking Service, SPA said.

A central role in those efforts has been played by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, or KSrelief, which was established in May 2015 under royal directives as Saudi Arabia’s dedicated international aid arm.

Since its inception, KSrelief has implemented 4,457 relief projects in 113 countries, with funding exceeding $8 billion, according to SPA.

The center has also overseen specialized humanitarian programs, including the Saudi Program for Conjoined Twins, which has reviewed 158 cases and successfully carried out 72 separation operations involving twins from 28 countries across five continents.

Saudi Arabia’s initiative also led the United Nations to officially designate Nov. 24 as World Conjoined Twins Day in 2024.

Through the Saudi Portal for External Volunteering, 84,388 volunteers have taken part in 1,446 medical and training missions in 59 countries, benefiting more than 2.85 million people and carrying out 273,350 surgical procedures, SPA said.

Meanwhile, the electronic donation platform Sahem has raised more than SR1.701 billion from over 9.82 million donors to support humanitarian operations.

Aid operations continue across crisis-hit regions

The figures highlighted on International Day of Charity come as KSrelief continues relief operations across several countries facing conflict, displacement and food insecurity.

In Yemen, the agency has distributed thousands of food baskets in recent days, including 3,000 baskets in Shabwah Governorate, 1,440 in Al-Jawf and 1,160 in Abyan. It also launched the second phase of a project to distribute 12,000 cartons of dates across several districts of Taiz.

In the Gaza Strip, KSrelief’s central kitchen distributed 24,850 hot meals to vulnerable people in central and southern areas on Wednesday, following the provision of 24,000 meals a day earlier.

The agency also pumped 500,000 liters of safe drinking water across several Gaza governorates as part of its emergency humanitarian response.

Elsewhere, KSrelief distributed 1,050 food baskets to displaced people and returnees in Sudan’s North Kordofan State, benefiting 7,110 people, while 506 food baskets were provided to vulnerable families in Syria’s Rif Dimashq.

SPA said the initiatives reflected Saudi Arabia’s continuing efforts to support vulnerable and crisis-affected populations worldwide through KSrelief, in line with the Kingdom’s broader humanitarian commitments under Vision 2030.

Haitian foreign minister says renewal is necessary to ensure safety ahead of elections scheduled in December.

Haiti’s Foreign Ministry has called on the United Nations Security Council to renew the mandate of an internationally backed security force meant to tamp down the powerful armed groups controlling parts of the country.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Raina Forbin reiterated her view that the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) needed to be fully deployed to her country, with support from the international community.

Its mandate, however, is slated to expire on September 30, unless the UNSC acts to extend its mission.

“We need technical, financial, logistical and safety support that is up to the challenge,” said Forbin. “We must now move from solidarity to action.”

Her remarks came at a meeting of the Organisation of American States (OAS), focused on the continued gang violence in Haiti.

Forbin gestured to a pressing need in her country. This year alone, in the three months from April to June, an estimated 1,408 people were killed in Haiti, with 656 injured. Much of that violence was attributed to gangs.

Haiti is also pushing ahead with long-postponed general elections. Critics, however, fear that the violence could disrupt the elections and weaken public confidence in the outcome.

Political instability in Haiti has been heightened since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise in 2021. Armed groups have flourished in the vacuum, assuming control over large swaths of the capital of Port-au-Prince and displacing more than one million people.

Authorities have struggled to address either the out-of-control violence or the deeper causes of instability in the country, including poverty and government corruption.

The upcoming elections, the first in a decade, are currently scheduled to take place on December 13. But officials have questioned whether they will take place, given conditions on the ground.

OAS Secretary-General Albert Ramdin said that the regional body would deploy an Electoral Observation Mission to help support a credible vote, urging greater assistance for Haiti’s provisional electoral council.

He added that about one million identity cards must also be produced and distributed before voting can take place.

“Haiti is at a critical juncture,” Ramdin said in a statement on Thursday. “Our responsibility is clear: to strengthen security efforts, advance electoral preparations, fulfill existing commitments and ensure that international cooperation translates into tangible improvements in the daily lives of the Haitian people.”

But international assistance efforts have also drawn criticism, with many Haitians sceptical of outside interference in their country.

Officials within such international forces have also bemoaned a lack of steady support. Before the GSF, Kenya had led a Multinational Security Support (MSS) to support Haitian police, only to withdraw in April, after failing to meet its funding and deployment goals.

The UN Security Council voted to create the GSF task force in October 2025 as a replacement for the MSS. The mission was given a 12-month mandate.

The GSF is authorised to pursue “counter-gang operations to neutralize, isolate, and deter gangs”, either independently or in cooperation with Haitian police and its military.

Human rights advocates, however, note that such international support has been lacking for Haitians fleeing the violence.

Many Haitians have been forcibly returned to the country after fleeing for safety. A UN official informed an emergency meeting of the UNSC last week that nearly 200,000 people have been sent back to Haiti during the first eight months of this year.

That amounts to a 20,000 increase over the same period last year.

Mérida, September 2, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar International Airport, located in Maiquetía, La Guaira State, officially resumed commercial flight operations on Tuesday through newly constructed temporary terminals.

Air connections resumed more than two months after a powerful double earthquake struck central and coastal Venezuela on June 24, causing severe structural damage to the Simón Bolívar Airport, including fractured runways.

The initial phase of renewed operations relies on four modular, temporary terminals erected in the airport’s external parking areas. Spanning more than 10,000 square meters, the temporary structures house fully functional services for ticketing, baggage drop and retrieval, security checkpoints and migration control.

Venezuelan authorities have also set up shuttle buses to take passengers from the modular gates to the aircraft on the tarmac. They have also issued operational guidelines for passengers and organized a security deployment in the airport grounds and surrounding areas.

Before official operations began, national aviation authorities executed four operational simulations to test passenger circulation routes, security protocols, luggage handling, and overall system readiness.

During an official inspection, Minister of Transportation Francisco Garcés outlined the operational milestones, technical parameters, and long-term recovery timeline for the nation’s main aviation hub.

“There is full operationality from these temporary terminals, with capacity to accommodate 720 departing and 496 arriving passengers in the international area, and 480 and 472, respectively, in the domestic sector,” Garcés stated during a media briefing. “We have made a strong effort to maintain rigorous international standards for user comfort and safety, completing this complex logistical solution in record time.”

Garcés explained that the current facilities restore approximately 25 percent of the airport’s pre-earthquake operational capacity, with projections of expanding to 40 percent within the next two months and 60 percent by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, engineering teams continue comprehensive structural repairs on the main permanent terminals, with full reconstruction scheduled for the first quarter of 2027.

On September 1, the opening day of the temporary facilities featured eight scheduled flights split equally between domestic and international routes, with the inaugural flight departing to Valera, Trujillo State.

Air carriers currently operating or scheduling their immediate return to Maiquetía include national lines Conviasa, Laser Airlines, Estelar, Avior and Venezolana, alongside international operators such as American Airlines, Iberia, and Copa Airlines.

Throughout the two-month shutdown following the June 24 seismic events, national and international air transit was diverted through smaller, regional airports across the country, including Barcelona (Anzoátegui State), Valencia (Carabobo State), and Maracaibo (Zulia State).

Alongside the reopening of Venezuela’s main air hub, the acting Delcy Rodríguez government has continued to address housing rehabilitation and structural reconstruction in damaged urban centers.

In La Guaira State, Rodríguez oversaw the formal handover of 210 fully repaired apartments in the Ana Victoria community. The rehabilitation works under the Plan Venezuela Renace allowed displaced families to return to their homes after two months in temporary shelters.

Additional structural works in La Guaira include “tetra-houses” in Catia La Mar and public infrastructure reconstruction near the El Trébol highway interchange.

Concurrently, Rodríguez announced the delivery of direct financial assistance and low-interest loans to 104 condominium boards and 1,216 individual housing units in the Chacao and Altamira areas of Eastern Caracas.

“We have begun an inspection process; I know it may take some time, but it is important because we are in a phase of changing the seismic resistance standards for construction,” she said.

Disbursed through joint public and private banking channels, individual loans can be up to US $5,000, while funding for common area repairs can reach $20,000.

These funds enable residents and homeowner associations to address structural issues on buildings categorized under yellow and red risk tags, ensuring compliance with updated seismic resistance construction standards.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

Passengers are being urged to check with their airline before travelling to the airport

An international airport in the UK has confirmed that it will be temporarily closed. Norwich Airport announced on social media that it would be closed between 8am and 1pm tomorrow (Friday, August 21).

This is apparently due to ‘ongoing industrial action’ involving certain members of air traffic control. The airport apologised for any disruption caused.

Passengers are being urged to check with their airline before travelling to the airport to catch their flight. In a post entitled ‘Industrial Action – Important passenger update – Friday 21 August, a statement on the airport’s social media account said: “Due to the ongoing industrial action, short of a strike, involving Prospect union members in Air Traffic Control, Norwich Airport will be closed to air traffic between 08:00 and 13:00 tomorrow, Friday 21 August.

“Airlines have been informed of the closure. Passengers should check with their airline for the latest information about their flight before travelling to the airport. We apologise to passengers for the inconvenience this may cause.

“Discussions with Prospect are continuing and we remain committed to resolving the dispute through constructive dialogue.”

A further statement on the website added: “The Prospect union has informed us that its Air Traffic Control members at Norwich Airport have voted in favour of industrial action, short of a strike, from 17th August in relation to pay and conditions.

“Discussions are continuing and we are firmly committed to resolving this dispute through constructive dialogue that avoids disruption to airport operations.”

‘Extremely disappointing’

Prospect members are reportedly demanding a 10 per cent pay rise, having only been offered 3 per cent so far.

David Avery, the union’s national secretary for aviation, said: “It is extremely disappointing that we have still not received an acceptable offer from Norwich Airport, which has left us with little choice but to push ahead with this industrial action

“Our members in air traffic control are not making unreasonable demands. They are simply asking for pay levels and terms and conditions that are normal for their colleagues across the country.”

A spokesperson for Norwich Airport said: “It is disappointing that Prospect has chosen to announce further industrial action while negotiations to resolve the dispute are ongoing.

“We remain firmly committed to resolving this dispute through constructive dialogue and will continue to engage with Prospect with the aim of reaching agreement.”