Human

• The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has identified Afghanistan as one of the world's most neglected humanitarian crises of the year. • Funding for aid programs has fallen sharply despite a simultaneous increase in the needs of the Afghan population. • This funding gap threatens the delivery of essential services and life-saving assistance to millions of vulnerable people.

Report accuses paramilitary force of crimes including ethnic cleansing in systemic campaign against civiliansThe Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its seizure of El Fasher last year, Amnesty International has alleged.Many of the crimes, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery, were carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity, the human rights organisation said in a report released on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra ModiPrison is hardest at sunset. As the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in Delhi’s most infamous jail are cast out of their cells and forced into the dank yard until darkness falls, prisoner number 626714 feels the punishing dread begin to rise.Yet the inmate – better known as Umar Khalid – was recently moved to discover that another political prisoner, exiled at a camp thousands of miles from India, wrote of the very same feeling more than 150 years ago. Continue reading...

• NASA has announced the winning student-developed solutions for environmental control and life support systems designed for future crewed lunar landers. • Finalist teams presented their research to a panel of NASA and aerospace industry experts during a collaborative poster session on June 22 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. • This challenge is critical as it leverages student innovation to solve complex engineering problems, making long-duration lunar exploration more achievable.

• Afghanistan is facing a severe humanitarian crisis following the Taliban's return to power in 2021 and the subsequent withdrawal of international development assistance. • Essential public services, which had become heavily dependent on external support due to years of conflict and state fragility, have largely collapsed. • Humanitarian organizations are struggling to fill the resulting gap in service delivery while simultaneously facing a decline in their own financial resources.

• The US Supreme Court has limited the scope of foreign human rights claims, narrowing the ability to file overseas abuse lawsuits against corporations in US courts. • The ruling stems from a case involving Cisco, which faced allegations of providing technology to the Chinese government to monitor and suppress Falun Gong followers. • This decision provides corporations with greater protection from litigation regarding actions associated with foreign governments or violations occurring outside US boundaries.

• French startup Genesis AI, backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday. • The company is differentiating itself in the competitive AI robotics market by opting for a non-humanoid design. • This launch coincides with a broader surge in AI investment, following SpaceX's record $75 billion IPO and the introduction of new AI-linked exchange-traded funds.