UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts expressed deep concern on Friday over Israeli military interference in the work of a well-known, independent Palestinian child rights organization, in the occupied West Bank.

Nakuru, Kenya, Aug 13 (IPS) - When 33-year-old Kimani Mwaniki, an Irish potato farmer in Elburgon, Nakuru County in Kenya’s Rift Valley, heard about a farmer’s virtual school, he didn’t hesitate to enrol. He was keen to learn how the programme will enable him to get higher crop yields for his market in the capital city Nairobi and elsewhere.

The UN Secretary-General on Friday called on Taliban militants to “immediately halt” their offensive against Government forces and return to the negotiating table in good faith, “in the interest of Afghanistan, and its people.”

ISLAMABAD, Aug 13 (IPS) - The past weeks have been quite traumatic for the women of Pakistan. Recently, a young woman named Noor Mukadam was murdered and beheaded by her alleged partner in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city. A few weeks ago, the prime minister’s statement on rape erroneously construed the crime as being the fault of the victim.

Expressing alarm over “rampant police brutality against peaceful protesters worldwide”, more than 40 UN-appointed human rights experts on Friday called for an end to the violence, urging Governments to promote dialogue, tolerance and diversity. 

Rival armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are carrying out horrific sexual attacks against women and girls, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Friday.

Nearly 30,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa are believed to have died from cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Afghanistan is on course to witness its highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since records began, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

ACCRA, Ghana, Aug 13 (IPS) - ‘Know your customers’ is arguably the first rule of marketing. By identifying and segmenting customer groups, companies can target their products and services to the right people, in the right way. This can open-up opportunities for growth, inform product development and improve customer retention.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged all countries “to put differences aside” in order to speed up efforts to understand where and how the COVID-19 virus started – including the unproven suggestion that it was manufactured in a laboratory.