The bodies of 74 migrants have been found washed up on a beach near the western Libya city of Zawiya, a Red Crescent spokesman said on Tuesday. Mohamed al-Misrati said the bodies had been recovered on Monday and that the migrants appeared to have died during the past two days. The migrants were all adults, mostly from sub-Saharan African countries, and all but three of them were men, Misrati said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2lI1fqD)
Investigative report of the day: The U.K. Home Office is accelerating its drive for “illegal” migrants and those refused asylum to return home voluntarily – a tactic publicized as more cost-effective and “humane” than forced returns. But how “voluntary” are these returns really? And how have NGOs become complicit in this strategy? (IRIN http://bit.ly/2kHNg4r)
Child soldiers: At least 65,000 children have been released from armed forces and armed groups in the past 10 years, UNICEF said as leaders from around the world gather in Paris on the anniversary of the Paris Commitments to end the use of children in conflict. (UNICEF http://bit.ly/2kVfF1S)
Top Stories
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Tuesday promised aid agencies safe access to hunger-stricken civilians, a day after his government declared a famine in parts of the war-ravaged country. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2kHT0Lj)
Torrential downpours caused widespread flooding across parts of Indonesia, including in the capital, Jakarta, where the floodwaters are chest-deep in places. (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/2kVmzEA)
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has appointed his wife as first vice president, the latest move seen as tightening the family’s grip on the oil-rich Caspian nation. (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/2kVgpEk)
A nationwide polio immunization campaign was launched today in Yemen by national health authorities with support from WHO and UNICEF, aiming to immunize 5,019,648 children under the age of 5. (WHO http://bit.ly/2lHOLz2)
U.K. parliament debated whether or not to rescind a state visit invitation extended to President Trump a week into his presidency, after two competing petitions elevated the issue to the national conversation. (CSM https://yhoo.it/2lI5OBa)
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said in his first state of the nation address the economy was in a “bad way” but he would press ahead with a plan to create jobs, cut the budget deficit and improve sustainable agriculture. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2lqTZNh)
Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has handed over control of the defense portfolio to a new minister as the country battles to contain the spread of Islamist militant violence. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2kHSxZz)
Most migrants passing through Mexico are Central American refugees fleeing violence and poverty. And during their passage to the U.S., they are more likely to become victims of crime: migrants are routinely targeted by bandits and kidnappers – often working hand in glove with members of the security forces. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2lqPqCz)
U.K. and European Union attempts to reduce migration from Sudan risk giving legitimacy to its government, which has been accused of human rights abuses, politicians have warned. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2lr1Yd2)
Opinion/Blogs
PHOTOS: Inside the world’s largest stockpile of humanitarian relief. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2lDL399)
Trade in services and economic transformation: a new development policy priority (ODI http://bit.ly/2kHN05z)
British banks are go-betweens in global conflict. This can be stopped (Guardian http://bit.ly/2kUZ8uS)
Humanitarian Crisis, Result of Decades of Globalization with No Concern for Social Justice (IPS http://bit.ly/2lHU6ql)
Why Africa Must Discard Borrowed Robes and Embrace its Rich Cultural Resources (The Conversation http://bit.ly/2kUZLoe)
The word ‘refugee’ has a surprising origin (PRI http://bit.ly/2kUWaXo)
Tax Evasion Lessons From Panama (IPS http://bit.ly/2lHX91q)
Anti-Muslim groups have tripled in number. But this isn’t just a US problem (Guardian http://bit.ly/2kUTJUU)
How transparency can lead to peace (Devex http://bit.ly/2lr1i7q)
Lessons from Oxfam’s Yemen campaign (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/2lIhfbY)
