The Global Eye is in partnership with SIOI – Società Italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale
Afghanistan
(RFE/RL) The absence of war in Afghanistan in the five years since the Taliban retook power as international forces withdrew from the country doesn’t mean security for the Afghan people, according to a panel discussion hosted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The panel — featuring RFE/RL Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lisa Curtis, former US national-security adviser General H.R. McMaster, ex-Afghan Ambassador to Norway Shukria Barakzai, and regional expert Ahmad Khalid Majidyar — noted that while it has been five years since the Taliban seized back power, Afghanistan remains at a critical crossroads, with women sidelined from public life, the free press muzzled, and civil society stifled. “Security is more than absence of war,” Barakzai told the panel, knocking down the argument made by Taliban officials that they have brought stability and security to a country ravaged by decades of war. – RFE Panel: No War, But No Real Security For Afghans Under 5 Years Of Taliban Rule
Artificial Intelligence
(UN News) For Ari, a six-year-old boy with learning difficulties in Jamaica, artificial intelligence (AI) opened the door to something many children take for granted: reading a book in his own language. Thousands of miles away, gold miners in Ethiopia are being screened more quickly for tuberculosis, while communities around the world are breathing cleaner air thanks to faster detection of methane leaks. Across agencies, the UN is implementing AI tools to help promote peace, security and human rights while spearheading the global conversation around AI governance. – AI for Good: How the UN uses AI to advance human rights | UN News
Democratic Republic of the Congo
(UN News) As the deadliest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo’s history continued spreading on Friday, UN responders renewed their urgent appeal for immediate international support, with existing funding for lifesaving work critically low. Key points: Ebola deaths reach 2,516 in DRC;
Response funding could run out within weeks: Dozens of frontline healthcare workers among dead. “We’re only covered for the next weeks, and very soon funding will run out,” said Julien Harneis, UN Senior Ebola Coordinator. “Every delay in funding and implementation makes this epidemic more deadly, more difficult to stop and more expensive. So, we need that international support immediately”.
Since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, 5,290 people have been infected 2,516 have died, according to latest health authority data published on Friday. Of the total confirmed number of cases, 1,152 people have recovered and nearly 840 people remain in isolation or hospitalized. The fatality rate is 47.6 per cent and contact follow-up is 82.9 per cent. – DR Congo Ebola outbreak spreading exponentially, UN responders warn | UN News
Kazakhstan
(RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service) Independent journalists and government critics in Kazakhstan are facing growing pressure ahead of parliamentary elections this weekend, rights groups say, pointing to criminal investigations, detentions, travel restrictions, and court-ordered bans on journalism. The vote on August 23 will elect the first members of the Kurultai, a new unicameral parliament that replaces Kazakhstan’s two-chamber legislature under constitutional changes approved in a March referendum. President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has portrayed the changes as political modernization. Critics say they have further concentrated power in the presidency, raising questions about the environment in which the first Kurultai election will take place. Adilet (Justice), a party founded in May and led by Toqaev’s former presidential administration chief, is heavily favored to win, with the latest national poll putting its support at 70.2 percent. The party absorbed the former ruling Amanat party and inherited its nationwide political network, leading critics to portray it as a rebranding of the pro-Toqaev political establishment. In an assessment last month of the upcoming vote, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said people interviewed by its mission had raised concerns about a “growing intolerance of criticism by the authorities, resulting in increasing pressure and sanctions.” They said this has contributed to “self-censorship and reduced civic participation.” – Criminal Cases, Travel Bans: Pressure Mounts On Kazakh Journalists Ahead Of Parliamentary Vote
Russia
(Ray Furlong, Robert Zargaryan, Sandro Jupalakiani, Zamira Kozhobaeva – RFE/RL) Sergei Rasokhin says he spent two years in hiding before finally escaping military service in Russia and recently making it to safety in Armenia. The country took in many Russians dodging the draft in 2022-23 and now, amid growing fears of a new mobilization in Russia to boost a military depleted by the war on Ukraine, there are some indications that the numbers of Russians coming to Armenia are again rising. There have also been recent signs of this in other countries that saw an influx of Russians in 2022-23, but the evidence is patchy and sometimes conflicting. In any case, if the Kremlin decides to announce a new wave of mobilization, it may wait until after parliamentary elections next month — meaning those hoping to avoid it still have time. – Mobilization Migration: Is There An Uptick In Russians Fleeing Amid Fears Of A New Draft?
Russia – Ukraine
(Clara Kaluderovic – Atlantic Council) Russia is intensifying its air attacks on Kyiv, using ballistic missiles, glide bombs, and faster drones to evade Ukrainian air defenses. Ukraine is working feverishly to expand its air defenses, but civilians and critical infrastructure remain vulnerable going into the winter. The US can help Ukraine by providing it with more interceptors, co-developing air defenses, and improving Kyiv’s ability to strike missile launchers in Russia. – What it feels like under a Russian missile attack, and what the US can do about it – Atlantic Council
(RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service) A Russian drone attack on a shopping mall in the south-central Ukrainian city of Kryviy Rih killed at least 16 people and left more than 100 others injured, including several children, local authorities said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a native of Kryviy Rih, called the attack “cynical and despicable,” saying it came in two waves, with secondary drone strikes targeting emergency response efforts. “There was smoke. Everyone was shouting,” Yuliana, a mall employee, told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service. She said the attack caused parts of the ceiling to collapse in a parking garage where some shoppers and staff had sought shelter during an air-raid alert, and that a car was blocking the entrance, forcing people to climb over metal barriers. “I was afraid there might be another strike. I wondered what I would do. I have a young child,” Yuliana said. – Russian Drone Attack Hits Ukrainian Shopping Mall, Killing Or Injuring More Than 100
(Amos Chapple – RFE/RL) Russia is set to begin production of floating firing points to guard St. Petersburg from Ukraine’s marine and aerial drones, Leningrad’s regional governor said on August 18. “We expect to identify samples by October that we can subsequently purchase to protect the Leningrad Region’s borders,” Aleksandr Drozdenko said in a Telegram post that included diagrams of a floating sentry post called the PLOT-40. Plot means “raft” in Russian. Images of the armed raft first emerged in late July when a prototype was displayed at a port in Vyborg. “After analyzing enemy attacks, it became clear that it was important to strengthen defenses from the water,” Drozdenko said at the time. The unusual vessel “is designed to protect naval bases, port infrastructure, and fuel and energy facilities from modern threats, including unmanned boats and [unmanned aerial vehicles],” the governor said. Scott Savitz, a senior engineer at RAND, a US-based nonprofit research organization, told RFE/RL that the effectiveness of the rafts would depend on several factors, including how quickly and accurately they can identify and strike incoming drones, and “the floating platforms’ own vulnerabilities to attack”. Hatches seen on the prototype version do not appear to be heavily armored. – Russia Tests ‘Floating Sentry Posts’ To Counter Ukrainian Drones
Somalia
(UN News) The global funding crisis for humanitarian work is taking a growing toll on the most vulnerable children in Somalia, where some aid programmes and facilities have been forced to shut down. Hajio is one of many experiencing the brunt of these cuts. She lived a relatively prosperous life – she had a home and her children went to school. But all her cattle died because of the drought, and she had to flee her home area for help. She hurried to the town of Burhakaba in southwest Somalia because she had heard support would be available there. Yet upon arrival, she received only some clothes and tomatoes from one of the country’s poorest communities living nearby. “She received nothing from the international community,” stressed UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder, briefing journalists in Geneva on Friday. – Somalia: Humanitarian aid cuts leave millions of children vulnerable to hunger | UN News
Terrorism/Counter-Terrorism
(UN News) The UN has launched a new initiative to protect victims of terrorist attacks from online harm and re-traumatisation, drawing on harrowing survivor accounts, from the Nova Music Festival in Israel to an attack on a FIFA World Cup final viewing party in Uganda. The initiative was launched at an event on Friday marking the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. “It’s not just another date on the calendar,” Saynab Warsame, who survived a terrorist attack in Somalia, said in a message to the UN commemorative event. “It’s a day that reminds me of who I lost, who I am and who I am still becoming”. Acts of terrorism kill and maim thousands of people every year around the world, and online harm has been reported by survivors in every region. “In today’s digital world, memories are fragile,” Ms. Warsame said. “With fake videos and information, the truth can easily be lost or changed”. To address that, the new victim-led initiative was launched by the Victims of Terrorism Associations Network, established by the UN Counter-Terrorism Office last year to drive collective action to support their rights and needs. – New initiative launched to shield terrorism victims from online harm | UN News
