World

In the midst of a record drought, Spain's northeastern Catalonia region will face tighter water restrictions following three years of below-average rainfall.

Police fired rubber bullets and water cannons at protesters outside Argentina's Congress as lawmakers debated President Javier Milei's massive reform bill.

This Thursday marks three years since Myanmar's military seized power in a coup, and the country is still beset by a civil war between the ruling junta and armed ethnic groups. On January 7, residents and officials of a small village in western Myanmar said the air force had conducted air strikes killing 17 civilians, but the official state media called the claim "fake news."

Iran's recent executions, including four Kurdish men, have alarmed human rights organizations and prompted a UN investigation. The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights is flying to Tehran to investigate.

The award-winning French photojournalist Maxime Riché captured the town in the aftermath of the fire and returned again in 2021 as the town grappled with a second inferno.

As Israel wages war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the deadly October 7 attacks, traumatised Israelis have ostensibly put their differences aside and rallied behind the government.

In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, one road symbolises the complex relationship between Lebanon and neighbouring Syria: the aptly named Syria Street. With the outbreak of civil war in Syria in 2011, Tripoli street also become a conflict zone.

Farmers have been blocking motorways and protesting across Europe – in France, Germany and Romania, and even in the European district of Brussels, where they have besieged institutions.

The UN's rapporteur for freedom of expression has also described the so-called "red-tagging" of government critics and called for the abolition of an anti-communism task force.

In the run-up to February 7 presidential elections, repression has increased in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus that borders Iran and Armenia. Any opposition to President Ilham Aliyev is silenced.

To promote the elimination of female genital mutilation, coordinated and systematic efforts are needed, and they must engage whole communities and focus on human rights, gender equality, sexual education and attention to the needs of women and girls who suffer from its consequences.

After an extraordinary summit on Ukraine, the EU has voted unanimously for a €50 billion support package for Ukraine over the next four years.