Strengthening SME support in Africa

The UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has traveled to China at Beijing's invitation. But the US has raised doubts about Chinese officials giving her "necessary access" to asses the situation.

The 13-2 vote in favor of the resolution was not enough to secure its adoption as Beijing and Moscow have veto-rights. The US said the rejection means Pyongyang "will feel free to take further escalatory actions."

Activists slammed UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet for her restrained criticism directed at China's leaders after her return from Xinjiang. But Bachelet noted that her visit was "not an investigation."

The UN says it is the sixth time a peacekeeping convoy has been targeted in less than a month. The West African country has been gripped by a jihadist insurgency for the past decade.

Russia's war in Ukraine is derailing the global economy's recovery from the pandemic. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is the latest to slash its forecast for economic growth, warning of high inflation and a possible food crisis. Also in the show: India's central bank raises interest rates for the second time in less than a month, while Turkey's government refuses to do so, despite spiralling inflation.

At a UN General Assembly meeting, China and Russia explained their vetoes of a proposal that would have imposed new sanctions on North Korea.

Human rights campaigners say China is committing cultural genocide against its minority Uyghur residents in Xinjiang, where an estimated 1 million to 2 million residents have been incarcerated

The UN Refugee Agency said this was the highest number of displaced people recorded since World War II. Refugees coming to the EU from Africa's Sahel region could rise, said the report.

Hackers breached the system used Germany's ruling Green Party and gained access to accounts previously used by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, party officials said.

Markus Potzel will be the United Nations' new deputy representative to Afghanistan. Between 2014 and 2016 he was Germany's ambassador to Kabul.

The UN's human rights body has found that Israeli security forces fired the shot that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May. Israel has yet to respond to the findings.