2016 deadliest year ever for migrants crossing Mediterranean – UN agency

New York, Jan 6 (Just Earth News): More migrants were killed crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2016 than ever before, according to the United Nations migration agency in the region.

With temperatures dropping, asylum-seekers on Greek islands need to be moved to the mainland – UN refugee agency

New York, Jan 6 (Just Earth News): Drawing attention to situation of hundreds of asylum-seekers on the Greek Aegean islands, facing further vulnerability as temperatures are expected to drop in the coming days, the United Nations refugee agency underlined the urgent need to accelerate their transfer to the mainland.

UN rights expert to assess potential abuses in northern Myanmar

New York, Jan 6 (Just Earth News): An independent United Nations expert will assess the human rights situation in Myanmar starting next week, it was announced, following increasing concerns about civilians in Kachin State and the escalating violence in Rakhine State.

Canada: Multiple homes destroyed by fire in Bradword West Gwillimbury

Toronto, Jan 6 (IBNS): Five homes, which were being constructed in a Bradword West Gwillimbury neighbourhood, were destroyed in a fire Toronto on Friday morning, media reports said.

British High Commissioner meets Pakistan Army Chief

Rawalpindi, Jan 6 (IBNS): Thomas Drew, British High Commissioner on Friday called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at GHQ.

WBC Silver Flyweight Champion Muhammad Waseem meets Qamar Javed Bajwa

Rawalpindi, Jan 6 (IBNS): World Boxing Council (WBC) Silver Flyweight Champion Muhammad Waseem met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at General Headquarters on Friday.

Pakistan: Motorcycle-rickshaw collides with train, 8 killed

Islamabad, Jan 6 (IBNS): At least eight people were killed when a motorcycle-rickshaw collided with a train in Pakistan, media reports said on Friday.

Canada: An abused and malnourished dog found on Scarborough street

Toronto, Jan. 6 (IBNS): Toronto Animal Services have stated that a dog found abused and malnourished in Scarborough near Toronto on Christmas Eve was recovering in a foster home after receiving treatment, media reports said..

Canada: Mississauga woman, toddler killed in crash in Florida

Toronto, Jan 6 (IBNS): Police have identified a Mississauga woman and her four-year-old child who were killed in a crash in Florida earlier this week, media reports said.

Canada: Poisonous snakes seized from Toronto home

Toronto, Jan 6 (IBNS): 20 alive and 18 dead poisonous snakes, including a variety of vipers, puff adders, hundred pacers, cobras and rattle snakes, were seized from a Toronto home on Tuesday by Toronto Municipal Licensing and Standards (TMLS), media reports said.

Age UK pilot programme shows great promise in reducing loneliness

London, Jan 6 (IBNS): Half a million people over the age of 60 usually spend every day alone, with nearly half a million more usually going at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all, according to new research for Age UK as it launches its latest report ‘No one should have no one: working to end loneliness amongst older people’.

Bangladesh : Holey Artisan Bakery mastermind and another JMB terrorist killed in encounter

Dhaka, Jan 6 (IBNS) : One of the masterminds of last year's deadly Holey Artisan Bakery attack and one of his accomplices were killed in a gunfight with Bangladesh police in Dhaka early on Friday, local media reports said.

After five years of ‘ruthless war’ in Syria, 2017 can be a year of diplomacy, says UN envoy

New York, Jan 6 (Just Earth News): Looking back over the past month, which saw some of the most difficult challenges for humanitarian workers in Syria but which also witnessed evacuations of thousands of civilians from war-ravaged eastern Aleppo, United Nations envoys for Syria said on Thursday that things have to change in 2017 and that “it can change in 2017.”

US removal of textbook with ‘distorted’ depiction of slavery from classrooms applauded by UN experts

New York, Jan 6 (Just Earth News): A team of United Nations human rights experts is supporting a recent decision by a United States school district in Connecticut to remove offensive and inaccurate historical information about slavery from its classrooms.

UN agency data on labour migration shows 160 million migrants in global workforce

New York, Jan 6 (Just Earth News): There are about 160 million migrant workers around the world, according a recent United Nations study, which provides useful labour migration data for policy makers as they seek to make headway on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.