At time of publication, casualties were mounting in a terrorist attack at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul. Suicide bombers reportedly blew themselves up at the entrance to the international terminal, killing dozens of people.
Latest updates: (ITV http://bit.ly/297272L)
Context: “Turkey has suffered several bombings in recent months linked to Kurdish or Islamic State group militants. The bombings included two in Istanbul targeting tourists — which the authorities have blamed on the Islamic State group. The attacks have increased in scale and frequency, scaring off tourists and hurting the economy, which relies heavily on tourism revenues. Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport was the 11th busiest airport in the world last year, with 61.8 million passengers, according to Airports Council International. It is also one of the fastest-growing airports in the world, seeing 9.2 percent more passengers last year than in 2014.” (Reuters http://yhoo.it/292qhbN)
UN Security Council elections get crazy...Five new members were elected to the UN Security Council yesterday. Or six — it depends on how you count. Ethiopia, Bolivia, Kazakhstan and Sweden were each elected the conventional way. But after five rounds of voting, neither Italy nor the Netherlands secured the requisite two thirds majority to win the last remaining seat open to the Europeans. So, they went dutch. In an agreement, the countries decided to split the two year term, one year each. Diplomacy!
Another record-setting global humanitarian appeal…”The United Nations has raised its 2016 humanitarian funding appeal to a record $21.6 billion from $19.7 billion, partly due to new disasters including a cyclone that battered Fiji and an earthquake that hit Ecuador, as well as the deepening impact of El Nino.The money will go to help 95.4 million people hit hardest by conflicts and natural disasters in 40 countries, although a total of 130 million are in need of aid, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.But even as needs are rising steadily, the 2016 appeal has received only a quarter of the total requested so far, leaving a gap of $16.1 billion.” (TRF http://tmsnrt.rs/292o7ZU)
US Zika funding looking less and less likely… “A billion-dollar bill to help address the Zika virus crisis fell apart on the Senate floor today over perennial partisan squabbles — namely, about whether to devote funding to the family planning organization Planned Parenthood…The Zika bill also contains provisions related to the environment and the display of Confederate flags that Democrats find objectionable.” (ABC http://abcn.ws/292tyId)
Africa
A campaign to vaccinate 11.6 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo against yellow fever will start on July 20, the health minister said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/290BjN4)
South Sudan has cancelled its Independence Day celebrations as it struggles to end a civil war that has left thousands dead and ravaged the economy. (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/2971Fl1)
At least 43 people were killed in fighting between armed groups and government forces around the northwest South Sudanese town of Wau last week, a government official said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/290BDeP)
Zambian police on Tuesday charged three people including two editors of a newspaper critical of the government that was shut down last week, as tensions rose in the run up to elections in August. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/290BE2q)
Access to basic services remains a challenge for Kenya’s fast-growing capital city, and in the informal settlements outside Nairobi, residents are risking their lives for access to cheap, illegal electricity. (VOA http://bit.ly/294b64f)
MENA
Yemen peace talks officially kaput…An Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Yemen’s southern port city of Mukalla on Monday that killed at least 43 people and wounding several others, officials said. The attacks came as the government and Shia Houthi rebels planned to suspend talks on ending Yemen’s larger conflict two months of negotiations held in Kuwait. (Guardian http://bit.ly/292rHTS)
An activist detained in Bahrain in an intensifying crackdown on dissent was taken to a military hospital Tuesday after suffering an irregular heartbeat following 15 days of being held in isolation, his supporters said. (AP http://yhoo.it/290Bbxh)
Asia
The Indian government on course to biometrically register country’s 1.25 billion population as part of plan to modernize administration. (Guardian http://bit.ly/290AHr2)
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the Philippines face extortion, violence and rape when seeking help from the police and do not trust law enforcement officers to protect them, a rights group said. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/290C1dh)
Bad romance…China warned the international community Tuesday of the dangerous motives of the Dalai Lama after he met with pop star Lady Gaga while in the U.S. (VOA http://bit.ly/290Byba)
Myanmar is pushing back against a report the U.S. will demote the country to the lowest level on Washington’s human trafficking index. (VOA http://bit.ly/294bvDu)
More extreme weather, linked to climate change, is raising the threat from disasters such as flooding, landslides and drought in a range of already at-risk places around the world. But moving people out of harm’s way is an enormous challenge in Sri Lanka, not least because safe places to relocate families are in short supply almost everywhere. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/294bZcG)
The Americas
Amnesty International says that a vast majority of incarcerated Mexican women face sexual torture during arrest and in the hours following. (VOA http://bit.ly/294brUi)
Nicaragua has expelled six foreign environmental activists after they were detained on allegations of handling explosive substances without authorization, a lawyer and the Mexican government said Tuesday. (AP http://yhoo.it/294aPy2)
A surge in Chinese migrants seeking a better life in the United States by illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexican border is capturing the attention of U.S. media. (VOA http://bit.ly/290BuIf)
A judge in Mexico granted a temporary stay of extradition for Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Tuesday until arguments can be heard on two appeals filed by his lawyers. (AP http://yhoo.it/290C2hC)
…and the rest
French police fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters on Tuesday during the latest march in Paris against the Socialist government’s labor reforms. (AFP http://yhoo.it/294c6VF)
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Britain on Tuesday to act to prevent further incidents of xenophobic abuse in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union, and to prosecute perpetrators. http://yhoo.it/290BSqj)
An experimental vaccine that completely protects animals from the Zika virus has raised hopes for a jab that can bring the fast-spreading disease under control. (Guardian http://bit.ly/290BYy7)
Britain should trigger the process for leaving the European Union as soon as possible, French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday in Brussels, where he is attending a European Council summit. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/290CdJt)
Opinion/Blogs
Over-populated or under-developed? The real story of population growth (Guardian http://bit.ly/294bY8M)
4 scenarios eyed to keep Britain in the EU despite exit vote (AP http://yhoo.it/2948QJZ)
Has Zika transmission begun in the continental United States? (Momentum Blog, Baylor College of Medicine http://bit.ly/2968fIJ)
More people in less space: rapid urbanisation threatens global health (Guardian http://bit.ly/290BwA6)
Drought Prompts Debate on Cuba’s Irrigation Problems (Inter Press Service http://bit.ly/294bVdl)
Venezuela’s never-ending downward spiral (IRIN http://bit.ly/290BCHV)
‘Nobody Is Immune’: Bracing For Zika’s First Summer In The U.S. (Shots http://n.pr/294cgwl)
Secret aid worker: ‘High-level’ really means a club of old white men (Guardian http://bit.ly/294ccgn)
So the SDGs are agreed – what now? (The Right to Happiness http://bit.ly/292AMvX)
Transforming the poverty industry (Transformation http://bit.ly/292AFjW)
Seizing the Moment: From Early Warning to Early Action (International Crisis Group http://bit.ly/2970rq7)