The United Nations’ humanitarian chief has defended using the term “genocide” to describe what aid workers are trying to prevent in Gaza, saying the world should not make the same mistakes seen in past violations of international law, when it wasn’t “called out soon enough.” 

Police in Mexico have arrested a retired judge accused of tampering with evidence related to the disappearance of 43 students from Iguala more than a decade ago. 

Lambertina Galeana Marín was the president of the Superior Tribunal of Justice in the state of Guerrero when the trainee teachers went missing in 2014. 

The 79-year-old is suspected of having given an order that led to the disappearance of CCTV footage which investigators said was key to the case. 

ICTJ has announced the digital release of its award-winning short animated documentary that explores the trauma and resilience of families of the disappeared in Syria. After an extensive tour of international film festivals in Asia, Europe, and North America, the acclaimed film recently returned home for its first screening in Syria. Now, it is available to audiences the world over on the ICTJ website and YouTube channel.

The nationalist party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán introduced a bill late Tuesday that would allow the government to monitor, restrict, penalize, and potentially ban organizations it deems a threat to national sovereignty, marking a significant escalation of the government’s long-running crackdown on critical media and non-governmental organizations.  

The worst fighting in Libya's capital for years calmed after the government announced a ceasefire, Tripoli residents said, while there was no immediate statement from authorities on how many people had been killed. 

Clashes broke out at the beginning of the week after the killing of a major militia leader. After calming down the following morning, the fighting reignited overnight, with major battles rocking districts across the entire city. 

Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, while Ukraine's president said his defense minister would head up Kyiv's team. 

They will be the first direct talks between the sides since March 2022, but hopes of a major breakthrough were further dented by U.S. President Donald Trump who said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin. 

Jose “Pepe” Mujica, a former leftist rebel who became Uruguay’s president from 2010 to 2015, has died at the age of 89. 

Mujica became an icon even beyond Uruguay’s borders, as he led his country to pursue environmental reforms, legalize same-sex marriage and loosen restrictions on marijuana. 

He also was celebrated for maintaining his simple lifestyle even during his presidency, when he eschewed the presidential palace in favor of the farmhouse where he grew flowers. 

President Donald Trump said he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, a major U.S. policy shift ahead of an expected meeting with Syria's Islamist President Ahmed al-Sharaa. 

Trump is set to say hello to Sharaain Saudi Arabia, a White House official said, setting up an encounter between the president and the former al Qaeda commander who took power after Bashar al-Assad was toppled.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will travel to Turkey's capital Ankara to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will be available for direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Istanbul. 

"We will do everything to ensure that this meeting takes place," he told reporters in a hastily-arranged briefing in Kyiv. 

Russia has not yet said who will fly to Istanbul, only that it would be announced "as soon as [Putin] deems it necessary". Putin and Zelensky have not themselves met since December 2019. 

International aid agencies warned that Israeli plans to control aid distribution in Gaza, including a U.S.-backed proposal, will only increase suffering and death in the devastated Palestinian territory, calling on Israel to lift its blockade on food and other supplies, now in its third month.