Sinn Féin says united Ireland 'within touching distance' as the party claim the post of Northern Ireland first minister for the first time.

Northern Ireland’s devolved government has reconvened and appointed Michelle O’Neill as first minister in a historic moment for Sinn Féin and Irish nationalism.

Earlier this week the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, appealed for increased attention on Myanmar from the international community citing the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the country. 

Ahead of the third anniversary of the military coup, Türk stated “Amid all of the crises around the world, it is important no one is forgotten. The people of Myanmar have been suffering for too long."

Britain will consider recognising a Palestinian state as part of concerted efforts to bring about an “irreversible” peace settlement, the foreign secretary, David Cameron, has said.

Palestinians must have “a political horizon so that they can see that there is going to be irreversible progress to a two-state solution”, Lord Cameron said in a speech on Monday night at a reception in London.

On Wednesday, South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation said that all states should stop funding Israel's military actions in Gaza after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined that those actions could amount to genocide. 

Naledi Pandor states that the ICJ ruling "makes it clear that it is plausible that genocide is taking place against the Palestinian people in Gaza. This necessarily imposes an obligation on all states to cease funding and facilitating Israel's military actions."

The International Court of Justice ordered provisional measures, in South Africa's case that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention. 

The court adopted “provisional measures,” or binding orders, that include requiring Israel to prevent genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza, enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance, and prevent and punish incitement to commit genocide.

In an interview with UN News, UNICEF representative in Sudan, Mandeep O'Brien, stated that the war in Sudan is a "living nightmare for children."

According to O'Brien the conflict has displaced more than 3.5 million girls and boys.

Further, nearly 2 million are in urgent need of lifesaving vaccines. And over 7.4 million do not have access to safe drinking water. 

Sixty Syrian migrants have been rescued by Cypriot authorities on Wednesday after being lost at sea for 6 days. 

The migrants were spotted by a merchant vessel on a small wooden fishing boat about 30 nautical miles off Cape Greco. 

According to Cyprus’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, all migrants have been hospitalized, including three children and one man who were found unconscious. Officials stated that they were all dehydrated. 

The boat reportedly left from Lebanon on 18 January. 

A recent article published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlights the Bangladeshi police abuse occurring in Rohingya camps. 

In the past decade, nearly a million Rohingya have fled persecution by the Myanmar military. Those who have fled currently live in refugee settlements in Bangladesh. 

Tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Wednesday to protest economic and labor reforms proposed by President Javier Milei.

The 12-hour strike coordinated by Argentina's largest union, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), is the most significant opposition to Milei's proposed austerity measures since he took office in December 2023. 

Turkey’s parliament has voted in favour of Sweden joining Nato, leaving Hungary the sole Nato member yet to ratify Sweden's accession.

The vote late on Tuesday paves the way for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to give Turkey’s seal of approval on Nato membership for Sweden, which dropped its centuries-old policy of military non-alignment after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.