Video: Government Co-Opting Recovery Efforts in Syria

(Geneva, June 28, 2019) – The Syrian government is co-opting humanitarian aid and reconstruction assistance, and in places using it to entrench repressive policies, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Donors and investors should make changes in their aid and investment practices to ensure that any funding they provide to Syria advances Syrians’ rights. The 91-page report, “Rigging the System: Government Policies Co-Opt Aid and Reconstruction Funding in Syria,” looks at the government’s policies for and restrictions on humanitarian assistance and reconstruction and development funding…

Read complete article

~	In Knife, his memoir of surviving attack, Salman Rushdie confronts a world where liberal principles like free speech are old-fashioned

~	It never rains but it pours: intense rain and flash floods have increased inland in eastern Australia

~	‘It could be the death of the museum’: why research cuts at a South Australian institution have scientists up in arms

~	Rugby stadiums are sold as an economic asset – but NZ needs to ask if they’re really worth it

~	The ‘devil comet’ 12P/Pons-Brooks has finally become visible from Australia. What can we expect?

~	Some families push back against journalists who mine social media for photos – they have every right to

~	I wholeheartedly recommend The President: a brilliant revival of a play of decay, terror and revulsion

~	Many prisoners go years without touching a smartphone. It means they struggle to navigate life on the outside

~	Good news: midlife health is about more than a waist measurement. Here’s why

~	Are 2 mid-career AFL retirements a sign Australian athletes are taking brain health more seriously?