The United Nations General Assembly has voted by a large majority to grant UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk a second four-year term, despite strong opposition from the United States, Russia and Israel. The decision came after member states rejected calls to delay the vote and instead backed Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ recommendation to keep Turk in office when his current term expires in October. The 193-member General Assembly approved the extension with 144 countries voting in favor, while 10 countries voted against the proposal and 13 abstained. Before the final vote, member states also rejected a Russian proposal that would have extended Turk’s mandate only until the end of 2026 instead of giving him another full term. Turk has become one of the UN’s most outspoken voices on global human rights issues during his first term. He has repeatedly criticized Russia’s military actions in Ukraine and raised concerns over Israel’s conduct during the conflict in Gaza. He has also called for investigations into deaths that occurred in US immigration detention facilities. His willingness to publicly challenge major world powers has drawn criticism from several governments, including Washington, Moscow and Tel Aviv. The vote reflected growing tensions between the United States and the United Nations under President Donald Trump’s administration. In recent years, Washington has reduced financial support for several UN agencies and withdrawn from multiple international bodies. The administration has argued that reforms are needed before the United States continues its current level of participation and funding. Before the vote, the United States urged the General Assembly to postpone the decision for further consultations. US Representative for UN Management and Reform Jeff Bartos warned member states that approving the appointment without additional debate would damage the organization’s credibility. He said the United States would review its future engagement, participation and financial contributions if the assembly ignored its concerns. The US State Department also criticized the process before the vote, describing it as rushed and lacking sufficient discussion among member countries. Officials argued that member states should have been given more time to examine the proposal before making a final decision. Despite those objections, a broad coalition of countries supported Turk’s reappointment. The European Union strongly backed the extension, along with many African and Latin American nations. China also voted in favor of the proposal, helping secure the overwhelming majority needed for approval. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres nominated Turk for a second term after working closely with him for several years. Guterres, who is due to leave office in December, praised Turk’s experience and commitment to defending human rights around the world. Turk, an Austrian lawyer, has spent decades working within the United Nations in senior positions based in Geneva as well as field assignments, including Kosovo. With the latest vote, he will become the first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to serve two full four-year terms since the position was established in 1993. Human Rights Watch welcomed the decision, arguing that strong and independent leadership is needed at a time when democratic freedoms are facing increasing pressure in many parts of the world. The organization’s UN director, Louis Charbonneau, said the global human rights situation requires a commissioner willing to challenge powerful governments regardless of their influence. Russia and Israel strongly criticized the outcome after the vote. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations accused Turk of showing political bias and making unfair allegations against Moscow. Israeli officials also condemned the decision, describing it as a mistake and arguing that the appointment should have been left to the next UN secretary general rather than being decided during Guterres’ final months in office. The result highlights the continuing divisions within the United Nations over human rights issues and the organization’s relationship with some of its most influential member states. While a large majority of countries supported Turk’s leadership, the objections raised by the United States, Russia and Israel suggest that debates over the UN’s role and future direction are likely to continue throughout his second term.

Independent ballistic and forensic experts have confirmed to the BBC that injuries sustained by protesters during the 20 July demonstrations in Delhi were caused by birdshot from 12-gauge pellet guns. The protests, led by the Cockroach Janta Party over repeated exam paper leaks, faced a heavy police and paramilitary crackdown near parliament. While government ministers and Delhi Police have denied deploying pellet guns, insisting only batons and tear gas were used, hospital records, X-rays, and multiple victims verify dozens of small metal pellets embedded in bodies. Among the injured is 19-year-old student Sahil Lochab, who risks losing an eye, and a journalist who documented 30 pellet wounds. If officially verified, this represents the first instance of Indian security forces using pellet guns for crowd control within the capital.

Romania’s parliament has voted to double the annual hunting quota for brown bears to nearly 900 animals in an effort to manage Europe’s largest population outside Russia, which is estimated at between 10,000 and 13,000. The legislation aims to curb an increasing frequency of human-bear encounters driven by urban sprawl, habitat fragmentation, and climate change. Human deaths caused by bear attacks in Romania have reached nearly 30 over the past two decades, with animals regularly entering mountain towns to scavenge for food. Conservationists and wildlife experts argue the expanded culling quota will fail to solve urban encroachment because trophy hunters target large animals deep within forests. Critics maintain that existing safety measures, including fines for tourists feeding wildlife, subsidised electric fencing, and proper municipal waste management, are not being sufficiently enforced. In addition to state-sanctioned culls, local municipal authorities retain legal powers granted in 2021 to shoot individual bears that intrude directly into private residential properties.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has submitted a proposed constitutional reform to the country’s government-controlled National Assembly that would extend presidential terms from six to seven years. The legislative body is expected to formally approve the changes in September, further cementing the rule of the 80-year-old leader, who has governed the Central American nation continuously since 2007. The proposed constitutional overhaul also includes explicit provisions to disqualify opposition figures whom the regime labels as “traitors” or “coup plotters” from seeking public office. The move follows previous constitutional amendments passed by the assembly, including the elimination of presidential term limits in 2014 and the extension of terms from five to six years in 2024. That same year, the legislature formally designated Ortega’s wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo, as “co-president”, establishing a direct path of succession in the event of Ortega’s permanent absence. Human rights organisations and international bodies, including the United Nations, continue to raise alarms over the steady dismantling of democratic institutions in Nicaragua. Following anti-government protests in 2018 that resulted in more than 300 deaths at the hands of security forces, the regime carried out widespread arrests ahead of the November 2021 presidential election. Dozens of potential opposition candidates were detained, forced into exile, or stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship and property, leaving Ortega to secure re-election without viable political competition.