News
Child protection efforts face mounting pressure from conflict, climate and digital abuse. According to the report, nearly 19% of children globally now reside in conflict zones, a significant increase from about 10% in the 1990s. By the end of 2024, conflict and violence had displaced 48.8 million children worldwide, nearly tripling the figure of roughly 17 million recorded in 2010. The figure includes refugee and asylum-seeking children, as well as millions displaced within their own countries due to violence and conflict. Climate-related hazards are adding further complexity to the risks facing children globally. Nearly half of all children, or 1.1 billion, are exposed to at least three overlapping climate threats. According to UNICEF’s 2026 climate risk assessment, almost every child faces at least one such danger, with more than 4 million children affected by as many as six overlapping risks. These hazards include drought, extreme heat, heatwaves, floods, fires, tropical storms, and sand and dust storms. Digital threats intensify child protection issues The UN assessment highlights that digital environments have broadened the spectrum of threats to children. Data indicates that roughly one in three internet users worldwide is under 18. Annually, over 300 million children suffer online sexual exploitation and abuse, as cited by the UN office. During the past year, at least 1.2 million children reported that artificial intelligence had transformed their images into sexually explicit deepfakes. Additional dangers include
Business
The Nikkei 225 experienced a nearly 2% decline on Monday morning amid rising expectations for increased interest rates. The index dropped 1.97% to 65,096.63 before further declines pushed it to an intraday low of 64,832.10. The sell-off was primarily concentrated in technology and other rate-sensitive stocks during the session’s opening. The broader Topix also started weaker, falling 0.84% to 4,111.71, but managed to recover later in the trading day.
Travel
The influx of foreign visitors to South Korea exceeded 2 million in July 2026, driven by travel activity that remains above pre-pandemic levels. During that month, the country welcomed 2,093,223 international tourists, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. This figure represents a 20.8% increase from the 1,733,199 visitors recorded in July 2025. It also reached 144.6% of the July 2019 count, before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global travel patterns.
Health
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have begun an targeted Ebola immunization campaign in Kisangani, the administrative center of Tshopo Province, aiming to contain the country’s most severe outbreak of the virus to date. Frontline healthcare workers, emergency response personnel, and those with direct contact to confirmed cases are being prioritized during the initial rollout. Health Minister Roger Kamba confirmed that the government launched the vaccination initiative using doses of the Ervebo vaccine to protect frontline staff working in the affected eastern regions.
The European Commission has committed to purchasing €2.1 million worth of PCR tests to support the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak. These versatile, open-platform tests are intended to enhance infection detection capabilities and bolster laboratory infrastructure amid the crisis. This procurement was arranged with the assistance of the European Health and Digital Executive Agency. The delivery process is scheduled to commence in August, providing essential diagnostic supplies as health authorities battle the rising number of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The outbreak has led to a total of 5,208 confirmed cases and 2,476 fatalities reported by Congolese authorities as of Aug. 18. The epidemic now spans 56 health zones across six provinces situated in the eastern and northeastern regions. Authorities have also recorded 1,115 recoveries, while 730 patients remain hospitalized or in isolation.
Congo’s Ebola outbreak can still be contained within three months if adequate resources are provided to response teams. The latest official figures show 5,021 confirmed cases and 2,378 deaths as of Aug. 16. Currently, cases are spread across 55 health zones in six provinces, with a case fatality ratio of 47.4%. This makes it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history and the second-largest Ebola epidemic recorded worldwide.
The World Health Organization confirmed that without swift action to contain unmonitored community spread and address regional supply chain issues, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola crisis will break previous death toll records. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus indicated that the ongoing epidemic’s trajectory threatens to surpass the devastating 2014–2016 West African outbreak, which caused over 11,000 fatalities.
The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo has resulted in 1,916 fatalities and 4,209 confirmed cases, according to official figures through Aug. 7. This indicates an increase of 29 deaths from the previous update reporting 1,887. Additionally, health officials have identified 595 patients receiving treatment in isolation, while 828 individuals have recovered from the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak.
An urgent health crisis in Chad has resulted in 13 deaths since late last month, as authorities confirm an acute waterborne disease outbreak. The Ministry of Public Health of Chad reports that epidemiological data indicates a cholera epidemic causing 13 fatalities, with confirmed and suspected cases rising to 239 across the country. The official statistics show a nationwide case fatality rate of 5.4 percent, which significantly surpasses international standards for emergency outbreak response.
In 2022, obesity was associated with 9,509 fatalities in Belgium, accounting for 8.2 percent of the country’s total deaths, according to recent data from the Belgian public health institute Sciensano. This marks the first systematic effort by public health researchers in Belgium to quantify mortality directly attributable to a high body mass index (BMI). The report indicates that weight-related health issues led to more than one death every hour nationwide. The analysis also reveals that excess weight resulted in over 150,000 lost years of life across all demographic groups during the year.
