Sunday, Sep 6, 2026

• India's four new labour codes, in force since May 2026, contain no explicit climate-change provisions: the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code's 10-worker threshold excludes most informal workers, and women in climate-exposed sectors like agriculture and domestic work earn 24-34% less than men, according to IndiaSpend. ISignal
• The UN passed a resolution on September 4 designating November 27 as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage, led by Sierra Leone and co-sponsored by 50 nations including India, which cited India's "Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat" campaign; child marriage among women aged 20-24 fell from 23.3% (2019-21) to 20.1% (2023-24). Newslaundry
• The Bombay High Court's Kolhapur bench ruled a 75-year-old woman, wholly dependent on her deceased unmarried son, is entitled to family pension despite having three married daughters, holding that "only surviving child" means no child able to provide economic support. LiveLaw
• The Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered the release of a 17-year-old wrongly tried as an adult after police misstated his birth date, and fined the Station House Officer of Samisragudem Police Station ₹10,000 personally. LiveLaw
• The Registrar General of India's office and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment disagreed at a June 1 meeting over using existing caste lists for Census 2027, with the ministry revising its record on June 11 to say it maintains only constitutionally mandated lists. The Wire
• The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0 has issued 673,979 guarantees worth ₹2,50,024 crore against a ₹2.55 lakh crore target open till March 31, 2027, with micro, small and medium enterprises accounting for 97.3% of guarantees by number, per a Press Information Bureau release. Social News XYZ
• Eight people, including a software engineer, an autorickshaw driver and a theatre artist, remain jailed since April's wage protests by roughly 40,000 Noida workers; the Allahabad High Court called police claims against 25-year-old theatre artist Aakriti Chaudhary a "concocted story," yet she remains held across 11 FIRs (First Information Reports). Article 14

• Voter deletions from Delhi's draft electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision, over 47 lakh names or roughly 33% of the electorate, exceeded 2025 assembly winning margins in 68 of 70 seats, according to a Sabar Institute study. Scroll.in
• Rajasthan High Court Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma called "baseless" allegations by Supreme Court Justice Sandeep Mehta that he manipulated case listings for wealthy litigants; the Supreme Court collegium has recommended Justice Sanjay K Agrawal replace him before his retirement on September 26. Scroll.in
• Former civil servant Ashish Joshi says Delhi Police filed a First Information Report against him under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 192 over an August 26 social media post about a "Nuremberg-style trial" of the Chief Election Commissioner, and that he was separately questioned over a post on alleged tensions between the Home Minister and the Home Secretary. Scroll.in
• Manipur's Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam told the state assembly at least 306 people have been killed and 49 remain missing since Meitei-Kuki-Zo-Hmar violence began in May 2023; the Chief Minister said 60,000 were displaced, with 36,000 resettled and 24,000 still in relief camps. Scroll.in
• Six unrecognised Gujarat-based parties collected ₹1,700 crore in donations in FY2023-24, more than the ₹1,480 crore raised by five national parties combined; the Aam Janmat Party alone raised ₹620 crore, more than double the Congress's ₹281 crore, while fielding 15 candidates against the national parties' 893. Scroll.in
• Upcoming: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the 28th meeting of the Western Zonal Council on Monday, September 7, in Panaji, Goa, covering Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Dadra & Nagar Haveli/Daman & Diu, with an agenda spanning crimes against women and children, fast track courts and rural banking access. Odisha Diary
• Upcoming: the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's Advance Release Calendar has the Index of Industrial Production due September 28 and the 2024-25 Annual Survey of Industries results due September 29.

• Nine of the United Democratic Party's 12 MLAs are reportedly in talks to merge with the BJP over demands including amending the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act and adding Khasi to the Eighth Schedule; Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said even a mass defection would not destabilise the government given the National People's Party's 33-seat majority. The Shillong Times
• National People's Party national vice-president Sniawbhalang Dhar, campaigning for Lok Sabha bypoll candidate D.R.L. Nonglait, said "We will remain in this uniform" and that cooperation with the BJP "means we are working for development," not a change of allegiance. The Shillong Times
• Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee president Vincent H. Pala denied talk of Wanwei Roy Kharlukhi joining Congress after Kharlukhi's August 24 resignation from the National People's Party, saying "I have not met Kharlukhi"; Kharlukhi himself said only "I have not stopped, nor am I saying yes." The Shillong Times
• Former United Democratic Party general secretary Jemino Mawthoh, who left active politics 15 months ago, will formally join the BJP in Shillong on September 12, citing Centre-state relations, and acknowledged the party's "Hindutva" perception problem in the Khasi Hills. The Shillong Times
• Independent Dr O.S. Jyrwa criticised the Voice of the People Party-led Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council's proposed Land Bill and Land Ceiling Act for dropping a clause that mandated consultation with village heads, and said toll gates have increased despite a pre-election promise to remove them. Meghalaya Monitor
• The state government told the High Court it will suspend all Shree Cement project activity pending litigation and form a fact-finding committee, but the Jaintia Students' Union is demanding an independent, court-monitored probe instead, calling government reports "vague and evasive"; the next hearing is September 7. The Shillong Times
• The Khasi Students' Union gave the government a three-day ultimatum to make arrests over the July 30-31 attack during the Shree Cement public hearing in Lum Syrman, East Jaintia Hills, among five demands including implementation of the Migrant Workmen Act. Meghalaya Monitor
• Police arrested a fifth Khasi Students' Union leader, Mihngi Samuel Kharbani, over an incident at the Central Bureau of Investigation office in Mawdiangdiang, while a second person questioned was released; East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said more arrests are possible. The Shillong Times
• Overnight incidents in Shillong included a burning tyre and a handwritten Khasi-language warning against "random" arrests at Mawblei, and a petrol bomb thrown at the MECOFED wholesale market in Mawiong causing minor door damage, days before a September 7 High Court hearing on the August 19 violence; police said damage was minimal. The Shillong Times
• East Khasi Hills District Magistrate Abhilash Baranwal issued a no-drone-zone order for a 3km radius around the State Central Library and Lok Bhavan in Shillong for September 7-8, ahead of Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan's visit. Meghalaya Monitor
• Upcoming: the Vice-President will lay foundation stones for five projects worth ₹1,010.95 crore on September 7-8 in Shillong, including the ₹850.58 crore New Shillong Water Supply Scheme Phase-II serving roughly 4.34 lakh people, the Umngot River Bridge, and a 30-bed AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) facility at Shillong Civil Hospital. The Shillong Times
• Advocate General Amit Kumar told the High Court the draft Meghalaya Groundwater and Springs (Regulation, Conservation and Management) Bill, 2026 has been circulated to departments for feedback, responding to a public interest litigation on unauthorised deep tube-well boring; the court granted a four-week extension. The Shillong Times
• The state government has engaged the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati to audit road-construction quality under the Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project, alongside two consulting firms for road safety audits. The Shillong Times
• No fresh item on the Government Innovation Lab, the State Capability Enhancement Project or Sampath Kumar turned up in the past three days; statecapability.org's most recently datable posts are from October and November 2025. Targeted searches on Foundation for Responsive Governance, Indus Action, Centre for Policy Research, IDinsight, Inclusion Economics and Rocket Learning in connection with the Meghalaya government also returned nothing dated.

Bangladesh

• An 11-party opposition alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami began a long march from Dhaka to Chattogram on September 5; at a rally in Cumilla, Jamaat Ameer and Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman said "the government is bluffing and deceiving people" over the referendum verdict and the fuel and power crisis. Prothom Alo
• Bangladesh is negotiating a third floating storage and regasification unit with China National Energy Engineering & Construction Co at a proposed daily fee of $342,000 over 15 years, 35-37% higher than existing rates; energy expert Mohammad Tamim asked, "If the previous ones were cheaper, why should we now go for a new one at a higher price?" The Daily Star
• Nearly a third of posts, 73,045 of 234,024, across three major health agencies (the Directorate General of Health Services, the Directorate General of Family Planning and the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery) are vacant; Health Services Director General Prof Pravath Chandra Biswas said directives have been issued "to take swift measures to fill the vacant posts." The Daily Star

Pakistan

• Pakistan's military said security forces killed 48 people it described as terrorists in operations across Balochistan's Mastung, Quetta, Kalat and Sibi districts over 72 hours; President Asif Ali Zardari said "the killing of more than 1,188 terrorists in Balochistan this year alone is evidence of the threats facing Pakistan." Dawn
• Major General Faisal Naseer, previously director-general of counter-intelligence since 2022, has been appointed national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Authority on a three-year secondment. Dawn
• Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Akhtar Abbas Nashad won the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly seat GBA-09 Skardu-III by-election by 455 votes, according to unofficial results, after the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court had disqualified the earlier declared winner. Dawn
• The Pakistan Peoples Party blocked National Assembly committee discussion of two gas revenue bills; party lawmaker Syed Naveed Qamar said the party was "not a coalition partner but had been supporting the government." Dawn
• Pakistan's National Electric Power Regulatory Authority approved a combined roughly ₨3 per unit rise in September electricity bills, driven mainly by expensive LNG (liquefied natural gas) spot-market purchases, with lifeline and prepaid consumers exempted. Dawn
• Jamaat-i-Islami warned of a nationwide wheel-jam strike unless the government provides economic relief. Dawn

Sri Lanka

• Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption over an alleged ₨100 million bribe linked to an Airbus aircraft purchase, and remanded until September 18 by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama. Daily Mirror
• Former Minister Johnston Fernando and Design Point (Pvt) Ltd owner Hemantha Lalith de Silva were released on bail over alleged corruption in the purchase of chairs for the Polgolla Mahinda Rajapaksa Auditorium. Daily Mirror
• Litro Gas Lanka announced a reduction in the price of domestic LP gas cylinders effective September 5. Daily Mirror

Nepal

• Nepal's flood death toll reached 1,342 as of 8am Saturday, with 4,886 people still missing; police said 1,030 bodies had been buried, 2,272 DNA samples collected, and 7,912 personnel deployed, with Chitwan district recording 360 deaths. The Kathmandu Post
• Prime Minister Balendra Shah is scheduled to address the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 24, his first foreign trip since taking office on March 27; the government had originally planned to send the Foreign Minister before revising the plan after the August 26 flood disaster. The Kathmandu Post
• Two workers, 26-year-old Ayush Rai and 27-year-old Kisan Rai, were killed and a third injured after a landslide struck a road construction site at the Super Seti Hydropower Project in Kaski district on Saturday. The Kathmandu Post
• A Chinese national was pulled alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal 10 days after the flooding began. The Kathmandu Post

Bhutan

• No dated items surfaced from Kuensel or The Bhutanese within the past three days despite checking front pages, sitemaps and site-restricted search; the most recent confirmed Kuensel item was from September 2 and the most recent Bhutanese item was a week old. Not treated as a quiet news day, since it reflects what the available fetch methods could reach rather than confirmed coverage.

Asia Pacific

• The Philippines' court ordered the arrest of Vice President Sara Duterte over a warrant tied to threats against President Marcos, his wife and a cousin. Al Jazeera
• Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim approved a state of emergency for Sarawak's Serian Division as haze from Indonesian wildfires reached hazardous levels, closing 647 schools, government offices, plantations, construction sites and quarries. Al Jazeera
• The Philippine peso has plunged to a record low, Al Jazeera reported in an explainer on the currency's slide. Al Jazeera

Africa

• France denied Niger's accusation that it orchestrated a failed military mutiny, calling the claim "pure fantasy." Al Jazeera
• At least five people were killed in an attack by a rebel group in Sudan's South Kordofan. Al Jazeera
• Following the Pretoria peace deal, former combatants in Ethiopia's Tigray region are finding common ground, Al Jazeera reported. Al Jazeera
• The UN General Assembly adopted the "Correct the Map" resolution, sponsored by African Union states and the Bahamas, promoting the Equal Earth map projection over the Mercator projection, which makes Greenland appear the same size as Africa despite Africa being about 14 times larger; the vote passed 164-1, with the United States casting the sole "no" vote. Al Jazeera
• Tunisia arrested journalist Mohamed Yousfi amid what Al Jazeera described as a crackdown on government critics. Al Jazeera
• Ghana tightened gold export rules in a push to keep more value from its mining sector in the country. Al Jazeera
• Tunisia's top court upheld the conviction of opposition figures and activists. Al Jazeera
• The Democratic Republic of Congo joined countries pledging to move their embassy to Jerusalem. Al Jazeera
• A UN-backed probe found that foreign fighters and external support are fuelling Sudan's war. Al Jazeera
• Somalia repelled an armed assault on Baidoa amid regional political tensions. Al Jazeera
• Victims filed suit against the South African government over the 1960 Sharpeville massacre. Al Jazeera
• Kenya's aviation strike ended, though the underlying dispute remains unresolved. Al Jazeera
• Morocco's ruling coalition partners turned on each other ahead of the election campaign. Al Jazeera
• A South African writer with a doctorate in industrial sociology described being offered 600 rand ($37) an hour by an artificial intelligence company to train its systems on his professional judgment, against a national minimum wage of 30.23 rand ($2) an hour and 47.4% youth unemployment. Rest of World

Latin America

• Argentina's President Javier Milei said sovereignty over the Falkland Islands "remains a national objective," reigniting the territorial dispute. Al Jazeera
• The Colombian government reported three people killed in a rebel attack on a military post. Al Jazeera
• Cuban and Afghan immigrants deported from the United States under President Trump arrived in Guyana. Al Jazeera
• Twin blasts at a Bolivian military facility in Viacha, about 30km from La Paz, hit an area used to store pyrotechnic material; health director Rita Nebraska said "between 10 and 15 people were believed to have been killed and 62 others were injured," with seven still missing. Al Jazeera
• Ecuador defended a US operation sinking vessels as a joint anti-drug effort. Al Jazeera
• Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez told Reuters that US military operations in Costa Rica could benefit national security if targeting "transnational crime, transnational drug trafficking, transnational terrorism," while saying congressional approval would be required and there are no current plans for US forces to operate domestically. Al Jazeera
• Brazil's Supreme Court is roiled by a dispute between justices, Al Jazeera reported. Al Jazeera
• Chilean police clashed with protesters outside a far-right forum. Al Jazeera
• The United States imposed a new round of sanctions squeezing the Cuban economy. Al Jazeera
• Haiti's government called for renewal of the international anti-gang task force. Al Jazeera

Middle East

• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced plans to expel Palestinians from Gaza; Ben-Gvir said Israel has "a plan to forcibly expel all 2.1 million Palestinians from Gaza over the next six years, starting with 250,000 people in the first year," and Katz said there is "no real solution for Gaza without migration." The New Humanitarian
• The United Arab Emirates developer Arada signed a $7 billion agreement with Syria's new Sovereign Fund to build a "New Damascus" project spanning 4 million square metres, including housing for displaced residents. The New Humanitarian
• Gaza recovery teams retrieved the remains of 55 people nearly three years after an Israeli strike. Al Jazeera
• Israel claimed control of Lebanon's Ali al-Taher ridge. Al Jazeera
• Israel's campaign of West Bank destruction has moved on to the region's "food basket," a feature reported. Al Jazeera
• At least four civilians were killed in a Houthi missile strike near Yemen's Taiz. Al Jazeera
• Yemen's internationally recognised government launched its own air attacks on the Houthis. Al Jazeera
• The US ambassador to Israel said Israel must guarantee the safety of the West Bank population amid what Al Jazeera's headline called "settler pogroms." Al Jazeera
• The US rejected Israeli suggestions of removing Palestinians from Gaza. Al Jazeera
• Fitch removed Qatar from its negative rating watch list as risks to its liquefied natural gas sites eased. Al Jazeera

Europe

• Two pilots were killed after a Greek fighter jet crashed during an air show. Al Jazeera
• Tens of thousands marched in Zagreb demanding the government remove over 30,000 tonnes of illegally dumped hazardous waste near Gospic; Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said a contractor had been selected for removal, while officials' claims of no contamination were contradicted by an anti-corruption agency finding of elevated metals and "forever chemicals" in groundwater. Al Jazeera
• Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party is eyeing what Al Jazeera called a "historic first" in a state election. Al Jazeera
• Dozens of masked demonstrators dressed in black blocked access roads to England's Port of Dover on Saturday, temporarily halting Channel ferry traffic and causing a 6.4km traffic jam before access was restored by noon; the UK government said "the right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but we condemn the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption it has caused." Al Jazeera

North America

• A mock Republican convention website that topped Google search results was found to redirect users to the Epstein files. Al Jazeera
• A US regulator opened a safety investigation as Tesla launched driverless taxis. Al Jazeera
• A watchdog report alleged misconduct by a former US labour secretary under President Trump. Al Jazeera
• The US added 162,000 jobs in August, beating forecasts and raising expectations of a Federal Reserve rate move. Al Jazeera
• Missouri's Supreme Court blocked a Trump-backed congressional map from being used in November's midterms. Al Jazeera

Global health

• A UNICEF survey of roughly 21,000 internet-using children across 21 countries, conducted between 2020 and 2025, found 20 million children a year experience online sexual abuse or exploitation, that more than one in five children aged 12-17 were targeted on digital platforms, and that less than 1% of cases were reported to authorities; over 60% of the abuse occurred on social media, led by Facebook (50%) and WhatsApp (29%). Al Jazeera

AI policy

• OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra, which it describes as its "most intelligent and aligned" model; separately, US Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar introduced legislation to pause development of advanced artificial intelligence until federal safety rules are established and to ban "superintelligent" AI, with Sanders saying "nearly every day, there is a frightening new story about how Big Tech companies are losing control of the technology they are developing." Al Jazeera noted the bill is unlikely to pass given Republican control of Congress. Al Jazeera

• The European Union's touted "70 percent increase" in its proposed 2028-2034 development budget is actually about 44% after inflation adjustments, or about 29% after typical negotiation cuts, according to Mikaela Gavas and Laura Granito. Center for Global Development (published September 3, three days old)
• A study of Ghana's civil service found that supervisors' political behaviour in resource allocation substantially affects employee learning, attitudes and team performance. International Growth Centre (September 3, three days old)
• A randomised study across 309 mosques in Pakistan found two prosocial Friday sermons shifted men's behaviour toward women, though sermons on women's rights specifically reduced attendance by 12%. International Growth Centre (September 3, three days old)
• Research on Ghana's power instability found voltage fluctuations damage equipment and distort investment, with welfare costs that exceed estimates based on outages alone. International Growth Centre (September 3, three days old)
• A survey of Mozambique's sugar market found firms rely heavily on a single principal supplier despite multiple vendors being available, pointing to a need for stronger competition policy. International Growth Centre (September 3, three days old)
• Charles Kenny argues the OECD's Development Assistance Committee is weakening official development assistance standards by proposing to let high-income countries qualify as aid recipients, departing from the focused poverty-reduction criteria that revived aid spending in the 1990s. Center for Global Development (September 2, four days old)
• The French Development Agency published an explainer on how official development assistance is measured. AFD (September 2, four days old)
• A study in Uganda found respondents give more socially-desirable answers to unfamiliar survey enumerators than familiar ones, though familiarity did not meaningfully affect treatment-effect estimates, implying familiar-enumerator surveys can improve measurement of sensitive beliefs. Center for Global Development (September 1, five days old)
• Pete Baker's proposed "IDA Health Window," a restructured multilateral global-health financing mechanism under the World Bank's International Development Association, has gained support from the World Bank, the World Health Organization and key donors; four commentators weighed in on implementation challenges. Center for Global Development (September 1, five days old)
• A machine-learning model mapped predicted property values across 2.1 million buildings in Kampala to help expand the city's tax base and support infrastructure planning. International Growth Centre (September 1, five days old)
• GiveWell described how its Cross-Cutting research subteam is investigating programme impact and improving data collection as the organisation scales. GiveWell (September 3, three days old)
• GiveWell said it raised $616 million in 2025 and directed $427 million to programmes expected to save an additional 86,000 lives. GiveWell (August 31, six days old)

Checked and found nothing new in the past seven days: Coefficient Giving, GiveDirectly, Teaching at the Right Level, Ford Foundation, the Agency Fund, Norad, BRAC (aside from an individual corporate donation, out of scope), the Gates Foundation, World Bank research and data pages, BMZ, GIZ, Sida, DFAT, Global Affairs Canada (aside from an individual disbursement, out of scope), the Netherlands, and the EU's DG INTPA. USAID's functions have been folded into the US State Department's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy; no dated State Department release fell inside the seven-day window.

• France recorded its hottest summer since measurements began in 1900, at an average 24°C, 3.6°C above normal, with rainfall nearly 40% below normal; the heatwaves caused 2,025 excess deaths, mostly among people over 45, and Belgium, Britain and Ireland also set summer heat records. Al Jazeera
• The World Meteorological Organization said it has near-100% confidence, its strongest ever expressed, that El Nino will continue through February and peak toward the end of 2026, with sea surface temperatures running 2.2-2.6°C above average and some subsurface areas over 8°C above normal; Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said the event could be "stronger than anything since our monitoring began." Al Jazeera
• The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Price Index reached 133.3 points in August, its highest since late 2022, rising for a third straight month; chief economist Maximo Torero said "climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disrupted trade logistics are converging to tighten supply expectations." Al Jazeera
• Nepal's foreign minister requested $20 million from the UN's Loss and Damage Fund on September 3 following a glacier collapse near the Nepal-China border that killed over 1,250 people, calling the sum "definitely not adequate" against estimated direct losses of $2.56 billion; the fund has yet to make its first country payout. The New Humanitarian
• Analysts said more support is needed to power Africa's food systems with renewable energy, citing upfront costs, fragmented markets and limited financing as barriers to renewable-driven productivity gains for food businesses. Climate Home News
• A comment piece questioned the transparency of the UK government's move to swap grants for a loan-based rainforest financing mechanism to fund a bus-fare cap, calling it a "budget juggling trick." Climate Home News
• An analysis argued Israel's bombing of Gaza has left the territory more vulnerable to climate change, examining how infrastructure destruction affects Palestinian emissions and adaptive capacity. Climate Home News