Nearly 34,000 children in Japan live in institutions after being taken from or abandoned by their parents. This is in stark contrast to what happens in the majority of developed countries, which place most such children in foster homes or with adoptive families. That gives the children a better chance at being raised in a home with love and support, according to a new Human Rights Watch report, Without Dreams.
As people in Nigeria continues to protest for the return of more than 200 kidnapped school girls, a car bomb shook the capital city, killing at least nine people. The explosion was near the scene of the April 14 bombing that killed at least 70. Islamist militants Boko Haram has staged numerous bombings in the area of Abuja, and their attacks in northeastern Nigeria – where the girls disappeared from – have displaced thousands of people.
EU peacekeepers have taken charge of Central African Republic’s main airport, and they try and assist the other peacekeepers – French and African troops – in stemming the violence. Nearly one million have fled their homes since December, because of fighting between warring groups, the anti-Balaka and former Seleka fighters.
Ukraine's acting president has reinstated compulsory military service “given the deteriorating situation in the east and the south”. The International Monetary Fund has approved a $17.1 billion bailout for the country.
In Syria, car bombs killed dozens of people in government-held territory in Homs, while mortar attacks in Damascus indiscriminately killed civilians. The UN Security Council orders all sides in Syria to stop attacking civilians. The Council should show it means business by imposing sanctions and referring the Syrian situation to the International Criminal Court.
