President Obama, a few cabinet officials and representatives from civil society and the private sector are all on the agenda for a Global Development Summit in DC today. “The final months of the Administration are a time for reflection — not just on policy reforms and the debates that underpin our own democratic society, but on the change we hope to see continue in the future. We’ve made real progress over the last eight years, progress that has translated to meaningful impact in the lives of millions around the world. ….President Obama will host the White House Summit on Global Development. This is an opportunity for development leaders, public and private sector partners, civil society, diplomats, and entrepreneurs to celebrate shared contributions that have led to dramatic progress in global health, energy, food security, good governance, partnership, and youth engagement.” (White House http://bit.ly/2arRrJ0)
Speaker lineup and livestream here. Events kick off at 9am EST: http://bit.ly/2arRrJ0
Major Attack in Mali…”At least 12 soldiers were killed when militants attacked an army base and an adjacent town in central Mali on Tuesday, firing on troop positions, burning buildings and pillaging shops, officials said.’They attacked the city and the army posts, plundered stores, burned public buildings and then left,’ army spokesman Souleymane Maiga told Reuters. At least 12 soldiers were killed and 27 wounded in the attack, according to a senior local elected official and a local security source. The official said the assailants had briefly taken control of the military base in Nampala, in semi-desert scrubland close to the Mauritanian border, and that Malian troops had then retreated to nearby Diabaly to regroup.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/2arR5SX)
US-Led Coalition Airstrikes Said to Kill Scores of Syrian Civilians…”At least 56 civilians, including 11 children, have been killed in US-led air strikes against areas in Syria held by the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS), a monitoring group said. Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, said that at least one town near the city of Manbij was allegedly hit by a coalition strike and that many of the casualties were reportedly women and children. “The US central command has confirmed to Al Jazeera that it was conducting air strikes in the area and says it needs to investigate allegations of whether civilians were injured or killed in this incident.” (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/2arSCbq)
Africa
Although fighting has subsided since President Salva Kiir called for a unilateral ceasefire on 11 July, civilians continue to fear for their lives as they try to navigate the many checkpoints along the road, manned by unruly, trigger-happy soldiers from the national army, also called the SPLA.(Guardian http://bit.ly/29KSh2W)
More than 5,000 people – primarily women and children under the age of 18 years – have fled from South Sudan to neighbouring Uganda since the latest violence in the country erupted on 7 July, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (UN News http://bit.ly/2arQXmf)
At least 14 Somali civilians were killed and three others wounded following a shooting between Ethiopian troops and al-Shabab fighters in southwestern Somalia on Sunday, officials and witnesses said. (VOA http://bit.ly/29LWthV)
A Kenyan high court charged four police officers on Monday with murder over what human rights groups say were the extra-judicial killings of an activist lawyer, his client and their driver in late June. (Reuters http://bit.ly/29KTd7r)
Evan Mawarire, the pastor who has emerged as leader of Zimbabwe’s new protest movement, has called on citizens to “scale the wall of fear” and speak out over the country’s mounting crisis. (AFP http://yhoo.it/29LWG51)
MENA
More than 15,000 education staff in Turkey have been suspended after last week’s failed coup, as a purge of state officials widens still further. The ministry of education accused them of links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric the Turkish government says was behind Friday’s uprising. (BBC http://bbc.in/2arTMUE)
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that Islamic State fighters could set up new cells across Libya and north Africa as they are driven from their stronghold of Sirte. (AFP http://yhoo.it/29LX2Zh)
Bahrain has rebuffed its British and US allies over a controversial ban on the kingdom’s largest opposition group, insisting it will brook no interference in its internal affairs. (AFP http://yhoo.it/29KSTp7)
Asia
Suspected Maoist rebels have ambushed and killed 10 paramilitary soldiers in one of India’s deadliest attacks so far this year. (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/2arSTeN)
Indonesian authorities have confirmed the country’s most wanted militant outlaw has been killed in a gunbattle with police. (VOA http://bit.ly/29KSZxh)
A leak of HIV carriers’ identities in China was a violation of their “fundamental right”, the World Health Organization said, after reports that hundreds of infected people were approached by telephone swindlers. (AFP http://yhoo.it/29Jpz64)
Pakistani authorities have barred the family of a murdered social media celebrity from legally “forgiving” their son for strangling her, sources said, in a rare stand against the so-called practice of “honor killings”. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/29KUQ4S)
Police in Mumbai said they suspect a criminal gang which preys on poor people for their organs is behind a kidney transplant racket at a top hospital, the latest such case in India where a shortage of organs is fuelling a black-market trade. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/29LWt1I)
The Americas
Colombia’s constitutional court gave its approval for a popular referendum on a historic peace deal being negotiated with FARC rebels. (AFP http://yhoo.it/29KTIOV)
Anti-poverty groups in Mexico accused the national statistics agency of arbitrarily changing the way it measures income surveys so poverty appears to be less of a problem. (AP http://yhoo.it/2a5r4uH)
A plan to fight the mosquito that spreads Zika and other illnesses by releasing genetically modified versions of the insect in the Cayman Islands has been put on hold following a court challenge. (AP http://yhoo.it/2a5qJIs)
…and the rest
Racism is one of the underlying causes of the HIV epidemic and one of the reasons why it has not yet been brought to an end, according to actress and Aids campaigner Charlize Theron, who says that people are afraid to talk about it. (Guardian http://bit.ly/29KURFY)
Researchers on Tuesday praised progress made towards developing an HIV cure, but said it was impossible to tell when or even if a cure for the devastating epidemic would be found. (AFP http://yhoo.it/29LWLWr)
The top United Nations human rights official urged Turkey on Tuesday to uphold the rule of law in the wake of the failed coup and voiced “serious alarm” at the mass suspension of judges and prosecutors. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/29KT1VG)
Opinion/Blogs
The SDGs are not yet a year old and already they are making a difference (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/29JsvzK)
Water and sanitation for all? We need these five organisational changes (Guardian http://bit.ly/29KSPGe)
Why Somaliland now needs international recognition (IRIN http://bit.ly/2a5sYeN)
Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: The Sooner, the Better (Inter Press Service http://bit.ly/29KTY0r)
Boris Johnson is perfectly in tune with Britain’s post-colonial lament (Guardian http://bit.ly/29KU08z)
Why “what works?” is the wrong question: Evaluating ideas not programs (Chris Blattman http://bit.ly/29Jsv2J)
Rethinking development research (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/29Jt64j)
It will take more than $36 billion every year to end AIDS (The Conversation http://bit.ly/29Rh467)