UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk delivers his statement, during the 63rd regular session of the Human Rights Council, at UN headquarters in Geneva, 7 September 2026. (Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)

🗳️UN Human Rights Council elects 15 members in uncontested vote. Rights groups criticised Tuesday’s uncontested election of 15 members to the council, saying it let countries with poor rights records win seats.

💻AI and ‘speed records’ in science are on the agenda at Gesda in Geneva. The science and diplomacy foundation, which is holding its annual summit this week, put AI centre stage with the first meeting of a new collaborative network focused on innovation related to the dual-use application of the technology.

🇹🇷UN experts slam Turkey’s ‘crackdown’ on LGBTQ organisations. Ankara’s justice ministry has announced judicial measures against more than 160 individuals and 20 associations and businesses amid widespread hostility towards LGBTQ people, the UN experts said on Tuesday, and called on the country to end the harassment.

⚠️ICYMI: She’s been to Gaza. She met with the Iranians. Now she has a warning. In a wide-ranging interview, Mirjana Spoljaric, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, expresses concern that entreaties to global leaders regarding the rules of war are increasingly falling on deaf ears.

🗣Opinion: Geneva must remain a privileged place for international mediation. Peace agreements are difficult to achieve. This is particularly true for the type of diplomacy traditionally associated with Geneva: multilateral, interest-based, and grounded in international law. However, it would be wrong to conclude that Geneva has lost its relevance. Quite the contrary, writes David Harland, director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.