A man rises a copy of Islam's holy book, the Quran, during a protest against the burning a copy of the Quran in Sweden. (Credit: Keystone/Ameer Al-Mohammedawi/dpa)

Volker Türk: Quran burning incident ‘manufactured’ to divide and incite hatred. The United Nations’ human rights chief on Tuesday condemned the recent burning of a Quran in Sweden and said such actions were fabricated to provoke anger and division. Volker Türk was addressing members of the UN’s Human Right Council at a last-minute meeting called as a matter of “urgency” by Pakistan on behalf of several other Muslim countries after a man in Sweden set pages of the Quran on fire outside of a mosque. Countries will vote on the draft resolution forward at the debate today.

⚠️ UN expert warns countries against far-right’s relentless climb. The warning comes as far-right and nationalist parties continue to make inroads in Europe.

🇮🇱 UN told Israel turns Palestinian territory into outdoor prison. While several countries at the UN Human Rights Council expressed concern about Israel’s actions in Palestine, Israel did not attend the meeting.

☀️ First week of July was the 'hottest on record,' WMO confirms. The WMO also said that the advent of the hottest week ever recorded came on the heels of the hottest month of June on record.

🥅 UN warns its development goals for 2030 are in trouble and 575 million people will remain very poor. Only around 15 per cent of over 100 targets for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are currently on track for the 2030 deadline, the UN warned in a new report.

🇷🇺 Russia vetoes nine-month renewal of UN aid to Syria from Turkey. Some 4 million people were set to benefit from the aid, which included foods and medicine.