The US has pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling it a “cesspool of political bias.”
The country’s envoy to the UN Ms. Nikki Haley announced America’s intention to quit the council at a joint news conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called the council “a poor defender of human rights.”
The UN envoy on her part said the “hypocritical and self-serving” body “makes a mockery of human rights.”
Formed in 2006, the Geneva-based council has been criticised for allowing countries with questionable human rights records to be members.
But activists said the US move could hurt efforts to monitor and address human rights abuses around the world.
Many allies have tried to convince the United States to remain in the council.
Even many who agree with Washington’s long standing criticisms of the body believe the United States should actively work to reform it from within, rather than disengaging.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in a statement released through his spokesman, responded by saying he would have “much preferred” the US to remain in the council.
The UN human rights commissioner, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, called the US withdrawal “disappointing, if not really surprising, news”.
Israel, meanwhile, has praised the decision.
The move comes amid intense criticism over the Trump administration’s policy of separating child migrants from their parents at the US-Mexico border.
On Monday, Mr. Hussein has called the policy “unconscionable.”
This is just the latest rejection of multilateralism by the Trump administration, and will likely unsettle those who look to the United States to protect and promote human rights around the world.
The United States has always had a conflicting relationship with the UN Human Rights Council.
The Bush Administration decided to boycott the council when it was created in 2006 for many of the same reasons cited by the Trump administration.
The then UN ambassador was John Bolton – who is currently President Trump’s national security adviser and a strong critic of the UN.
It wasn’t until years later, in 2009, that the United States re-joined under the Obama administration.
Canada legalises recreational cannabis use
Canada’s parliament has passed a law legalising the recreational use of marijuana nationwide.
The Cannabis Act passed its final hurdle on Tuesday in a 52-29 vote in the Senate.
The bill controls and regulates how the drug can be grown, distributed, and sold.
Canadians will be able to buy and consume cannabis legally as early as this September.
The country is the second worldwide to legalise the drug’s recreational use.
Uruguay became the first country to legalise the sale of cannabis for recreational use in December 2013, while a number of US states have also voted to permit it.
Cannabis possession first became a crime in Canada in 1923 but medical use has been legal since 2001.
The bill will likely receive Royal Assent this week, and the government will then choose an official date when the law will come into force.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that until now, “it’s been too easy for our kids to get marijuana – and for criminals to reap the profits.”
But some groups objected to the new law, with opposition conservative politicians and indigenous groups among those voicing concerns.
The government is expected to give the provinces and territories, as well as municipalities, eight to 12 weeks to set up the new marijuana marketplace.
This time-frame will also allow industry and police forces to prepare for the new legal framework.
In 2015, Canadians were estimated to have spent about C$6bn ($4.5bn, £3.4bn) on cannabis – almost as much as they did on wine.
READ ALSO: US child migrants: Melania speaks out on Trump separation policy
The minimum legal age to buy and consume marijuana has been set federally at 18, but some provinces have chosen to set it at 19.
Migrant family separations: Republicans scramble as border crisis grows
Republicans are scrambling to draft a bill to address the growing outcry over the policy of separating migrant families at the US-Mexico border.
US President Donald Trump told a group of House Republicans he would back any immigration bill they pass, a White House spokesman said.
The Republican-controlled Congress is under pressure to curb the policy after it sparked widespread condemnation.
But the president says it is necessary to curb illegal border crossing.
“We had a great meeting,” Mr. Trump said after meeting Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday night.
It was unclear if any progress was made, but White House spokesman, Raj Shah, said in a statement that Mr. Trump told the group of lawmakers he would endorse their immigration legislation.
The president said in the meeting that separating parents and children was “certainly not an attractive thing and does look bad,” Representative Tom Cole said.
Earlier on Tuesday Mr. Trump said children had to be taken away if their parents were jailed for illegally crossing the US border.
“When you prosecute the parents for coming in illegally – which should happen – you have to take the children away,” he said.
According to the BBC, US immigration officials said 2,342 children were separated from 2,206 parents from May 5 to June 9 amid a “zero-tolerance” crackdown on illegal immigration brought in by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso said on Tuesday that the family separations were “cruel and inhuman,” and clearly violated human rights.
The US Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, two of the top US business groups, called for the Trump administration to end the policy, calling it “contrary to American values.”
Governors from at least eight US states – including two Republicans – have said they will reverse their decision to send National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border over the separation policy.
More deaths in Nicaragua violence as talks collapse
At least three people were killed and many injured as government forces in Nicaragua launched an operation to regain control of the city of Masaya.
Residents told the BBC that security forces and militias used disproportionate force to clear barricades on Tuesday.
The operation was launched a day after the collapse of talks between President Daniel Ortega’s government and the opposition.
More than 180 people have died in two months of anti-government protests.
Residents in Masaya say militias loyal to Mr. Ortega were responsible for most of the violence.
They arrived in the early hours of Monday on tractors and lorries to regain control of the city.
Young protesters used homemade mortars and slingshots to repel them, Reuters news agency reports.
A former stronghold of the Sandinista Revolution in the 1970s, Masaya has now become a symbol of opposition to the Ortega administration.
The barricades were set up weeks ago in cities across Nicaragua by opposition activists, who are demanding the resignation of Mr. Ortega.
The protests were triggered by government cuts to pensions and social security announced on 18 April.
The legislation, which has since been revoked, prompted nationwide demonstrations.
Many people died in the marches – most of them university students – after a government crackdown.
The opposition now demands the resignation of Mr. Ortega, a former Sandinista leader, and his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo.
Mr. Ortega, who has been in office for 11 years, says he was democratically elected in 2016 with more than 70% of the vote and intends to serve out his term until 2021.
The government accuses protesters of wanting to stage a coup d’etat.