Labeling it “Orwellian,” the head of a U.N. watchdog expressed grave concern over the prospect of Iran’s potential membership on a key United Nations committee. This powerful group helps shape significant policies surrounding human rights, women’s rights, and counterterrorism efforts.

The U.N. General Assembly is scheduled for a decisive vote this November on Iran’s inclusion in the Committee for Programme and Coordination. This committee, composed of 34 member states serving three-year terms, is likely to see the vote as a mere formality, largely expected to succeed.

Though the committee doesn’t directly craft human rights treaties or condemn violations, it holds substantial sway over the administrative execution of human rights initiatives throughout the U.N.’s operations.

Despite Iran’s well-documented record of systematic human rights abuses, aggressive crackdowns on women, extensive surveillance, and lethal suppression of dissent, the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) put forth its nomination for Iran in April.

Global bodies also consider Tehran a leading state sponsor of terrorism that funds proxy militant groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. In addition, Tehran has attacked neighboring Gulf states in recent months amid a war with the United States.

“It’s the last government in the world that should have any influence,” Hillel Neuer, executive director of Geneva-based UN Watch, told News Media.

“Sadly, at the United Nations today — an organization founded after World War II out of great idealism to bring international peace — it is a case of the lunatics running the asylum,” Neuer added. “You have the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime that beats, blinds, tortures, rapes, and imprisons women for standing up for their rights or showing a few strands of hair.”

News Media reached out to the Iranian Permanent Mission to the U.N. for comment.

Iran’s appointment would not be unprecedented. The U.N. Human Rights Council’s 47 member states currently include nations with severely criticized human rights records, including China, Cuba, Pakistan and Eritrea.

“The United Nations speaks out in the name of values and principles such as human rights, democracy, freedom, equality and women’s rights,” Neuer said. “The reality is that, sadly, at least half the U.N. is made up of dictatorships.”

Tehran continues to brutally suppress basic freedoms. In July, two men were publicly hanged for participating in nationwide anti-government demonstrations, while hundreds more remain jailed or killed for demanding regime change.

In addition, the U.N. has been accused of bias for heavily criticizing Israel’s military actions in Gaza, while often failing to pass formal resolutions or issue direct condemnations against Hamas.

According to Neuer, the most disappointing aspect of Iran’s potential committee appointment is the willingness of Western democracies to acquiesce.

“The short answer is interests, cynicism, politics, dealmaking, and a culture of ‘go along to get along,'” Neuer said. “If you are the French, Canadian, or German ambassador, you don’t want to pick a fight with dozens of countries or trigger friction with Iran. They would rather simply avoid it.”

A relentless deluge of unprecedented rainwater has transformed the streets east of Tokyo into gushing torrents, claiming the lives of at least eight individuals. This devastating weather event has marooned over 10,000 travelers and commuters throughout Japan’s Chiba prefecture.

Approximately 7,000 people found themselves spending the night inside terminals at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. Floodwaters had cut off essential rail and road links, coinciding cruelly with one of Japan’s peak holiday travel seasons.

Emergency crews were seen distributing essentials like sleeping bags, water, and food as families made temporary beds in cramped departure halls on Thursday night. The scene was a somber testament to the storm’s impact.

Tragically, among the eight fatalities was a man in his 60s or 70s. He was discovered lifelessly adrift on a submerged road in Ichikawa, a grim reminder of the storm’s fury.

In another heart-wrenching incident, a 66-year-old woman perished after becoming ensnared within her flooded vehicle in Sakura. Other victims were similarly found in inundated cars or lying on flooded streets throughout the prefecture.

The scale of the downpour was extraordinary even by the standards of disaster-prone Japan, with over 14 inches of rain falling within 24 hours in parts of Chiba.

Chiba city recorded 4.5 inches in a single hour on Thursday evening, followed by more than 7 inches over three hours and 11.5 inches in six hours.

All three totals smashed local records dating back to 1966.

“This case was an extremely unusual situation, even by Japan’s historical weather standards,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai said.

“I have responded to many disasters in the past, but I have never experienced a case like this.”

Almost 230,000 residents were urged to seek safer ground as floodwaters poured through streets, swallowed cars and entered homes.

An early damage count found more than 80 homes had been flooded, but authorities warned the true figure was likely to rise as emergency crews reached more of the affected areas.

The rain knocked out power to about 68,000 households at its peak.

Roughly 23,000 remained without electricity on Friday morning.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its highest Level 5 heavy rain warning across 22 Chiba municipalities as the deluge intensified, along with its most severe landslide warning in six areas.

Those warnings were downgraded to Level 4 shortly after 5 a.m. on Friday as the worst of the rain eased.

However, forecasters warned that the atmosphere remained highly unstable and further intense thunderstorms were possible later in the day.

Waterlogged ground and swollen waterways also meant even comparatively modest rainfall could trigger fresh flooding or landslides.

At Narita, the airport company said approximately 7,000 people remained inside the terminals at 4 a.m. after buses and trains linking the airport with central Tokyo were suspended.

“I never thought I’d spend the night at the airport, but it is what it is and we are learning,” one stranded traveller told Japanese broadcaster NHK.

“We’re never going to forget this trip.”

Rail links began reopening in stages on Friday morning, although delays, cancellations and long queues continued.

Flights were operating broadly as scheduled, with Japan Airlines warning that some services could be delayed but saying no widespread cancellations were expected.

The chaos extended far beyond the airport.

More than 4,000 people spent the night inside JR Soga station after surrounding streets were submerged by water that reached as high as an adult’s waist.

As many as 1,700 other people took shelter inside the Chiba prefectural government building and a neighbouring government facility, while 11 temporary accommodation sites were opened across Chiba city.

Dozens of abandoned vehicles remained scattered across flooded roads on Friday morning.

On one stretch of road in central Chiba, more than 20 vehicles blocked traffic across approximately 492 feet.

Major highways linking Narita Airport with Tokyo were also closed or heavily congested, forcing motorists onto alternative routes.

Weather experts said the disaster was caused by a rare combination of cold air high in the atmosphere, an enormous supply of warm, moist air and converging winds over Chiba.

Tropical Storm Lala is gaining strength in the Pacific, and experts caution that it might soon transform into the first hurricane on record to impact Hawaii’s Big Island.

On Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) revised the storm’s projected path and intensity, indicating that Lala is expected to reach hurricane force by early Saturday morning.

Amos Lonokailua-Hewett, the Administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, emphasized, “Lala is intensifying, and it is crucial for residents to be ready for the potential of severe winds, torrential rain, flooding, and substantial waves.”

This occurrence would be unprecedented, marking the first recorded instance of a hurricane making landfall on Hawaii’s Big Island since the commencement of precise weather documentation in the 20th century.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell noted, “Hawaii’s Big Island has never experienced a hurricane making landfall. Only Tropical Storms Darby in 2016 and Iselle in 2014 have previously reached land on the Big Island.”

NHC upgraded their alert to an official Hurricane Warning for the Big Island (Hawaiʻi Island), and also issued Tropical Storm Watches for all of Maui County, which includes the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe.

Lala currently has sustained winds of 60 mph and is expected to begin impacting the state Friday afternoon, delivering potentially dangerous wind gusts and rain.

Once the storm arrives on Saturday, AccuWeather’s worst-case scenario warns that parts of the Big Island could see up to 30 inches of rain, deadly flash flooding and mudslides, wind gusts reaching 100 mph and ocean surges approaching six feet.

The heaviest rainfall and wind damage is expected to impact the eastern side of the Big Island, however, forecasters now predict that the entire island chain will see at least two to four inches of rain this weekend, with isolated spots seeing eight inches.

AccuWeather predicted that Lala will be a Level 2 out of 5 on their ‘Real Impact’ scale for rating hurricane damage.

This means the storm will likely cause wind damage to small buildings and trees, power outages and significant property damage in coastal communities. 

AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva warned that the oncoming storm closely resembles Hurricane Hone, which brought severe flooding and dangerous winds to the island paradise in 2024.

‘Despite never making landfall in Hawaii, Hone brought more than two feet of rain to portions of the Big Island, causing significant flooding, as well as winds in excess of 70 mph,’ DaSilva said in a statement.

The only other hurricane believed to have made landfall on the Big Island was the 1871 Kohala Cyclone but there are only unconfirmed reports from local newspapers documenting the extreme weather event.

According to Hawaiian news outlet Big Island Now, the Kohala Cyclone was a Category 3 hurricane when it struck the north side of the Big Island on August 9, 1871.

AccuWeather has projected that Tropical Storm Lala will only reach Category 1 hurricane status overnight, meaning it will have sustained winds of 75 to 95 mph.

More than one million people are spread out across the state, particularly in communities such as Honolulu, Waikiki, Kahului and Kihei.

Hawaii is in the peak of its summer travel season, with roughly 250,000 vacationers visiting beaches and other tourist attractions on any given day from June to mid-August.

Maui, Hawaii’s second-largest island and one of the state’s top vacation destinations, welcomed approximately 2.5 million visitors in 2025, drawing tourists to its world-class white and black sand beaches, luxury resorts, whale watching sites and iconic attractions such as the 64-mile-long highway known as the Road to Hāna.

Mayor Richard Bissen of Maui County said in a statement: ‘County departments have been preparing for Tropical Storm Lala, and we’re asking our community to do the same.’

‘Use today to finish securing property, making sure your home has enough food, water, supplies and medications, and check on kūpuna (grandparents), neighbors and loved ones.’

The National Weather Service added that local evacuations may be necessary in areas where heavy rainfall triggers floods. 

‘Leave immediately if evacuation orders are given for your area,’ NWS officials urged on Friday.

What may seem like harmless attention toward a child can sometimes conceal darker intentions, warns a Kentucky advocate. This caution comes as the state’s newly enacted grooming law results in its first arrest mere weeks after its implementation.

Laura Wills-Coppelman, who established Institutional Complicity Kentucky, known as ICKY, shared with News Media her perspective on the recent arrest. She views it as validation of the new legislation’s purpose, which is to offer law enforcement an earlier chance to intervene before behavior potentially escalates into sexual abuse.

“For the first time, legal measures in Kentucky enable intervention in scenarios where children might face irreversible harm,” noted Wills-Coppelman. “It’s an essential advancement in efforts to thwart child abuse.”

Just a few weeks post-enactment on July 15, the new law led to the arrest of 25-year-old Sadie M. Flores from Mayfield. She faces charges of grooming a minor, classified as a Class D felony.

The Graves County Sheriff’s Office said Flores, an employee at Graves County Middle School, allegedly had an improper relationship with a minor student in the district.

The allegation was initially reported to Graves County Schools, which immediately turned the information over to the sheriff’s office, according to authorities.

Detectives seized electronic records, conducted interviews and took other investigative steps before interviewing Flores and arresting her around 3:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office said.

Wills-Coppelman cautioned against drawing conclusions about Flores, saying the evidence and allegations in the case must now be evaluated through the court system.

But she said the arrest illustrates the significance of creating an earlier point at which authorities can investigate conduct that may precede abuse.

Wills-Coppelman said one of the biggest misconceptions about grooming is the belief that one questionable interaction can be viewed in isolation and labeled grooming.

Instead, she said grooming often unfolds gradually, with behaviors that may seem explainable on their own becoming increasingly concerning when they form a pattern.

“Grooming is a pattern of behavior that is intended to build trust, erode boundaries, and create conditions for a child to be exploited or abused,” she said.

Potential warning signs, she said, can include excessive attention or favoritism, gifts, secrecy and increasingly isolating a child from other trusted adults or peers.

Individually, some of those behaviors may have innocent explanations. The alarm, Wills-Coppelman said, comes when adults begin seeing them develop into a broader pattern over time.

And from the child’s perspective, she warned, grooming may not feel threatening at all.

“Grooming is a form of manipulation,” Wills-Coppelman said, explaining that a child may instead feel “special and seen and validated” by the attention.

“It doesn’t often register as dangerous until it’s too late,” she said.

For parents watching from the outside, however, the same relationship may begin setting off alarm bells.

“Why does this adult need so much access? Why are they being isolated so much? Why so much excessive attention?” Wills-Coppelman said parents should ask themselves.

Wills-Coppelman said survivors her organization has spoken with have repeatedly described another troubling pattern — adults who recognized something felt wrong but did not speak up at the time.

“A lot of people, bystanders, in their situations in retrospect look back and say, ‘I had an icky feeling,'” she said. “I saw something or I heard something that made me feel uncomfortable. I wish I would have spoken up.”

She stressed that reporting concerning conduct is not the same as declaring someone guilty.

Instead, she said, authorities are responsible for examining the evidence and determining whether conduct meets the threshold for criminal charges.

“The point of awareness can be the point of prevention,” Wills-Coppelman said.

That distinction has become particularly important amid concerns that ordinary interactions between teachers, coaches, youth leaders and children could be mistaken for grooming. The law makes clear that legitimate school, work and volunteer-related communications are not what it is designed to criminalize.

Wills-Coppelman rejected that characterization, calling appropriate adult-child boundaries “common sense.”

“Healthy adult-child mentorship respects appropriate boundaries. Grooming erodes them,” she said.

“The intent of the law is to create an earlier intervention point, not to criminalize ordinary relationships between adults and children.”

Wills-Coppelman said the legislation received unanimous support in both chambers of the Kentucky legislature and bipartisan backing.

House Bill 4, primarily sponsored by Republican state Rep. Marianne Proctor, passed the House 98-0 and the Senate 38-0 before the House unanimously approved the Senate’s changes. Gov. Andy Beshear signed it into law April 10.

“This is not a political issue. This is a human issue,” she said.

The pushback she has encountered, she said, has instead largely centered on due process and concerns about what happens after someone reports suspected grooming.

Wills-Coppelman said due process remains an essential part of the law because a report alone does not automatically trigger criminal charges. Investigators must evaluate the evidence before determining whether charges are warranted.

“We can preserve and respect due process and also prioritize the prevention of abuse and the protection of our children,” she said. “They are not competing principles.”

Wills-Coppelman said she ultimately hopes the law results not in more arrests, but fewer children ever reaching the point where alleged abuse occurs.

“The ultimate goal of this law is not more prosecutions,” she said. “It’s earlier recognition, awareness and understanding of what these behaviors look like and ultimately prevention.”

For Wills-Coppelman, passing the grooming law is only one piece of a larger fight.

She said she now wants Kentucky’s educator code of ethics brought into alignment with the new law and is pushing for greater accountability when people in positions of authority become aware of disturbing patterns but fail to report them.

That includes situations in which institutions attempt to handle serious allegations internally rather than referring them to the appropriate authorities, she said.

“My efforts are focused not only on the obvious villain, which is the perpetrator in these cases, but also turning some attention toward enablers, systems and institutions and the people within those organizations that had the capacity and the ability to take action and made a deliberate choice to not do so,” Wills-Coppelman said.

In the Flores case, Graves County Schools said administrators contacted law enforcement immediately after becoming aware of the allegation.

Superintendent Matt Madding said the district has since been informed that charges were filed against the teacher and pledged continued cooperation with investigators.

“We take any allegation involving the safety of a child or the professional conduct of an employee extremely seriously,” Madding said in a statement.

The district said it is limited in what it can disclose because the case remains an ongoing legal and personnel matter.

Wills-Coppelman hopes Kentucky’s approach eventually reaches far beyond the state.

She said Ohio has legislation similar to Kentucky’s, but her goal is for protections against grooming to ultimately become a nationwide standard.

“A child’s protection from grooming and abuse should never depend on geography,” she said.

For now, Kentucky’s first case under the new law will move through the courts, while the legislation itself faces its first real-world test.

And for Wills-Coppelman, its success won’t ultimately be measured by the number of people put behind bars.

“If it prevents even one child from the horrific consequences of abuse,” she said, “that makes it all worth it.”