Human rights are under assault worldwide, the United Nations chief warned on Monday, citing widespread abuses of international law and devastating civilian suffering in conflicts in Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine, Reuters reported.

“The rule of law is being outmuscled by the rule of force,” said U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, speaking at the opening of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Around the world, human rights are being pushed back deliberately, strategically, and sometimes proudly,” Guterres said.

The U.N. human rights chief has said his office is in “survival mode” due to funding cuts that have come alongside pressure on U.N. experts and U.S. disengagement.

The U.S., the U.N.’s top donor, has paid just $160 million of the more than $4 billion it owes to the global body, a U.N. spokesperson said last week.

“Humanitarian needs are exploding while funding collapses,” Guterres said.

The U.N. human rights chief, Volker Turk, told the Council that the world faces the most intense competition for power and resources since World War Two, amid widespread rights violations.

He joined Guterres in urging an end to abuses in conflicts in Sudan, Gaza, Myanmar and Ukraine.

One diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that despite backing from some member states to strengthen and support the human rights system, funding remained a challenge, read the report.

The U.N. says funding shortages have prevented two investigations launched in 2025 – an inquiry into potential war crimes in Democratic Republic of Congo and a investigation into abuses in Afghanistan – from becoming operational.

Guterres also said blatant violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories threatened the viability of a Palestinian state.

“The two-State solution is being stripped away in broad daylight. The international community cannot allow it to happen,” he said.

This month Israel’s cabinet approved the latest measures to tighten Israel’s control over the occupied West Bank and make it easier for settlers to buy land, a move Palestinians called a “de-facto annexation”.

Most nations have long backed the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel as the best way to resolve the generations-old conflict and see the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, as the largest part of that future state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

One of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords, Nemesio Oseguera, or “El Mencho,” was killed in a military raid on Sunday, sparking widespread retaliatory violence.

President Claudia Sheinbaum has been under mounting pressure from Washington to intensify her offensive against drug cartels blamed for producing and smuggling drugs, particularly the synthetic opioid fentanyl, across the border to the U.S., Reuters reported.

Oseguera, 60, the mastermind of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) died in custody after being injured in a military operation by Mexican special forces in the town of Tapalpa on Mexico’s Pacific coast in Jalisco state, according to Mexico’s defense ministry.

His corpse arrived in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon in a heavily guarded convoy of National Guard troops.

Reuters had reported on Sunday that a new U.S.-military-led task force played a role in the raid led and carried out by Mexican forces. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later posted on social media that the United States provided intelligence support.

Leavitt added that the Trump administration “commends and thanks the Mexican military for their cooperation and successful execution of this operation.”

After reports of El Mencho’s death, cartel henchmen blockaded highways with burning cars and torched businesses in more than a half a dozen states, paralyzing parts of the country. No civilian deaths have been reported.

In Jalisco’s popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, frightened tourists on social media described a “war zone” as plumes of dark smoke rose into the sky from around the bay. Air Canada (AC.TO), United Airlines, Aeromexico and American Airlines suspended flights in the area.

FORMER COP TO CARTEL KINGPIN

Oseguera, a former police officer, founded and oversaw the rapid rise of the CJNG, named for the western state of Jalisco that is home to one of Mexico’s biggest cities, Guadalajara.

In recent years, CJNG has expanded into one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels, known for violent tactics including forced labor and forced recruitment.

Under El Mencho’s leadership, CJNG also became a highly diversified criminal enterprise, expanding from drug trafficking to fuel theft, extortion, human smuggling, and complex financial frauds. The cartel pioneered use of drones in attacks against civilians in remote regions of western Mexico as part of its rapid territorial expansion.

Sunday’s raid was one of Mexico’s highest profile blows against drug gangs responsible for smuggling billions of dollars of drugs – including fentanyl – into the U.S. In recent years, the leaders of the rival Sinaloa Cartel – Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada- were captured alive. Both are now in U.S. prisons.

President Donald Trump’s administration lauded El Mencho’s killing, but domestic violence it triggered highlighted the political balancing act Sheinbaum must strike as her government escalates its cartel offensive.

On Sunday, Sheinbaum stressed that activities in most areas of the country were proceeding as usual. Schools in various states across Mexico protectively canceled classes for Monday, according to announcements by state-level education departments.

Security experts were watching whether the raid and death of the cartel boss will fracture CJNG leadership and trigger bloody infighting.

“There will definitely be skirmishes between the various factions, and these spasms of violence could last for years,” said Carlos Olivo, a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration assistant special agent in charge and an expert in CJNG.

KILLING WINS US PRAISE

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, previously ambassador to Mexico, said Oseguera’s killing was a “great development” for the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the rest of Latin America.

In January after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump said “the cartels are running Mexico,” and warned “we are going to start now hitting land with regard to the cartels.”

Sheinbaum said she would strengthen efforts to cooperate with the U.S. to fight cartels., but vowed to uphold Mexico’s sovereignty and warned against any unilateral military action by the U.S. in Mexico.

Sheinbaum in a social media post on Sunday said security officials would provide information on the operation.

U.S. President Donald Trump responded with fury to Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that he lacked the power to unilaterally set tariffs on imports, denouncing individual justices as he vowed to continue a global trade war that has kept the world on edge for a year.

Saying he was undeterred by what he repeatedly called a ridiculous ruling, Trump announced an immediate new 10% tariff on imports from all countries, on top of any existing tariffs, and then issued a proclamation putting them into effect. The law allows him to impose a levy of up to 15% for 150 days, although it could face legal challenges, Reuters reported.

The court’s landmark 6-3 ruling upended the leverage Trump and his trade envoys have wielded over foreign governments at negotiating tables to reshape diplomatic relations and global markets.

The ruling briefly sent U.S. stock indexes surging, before ending modestly higher as analysts warned of renewed confusion in global markets while they await Trump’s next moves.

Hours after the ruling, Trump signed an executive order repealing the tariffs that the court struck down, and he also issued a proclamation imposing a 10% duty on most goods imported into the U.S. for 150 days, granting exemptions for certain items including critical minerals, metals and energy products, the White House said.

TRADE DEALS, REVENUE IN QUESTION

The ruling called into question the trade deals Trump’s envoys have negotiated in recent months under the threat of high tariffs. It left open the fate of the $175 billion Trump has collected from U.S. importers under what the court said was his incorrect reading of the law.

“I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” Trump told reporters at the White House, complaining that foreign countries were ecstatic and “dancing in the street.”

He insinuated, without evidence, that the majority of the court caved to foreign influence: “They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution. It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think.”

Since returning to the White House 13 months ago, Trump has said he had what the court summarized as the “extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope.” Citing a national emergency, he said the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) meant he could set tariffs at any rate he chose.

The court grounded its opinion, which was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, with a quote from the U.S. Constitution: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.”

The argument by the Trump administration that it had identified a war-like emergency to justify a loophole failed to persuade the court.

“The Government thus concedes, as it must, that the President enjoys no inherent authority to impose tariffs during peacetime,” Roberts wrote.

“And it does not defend the challenged tariffs as an exercise of the President’s warmaking powers. The United States, after all, is not at war with every nation in the world.”

Despite the court’s bluntness in ruling the president had exceeded his authority, Trump told reporters: “It’s ridiculous, but it’s OK, because we have other ways, numerous other ways.”

ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY RISES

After a year of Trump’s often ad hoc tariff announcements whipsawing markets and the global economy, the ruling and Trump’s response reintroduced a hefty dose of uncertainty that economists, investors and policymakers had hoped was in the rearview mirror.

“I think it will just bring in a new period of high uncertainty in world trade, as everybody tries to figure out what the U.S. tariff policy will be going forward,” said Varg Folkman, analyst at the European Policy Centre think tank.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the court ruling could have mixed results.

“The Supreme Court has taken away the President’s leverage, but in a way, they have made the leverage that he has more draconian because they agreed he does have the right to a full embargo,” Bessent told “The Will Cain Show” on Fox News.

“We will get back to the same tariff level for the countries. It will just be in a less direct and slightly more convoluted manner,” he said.

In announcing his new temporary 10% tariff, Trump became the first president to invoke Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to levy tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days to fix “fundamental international payments problems.” That, too, could draw legal challenges. Such tariffs can only be extended with Congress’ authorization.