Myanmar Junta attack on school condemned

At least 11 schoolchildren have died after an airstrike on a village in Myanmar, according to the United Nations children’s agency, in what could be the deadliest attack on children since the junta seized power last year. UN chief António Guterres on Tuesday condemned the strike, according to his office, which stated that the death toll had climbed to at least 13 people died, including the 11 students whose school was hit. The south-east Asian country has been in chaos since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021, with nearly 2,300 civilians killed in a crackdown on dissent...

Khmer Rouge leader loses genocide appeal

The last surviving leader of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime, Khieu Samphan has had an appeal against his conviction for genocide rejected at a war crimes tribunal. The ruling last week in the appeal of Khieu Samphan 91, the former head of state of the 1975-1979 - "Democratic Kampuchea" government, marks the final decision by the court and ends 16 years of work by the UN-backed war crimes tribunal. The rejection of the appeal sought to clear Khieu Samphan of the genocide of minority Cham Muslims and ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia. Of the two million victims of the Khmer Rouge, 100,000 to 500,000...

'India is taking exceptional measures in exceptional times' - Indian foreign minister address to the UN

Addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA) at its 77th Session, Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar urged the international community must rise above narrow national agendas and slammed the current UN framework as "anachronistic and ineffective". "The call for reformed multilateralism – with reforms of the Security Council at its core – enjoys considerable support among UN members [...] It does so because of the widespread recognition that the current architecture is anachronistic and ineffective. It is also perceived as deeply unfair, denying entire continents and regions a...

A reformed United Nations – US pushes to expand UNSC to include Germany, Japan and India

Amidst growing geopolitical tensions, a senior White House Official has stressed the Biden administration’s continued support for Germany, Japan and India to be made permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC). The statement follows US President Joe Biden’s address to the UN General Assembly, where he stressed the need for a ‘more inclusive’ UN and his support for “permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean”. During his address, President Biden spoke sharply about two permanent members of the UNSC, Russia and China. Russia Addressing Russia’s invasion of...

Protests erupt in Iran following death of Kurdish Woman after police arrest

A fourth-day of protests has spread across Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini last Friday. The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw, which is based in Norway, said it had confirmed three deaths at rallies in Kurdistan province – one in each of the towns of Divandareh, Saqqez and Dehglan. It added that 221 people had been wounded and another 250 arrested in the Kurdistan region, where there had also been a general strike on Monday. Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks reported "near-total disruption to internet connectivity in Sanandaj" - the provincial capital of the Kurdish region - on...

Tigrayan forces accuse Eritrea of launching full-scale offensive on border

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have said troops from neighbouring Eritrea have launched a "full-scale offensive". The TPLF has been battling Ethiopian federal forces and their allies for nearly two years. Eritrean troops entered Tigray to back the Ethiopian military after fighting broke out in November 2020 before withdrawing from most areas last year. “Eritrea is deploying its entire army as well as reservists. Our forces are heroically defending their positions,” Getachew said. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the account on Twitter from Getachew Reda, a spokesperson...

Typhoon Nanmdol makes landfall in Japan causings floods and landslides

Nearly six million people were still under evacuation warnings after Typhoon Nanmadol slammed into Japan on Monday, dumping heavy rain, paralysing traffic and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power. Two people have died and more than 100 were injured. About 130,000 homes, most of them in the Kyushu region, were still without electricity on Tuesday morning. Many convenience stores were closed at one point and there was disruption to some supply lines. Japan is struck by about 20 typhoons a year, mainly in the autumn, and routinely experiences heavy rainfall that causes landslides and...

Mass exhumations at Izyum forest grave site in Ukraine

Ukrainian police say there are 445 new graves at the site, but some contain more than one body. It's unclear how all of them died. Many are said to be civilians, women and children among them. They are trying to establish the cause of death of hundreds of people buried in a forest at the edge of the city, recently liberated by advancing Ukrainian forces. Kharkiv regional prosecutor Olexander Ilyenkov says there is no doubt war crimes have been committed here. "In the first grave, there is a civilian who has a rope over her neck. So we see the traces of torture," he told the BBC. He said...

EU expects to raise €140bn from windfall tax on energy firms

The EU expects to raise €140bn from windfall taxes on energy company profits to “cushion the blow” of the energy crisis. The European Commission published the proposals on Wednesday as the 27-member European Union grapples with an energy crisis fuelled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During her annual speech, EU Chief Ursula Von der Leyen laid out measures to address the energy crisis. The emergency levy will be placed on oil, gas and coal firms alongside a separate measure to cap revenues from renewable electricity generators at less than half of current market prices. Fossil fuel...

Clashes erupt in Tigray region as Ethiopian airstrikes kill 10

Two airstrikes hit the capital of the Tigray region, Mekele on Wednesday morning, killing 10 people, many of them first responders, the director of the city’s flagship Ayder Referral Hospital said Since the conflict broke out in November 2020, tens of thousands are believed to have been killed and millions displaced in the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions. The conflict has also repeatedly spilled into the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar. The Tigray leadership said they were ready to participate in an “immediate” cessation of hostilities with Ethiopian forces leading to a comprehensive...

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