WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

In recent weeks Yemen’s Houthi armed group has shot down seven US Reaper drones worth over $200m. The drones destroyed between 31 March and 22 April mark Washington's most significant material loss.  Three of the drones were destroyed in the past week, suggesting an improvement in the Houthis’ ability to strike high-altitude US aircraft.  The drones were conducting surveillance or…

Descendants of Namibia's genocide victims call on Germany to discuss reparations

Descendants of victims of the genocide in Namibia have called on Germany to “stop hiding” and discuss reparations with them directly, as they take their own government to court for making a deal without their approval.

India invokes emergency laws to ban BBC Modi documentary

The Indian government has invoked emergency laws to block a BBC documentary examining the role of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, during riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.

An adviser in India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday said that Twitter and YouTube have been asked to block links sharing the BBC documentary, India: The Modi Question, which the government earlier labelled as a “propaganda piece“.

1,500 arrested following Bolsonarists storming of congress

Officials say about 1,500 people have been arrested following the storming of the National Congress in Brasília.

Supporters of the former president, Jair Bolsonaro, stormed Congress and other official buildings including the presidential palace and the Supreme Court on Sunday.

Newly inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not there when the invasion happened, but he has since flown back from visiting flood victims in Sao Paulo state to inspect the damage

ELN rebel group denies ceasefire with Colombian government

The National Liberation Army (ELN), says it is not part of a ceasefire with the goverment that had been announced by the Presidient last week.

Lula to be sworn in as Brazil's new president

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be sworn in as president of Brazil for a historic third term on Sunday.

The inauguration in Brasília, exactly two decades after the veteran politician first assumed office, is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people for a festival-style celebration with live music.

Justice vigil held in Paris for Kurdish activists

A Vigil was held at Ahmet Kaya Cultural Centre where hundreds continue to pay their respects to the three Kurdish activists killed in Paris last week. 

Nazi typist guilty of complicity in 10,500 murders

Irmgard Furchner 97, a former secretary who worked for the commander of a Nazi concentration camp has been convicted of complicity in the murders of more than 10,500 people.

Irmgard Furchner, 97, was taken on as a teenaged shorthand typist at Stutthof and worked there from 1943 to 1945.

Furchner, the first woman to be tried for Nazi crimes in decades, was given a two-year suspended jail term.

Although she was a civilian worker, the judge agreed she was fully aware of what was going on at the camp.

Japan doubles military budget in response to building tensions

Friday, 16th December 2022, Japan's cabinet approved a new national security strategy for the first time in nine years, which includes doubling the country's military budget. 

Aleksandar Vucic meets with national security council amidst rising tensions in Northern Kosovo

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with his national security council amidst rising tensions between authorities in Kosovo and ethnic Serbs.

Unknown attackers in Northern Kosovo exchanged gunfire with local police and threw a stun grenade at European Union officers.

Ethnic Serbs set up roadblocks in response to Kosovan police being deployed in a dispute over car license plates.

On Sunday, hundreds of ethnic Serbs gathered at the roadblocks in an outrage over the arrest of a Serbian former police officer.

Guinea ex-dictator denies role in 2009 massacre

Guinea’s former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara denied responsibility when he took the stand Monday at a trial of officials implicated in a 2009 massacre.

Camara and 10 other former military and government officials are accused of the killing of 156 people and the rape of at least 109 women by forces supporting the military government at a political rally in a Conakry stadium in September 2009.