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Latest news from and about the homeland

Photograph: Screenshot/ BLA video A fresh wave of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances has been documented across Balochistan this month, as Baloch rights groups recorded the recovery of several bodies of men who had earlier been forcibly taken, and appealed once more to international institutions that have largely ignored the province. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC)…

Domestic trial of Simone Gbagbo begins

The domestic trial of the former first lady of the Ivory Coast, Simone Gbagbo began on Friday, despite International Criminal Court (ICC) calls for her to be tried at the Hague.

Simone Gbagbo who was held under house arrest for over 3 years, will be tried, alongside the former prime minister Gilbert Ake N’Gbo, for “attempting to undermine the security of the state.”

The International Criminal Court has also accused Simone Ggagbo of war crimes, however requests to hand her over to the Hague have been refused by the Ivory Coast who wish to try her through a domestic process, reports the BBC.

Sudan expels two senior UN officials

Sudan has ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave, according to UN spokesperson.

The two officials, identified as the UN resident coordinator at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ali AL-Za’turi and the UNDP’s country director, Yvonne Helle, were ordered to leave, in what appears to be an escalation of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s moves against UN activities in the country, reports Reuters.

Confirming that the two officials had been ordered to leave Sudan, the UN spokesperson, Stehanie Dujarric, said,

Turkey and Iraq pledge to cooperate in fight against Islamic State

Turkey and Iraq pledged, on Thursday,  to work towards greater military cooperation in their fight against Islamic State militants.

Turkey is ready to work with Iraq to extend its military assistance, said the Turkish prime minster with his Iraqi counterpart at a joint press conference.

Potential war crimes in Libya says UN

Extensive fighting between armed militant groups in Libya could lead to prosecution for war crimes a UN official said this week.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, said that there had been hundreds of civilian deaths in the conflict between the split governments, noting that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had been investigating the situation.

A spokesperson from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, (OHCHR), Ravina Shamdasani, highlighted a lack of accountability in Libya, adding that “some of these crimes may amount to war crimes.

Islamic State captures Jordanian pilot

The Islamic State (IS) has captured a Jordanian pilot from a plane that crashed in Syria, claiming the jet was shot down with a heat-seeking missile.

The United States disputed the claim stating that “evidence clearly indicates that ISIL did not down the aircraft” and that the plane had crashed in Syria on Wednesday. A statement from US Central Command said it would “not tolerate ISIL's attempts to misrepresent or exploit this unfortunate aircraft crash for their own purposes”.

Jordanian Information Minister Mohammad Momani, however, told al-Arabiya TV that a “missile fired from the ground” had hit the plane, adding that “efforts to rescue the pilot were unsuccessful.”

Images of the pilot of the F-16 aircraft have been released on social media, alongside photographs of IS militants hauling wreckage of the aircraft.

Dozens dead in Assam attack

At least 62 people have died in attacks in India's restive northeastern state of Assam.

According to police, separatist Bodo militants from the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) carried out the attacks in villages mainly inhabited by non-Bodos in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts on Tuesday.

Troops deployed on French streets

The French government has decided to deploy up to 300 soldiers and increase police patrols in public areas, Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced, after three seemingly unrelated attacks left around 20 people injured.

Mr Valls told Europe 1 radio there was "no link" between the attackers and that the police were dealing with individuals who acted alone.

“The number of patrols will be increased during this period. Between 200 and 300 soldiers will be deployed in the coming hours,” Valls said.

“Patrols by police and gendarmes will concentrate on areas where there are a lot of people: shopping areas, city and town centres, stations and transport networks.”

Former Bangladeshi minister sentenced to death for genocide

A former Bangladeshi government minister has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity, rape and genocide committed during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Syed Mohammad Qaisar was found guilty of leading an armed group, which alongside Pakistani troops, killed 150 people in 22 villages during the conflict.

Ukrainian vote to forge closer ties with NATO angers Russia

Ukraine's parliament has voted to drop the country's “non-aligned” status and stated that it will work towards eventually joining NATO, in a move that has angered the Russian government.

The vote on Tuesday received 303 votes – 77 more than the minimum needed to pass the amendment into law.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko told foreign diplomats before the vote on Monday night that “Ukraine's fight for its independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty has turned into a decisive factor in our relations with the world.”

After the vote he tweeted "European and Euro-Atlantic integrations -- that is Ukraine's XX course."

The move has angered Russia with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, saying “it will only escalate the confrontation and creates the illusion that it is possible to resolve Ukraine’s deep internal crisis by passing such laws.”

Lavrov went on to demand Ukraine "put an end to confrontation" and stop passing "absolutely counterproductive" measures.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in a Facebook post that "in essence, an application for NATO membership will turn Ukraine into a potential military opponent for Russia."

Renewed calls for prosecution of those responsible for torture in CIA interrogation program

Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union wrote to the US attorney general Eric Holder with calls for a criminal investigation into torture and other serious abuses revealed in a recent report on the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) interrogation and detention program.

Citing findings from the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA, the organisations, on Monday, called for a special prosecutor to investigate crimes including, torture, conspiracy, sexual assault and homicide, with a view to prosecute.

"The Senate torture report shows that CIA officials knew their methods were illegal and tried hard to cover them up. A full investigation is necessary to show that torture in the name of national security is still a criminal offense," said the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth.

The New York Times editorial board, on Sunday, called for a credible investigation into the torture allegations, that held US officials accountable.