WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Baloch activists accuse state-backed death squads of new killings
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)…

Hong Kong protest leaders prevented from boarding flight to Beijing

Nov 14, 2014
Student leaders of the Hong Kong protests have been prevented from boarding a flight to Beijing, where they hoped to meet with Chinese government officials in their push for greater democracy in Hong Kong.

The three members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students – Alex Chow, Nathan Law and Eason Chung – were stopped from boarding a flight to Beijing at Hong Kong's main airport.

Yvonne Leung, a representative of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said,

North Korea to send senior envoy to Russia

Nov 14, 2014
North Korea announced that a special envoy has been appointed to visit Moscow, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Choe Ryong-hae, a high-ranking member of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and reported close associate of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, was appointed as the special envoy.

Sanctions on Russia will harm global economy - Putin

Nov 14, 2014

The Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that sanctions imposed on his country by the EU and US will negatively affect the global economy.

Transition plan to civilian led rule agreed in Burkina Faso

Nov 13, 2014
A plan to transition between military rule to a civilian led government in Burkina Faso was agreed on Thursday, by the army, opposition parties, civil society groups and religious leaders.

The transition charter was "unanimously voted" for by all sides, said a spokesperson for the talks.

The military took control of the country with Lt Col Isaac Zida declaring himself head of state, after mass protests forced the president, Blaise Compaore, to resign on October 31.

According to the agreed charter, an interim president will be selected by military, political, civil society and religious leaders. The interim president will then appointed a prime minister, who in turn will form a 25 member government.

Boko Haram capture symbolic town of Chibok

Nov 13, 2014

Islamic militant group Boko Haram have captured Chibok, the town where they kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls earlier this year.

On Thursday evening Boko Haram militants reportedly overran Nigerian army defences in the town, situated in the Borno state.

Several vigilante groups attempted to defend the town, with one of the vigilantes Musa Ali, saying “you couldn't count them because there were so many.”

"All the security and the soldiers, they ran away and left us on our own. They didn't shoot at them, they just ran,” he added. “All the ammunition we had was finished, so there was no way we could attempt to hold the area.”

However, Pogo Bitrus, chairman of the Chibok elders' forum, told Voice of America that “the fight, I believe, is not finished yet."

In April of this year Boko Haram kidnapped schoolgirls from the town, with 219 of them remaining missing.

Car bombs target Egyptian and UAE embassies in Libya

Nov 13, 2014

Two car bombs have exploded outside the UAE and Egyptian embassies in Libya, in an attack reportedly carried out by Islamic militant groups in Tripoli.

The attack left two guards outside the Egyptian embassy wounded and three guards injured outside the UAE embassy. Both buildings were empty at the time of the explosion, after both countries alongside other nations, pulled diplomatic staff out of Tripoli.

Islamic State militants should be prosecuted at ICC concludes UN report

Nov 13, 2014
Commanders of Islamic State militants should be tried at the International Criminal Court for war crimes in northeast Syria concluded UN investigators on Friday.

A report based on over 300 interviews with witnesses and victims found that mass killings that constituted of “egregious violations of binding international humanitarian law and the war crime of murder on a massive scale,” had been committed by Islamic State commanders.

Nigerian army recaptures Mubi from Boko Haram

Nov 12, 2014
The Nigerian army has recaptured the town of Mubi from militant Islamist group Boko Haram, said government officials on Thursday.

Mubi, the second largest town in the north-eastern Adamawa state was captured by Boko Haram in October, who renamed it Madinatul Islam - City of Islam.

Whilst the Nigerian army has not commented on the current situations, an anonymous military source told Reuters, the army was "on the verge of recapturing Mubi and other towns and villages taken over by the insurgents".

Adamawa State Governor Bala Ngilari told reporters that "the insurgents have been flushed out of Mubi and are on the run."

Meanwhile the UN's special representative for central Africa Abdoulaye Bathily said he was launching "an appeal to the international community to mobilise more in support of states' efforts in the battle against this terrorist group, whose atrocities have caused a worrying stream of refugees in neighbouring countries."

Myanmar reforms backsliding warns Obama

Nov 12, 2014
The US President Barack Obama warned this week that Myanmar's democratic reforms has slowed down and were even backsliding in an interview with Irrawady.

"Progress has not come as fast as many had hoped when the transition began four years ago. In some areas there has been a slowdown in reforms, and even some steps backward. Former political prisoners continue to face restrictions," Obama said, highlighting the attacks against Rohingya Muslims by extremist Buddhist groups.

Israel denies entry to UN inquiry team

Nov 12, 2014
Israel has denied entry to a UN inquiry team mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against the Palestinian people in Gaza earlier this year.

Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Emmanuel Nachshon, was quoted by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, as saying the decision to stop the team from entering was made "in view of the [UN Human Rights] Council’s obsessive hostility toward Israel, the committee’s one-sided mandate and committee chairman William Schabas’ declared anti-Israeli positions."

"[The committee is] a pretense that some inquiry is being held before the conclusions are published,” he added.

“While Hamas launched thousands of rockets at Israel, the UN’s Human Rights Council made a decision stating Israel’s guilt in advance and set up a probe as a rubber stamp for its known positions."

Hong Kong protest leaders prevented from boarding flight to Beijing
North Korea to send senior envoy to Russia
Sanctions on Russia will harm global economy - Putin
Transition plan to civilian led rule agreed in Burkina Faso
Boko Haram capture symbolic town of Chibok
Car bombs target Egyptian and UAE embassies in Libya
Islamic State militants should be prosecuted at ICC concludes UN report
Nigerian army recaptures Mubi from Boko Haram
Myanmar reforms backsliding warns Obama
Israel denies entry to UN inquiry team