• Turkey calls for Nato consultation over warplane shot down by Syria

    Turkey has called for a meeting of Nato members to consult over its response to the downing of one of its fighter jets by Syria.

  • UN names Congo war crimes suspects
    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has named five Congo rebel leaders as war crimes suspects that need to be apprehended.

    In a statement released earlier this week, Pillay said,
  • UN experts urge greater action to protect journalists and safeguard media freedom
    Two UN Special Rapporteurs have called for greater protection for media professionals, referring to the unacceptably high number of attacks against those disseminating news, including torture, arrests, killings and sexual violence against female journalists.
  • More protests at Tahrir Square

    Tahrir Square became the site of public anger once more on Friday, as tens of thousands of protesters returned to denounce Egypt's military rulers.

    Condemning what they state is effectively a military coup, protesters vowed to continue their protests until democracy was achieved.

  • Serbia to investigate genocide fugitive aides
    Serbia has announced that they will investigate 13 persons accused of aiding genocide fugitives from evading justice, after criticism from a UN tribunal last month.

    Following condemnation from the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Serbia announced that 13 people, including a high ranking military official, would be amongst those investigated for aiding genocide suspects Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic before their eventual capture.
  • US blocking DR Congo human rights report – HRW

    New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch has said the US is blocking the publication of a UN inquiry into rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The UN report includes details of Rwandan funding for the rebels in the neighbouring country.

    The rebels are led by General Bosco Ntaganda, also known as ‘Terminator’, who is wanted for committing war crimes.

  • Saudi Arabia to fund Syrian rebels

    Saudi officials are to pay the Free Syria Army wages in a bid to encourage mass defections, reports The Guardian on Friday.

  • Suu Kyi addresses Houses of Parliament

    Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has addressed both Houses of Parliament during her visit to Great Britain.

    Ms Suu Kyi met Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron at No 10.

    At a joint press conference the prime minister paid tribute to Ms Suu Kyi.

  • World Refugee Day 2012

    More than one million people around the world took part in marking World Refugee Day  on 20th June, remembering the 42 million people who are currently displaced from their homes.

    In his keynote speech, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that many more millions had been displaced in the past 18 months from Cote d’lvoire, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and Syria.

  • Syrian air force pilot defects to Jordan

    A Syrian air force pilot, Colonel Hassan Hamada, defected to Jordan on Thursday, flying his MiG-21 fighter plane over the border to the King Hussein military air base in Jordan.

    According to Jordanian officials the defecting pilot was seeking aslyum.

    Jordan's Minister of State for Information, Samih al-Maaytah, said to the Reuters news agency:

  • Syrian UN team was targeted by gunfire – Gen Mood

    The head of the observer mission to Syria, General Robert Mood, has told the Security Council that the UN team was targeted by gun fire and hostile crowds, ahead of his decision to suspend the mission.

    Diplomats say Gen Mood described how his 300 unarmed monitors were targeted at least 10 times by direct fire and nine UN vehicles were struck in the past week alone.

  • Iran warned of tougher sanctions

    France has warned Iran of tougher sanctions if it doesn’t negotiate seriously over its nuclear program.

    Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said the EU should implement an agreed oil embargo from July 1.

  • UK ministers boycott Euro 2012 quarter finals in Ukraine
    The UK government ministers have decided to boycott England’s Euro 2012 quarter-final on Sunday due to concerns over human rights in Ukraine.

    The sports minister, Hugh Robertson, will not travel to the game on Sunday. The Foreign office have defended the decision given the questionable justice and human rights record in Ukraine.
  • Russian arms ship to Syria halted forced to turn back
    A Russian arms vessel carrying weapons to be delivered to the Syrian government has turned back towards Russia, after having its insurance withdrawn.

    The MV Alaed, currently off the coast of Scotland, is believed to be carrying Mi-25 attack helicopters and anti-ship missiles for Syria, a move that drew the ire of the United States.
     

  • Further restrictions on press freedom - Sudan

    The Sudanese government's security wing, the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) ordered three independent newspapers not to distribute their Sunday edition this weekend, despite having printed them.

    The daily newspapers, Al-Ahdath, Al-Watan and Al-Jarida, were also ordered not to publish Monday's editions until further approval by the NISS agent.

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