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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)…

US led coalition needs two years to expel Islamic State says UK

The US led coalition could take up to two years to expel Islamic State from Iraq said the British foreign secretary said on Thursday.

“This isn’t going to be done in three months or six months. It’s going to take a year, two years to push ISIL (IS) back out of Iraq but we are doing the things that need to be done in order to turn the tide,” Mr Hammond told Sky News before hosting a meeting of 21 coalition members in London.

UN calls for Myanmar condemnation of 969 leader's sexist rant

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussain called on Myanmar’s government to condemn Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu for the sexist insults directed at South Korea’s envoy to the country, Yanghee Lee, who had highlighted anti-Muslim sentiment.

Mr Wirathu of the notorious Buddhist nationalist 969 movement was slammed by Mr Zeid, who called the language employed by the monk as “sexist” and “incitement to hatred”.

"I call on religious and political leaders in Myanmar to unequivocally condemn all forms of incitement to hatred including this abhorrent public personal attack," Mr Zeid said in a statement.

Ms Lee had said the country’s Rohingya Muslims faced discrimination and criticised draft legislation, proposed by a coalition of nationalist Buddhist monks, which includes restrictions on interfaith marriage and religious conversions.

Last week the UN passed a resolution, calling on Myanmar to grant the Rohingya citizenship.

The monk criticised UN “interference” and attacked Ms Lee at a rally last Friday.

US and Cuba commence diplomatic discussions

The US and Cuba commenced historic talks on Thursday, in an attempt to restore diplomatic ties after the presidents of the two nations announced a new era of engagement on December 17 last year.

Leading the American delegation, US Secretary of State, Roberta Jackson, said, “We have to overcome more than 50 years of a relationship that was not based on confidence or trust, so there are things we have to discuss before we can establish that relationship and so there will be future conversations.”

Genocide occurs when 'warning signs' ignored - UN deputy Sec Gen

The UN deputy Secretary General, Jan Eliasson, speaking at a Holocaust memorial event on Wednesday, said it is important to learn from the past in order to prevent future mass atrocities, stating that "genocide can only happen when we ignore the warning signs – and are unwilling to take action.”

"It is important that we examine why we continue to fail to prevent mass atrocities, despite lessons learned, despite knowledge of causes and drivers and despite our assurances of ‘never again," Mr Eliasson said.


The UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Genocide, Adama Dieng also spoke at the event.

Last year, Mr Dieng, said the killing of thousands of Tamils in Sri Lanka at the end of the armed conflict in 2009, was the "failure of the international community".

This "led to the killing of thousands of them [Tamils] under our eyes" he added, when asked by the journalist, Matthew Russell Lee whether the atrocities committed against the Tamil people, before, during and after May 2009, met the criteria for genocide.

Bahraini activist sentenced over tweet

The prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been sentenced to six months in prison over a tweet in which he suggested Bahraini jails served as an "ideological incubator" for jihadists.

The founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has been imprisoned several times for his activism.

Speaking to the BBC after his sentencing, Mr Rajab said the sentence was designed to prevent him from speaking up and also accused the British government of silence on his case.

Houthi rebels take control of presidential palace

The Yemeni capital Sanaa has been overrun by Houthi rebels, who have stationed their fighters at strategic points in the city, including the presidential palace.

The rebels defeated the presidential guard and have surrounded the private home of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, but Houthi officials said he was free to leave.

“President Hadi is still in his home. There is no problem; he can leave,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi politburo, told Reuters.

LRA commander to stand war crimes trial in The Hague

A senior leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army has arrived in the International Criminal Court in The Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Dominic Ongwen, said to be the feared deputy of the rebel group's leader, Joseph Kony, was taken into US custody in the Central African Republic earlier this month, after Uganda agreed he should be tried by the ICC, despite being a critic of the court, the BBC reports.

The ICC in a statement thanked the Central African Republic, Uganda, Belgium and the Netherlands, the African Union and the US - who are not a signatory to the Rome Statute - for facilitating the detention and transfer of Mr Ongwen.

Deaths during DRC protests over Kabila term

Violent clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo have left at least four people dead, after protests erupted over the future of President Joseph Kabila.

The demonstrations started over Mr Kabila's presidential tenure, which is coming to an end next year. He is blocked from running for a third term by the country' constitution. Protestors say the government is attempting to delay the elections by holding a census.

Protestors demanded that Mr Kabila steps down with the end of his term next year. The government admits the census could delay the elections but claims it is vital to ensure fair and free elections.

Former Guatemalan police chief sentenced over civil war attack

A former special investigations chief with Guatemala's national police has been sentenced to 90 years over an attack on the Spanish embassy during a protest in 1980, which left 37 people dead.

Pedro Garcia Arredendo was found guilty of homicide and crimes against humanity for his role in the raid on the building, which was occupied by indigenous people, peasants and students, during a protest in the country's 36-year long civil war.

The police chief, who denied the charges, ordered officers to prevent those in the mission from leaving as it burned down.

Among those killed in the fire were Vicente Menchu, the father of indigenous rights activist and winner of the 1992 Noble Peace Prize, Rigoberta Menchu, the Spanish consul and two Guatemalan politicians who had been visiting the embassy, former vice-president Eduardo Caceres Lenhoff and former foreign minister Adolfo Molina Orantes.

Clashes break out in Yemeni capital

Heavy fighting between Houthi militants and Yemeni soldiers have taken place near the presidential palace in Sanaa with gunfire and explosions rocking the capital city, according to the latest reports.

Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah's convoy was also shot at as he departed from a meeting with President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, reports the BBC, though no casualties are thought to have occurred.

Rocket propelled grenades, machine gunfire and mortar rounds were reportedly being fired near the presidential palace and by the home of Yemen's national security chief, in the biggest hostilities seen since Houthi gunmen overran Sanaa last year.

“This is a step towards a coup and it is targeting the state's legitimacy,” said Nadia Akkaf, the country's information minister.