Britain said on Friday it would not proceed with efforts to question whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. In May, the ICC's prosecutor said he had requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes. Court documents made public in June showed Britain, an ICC member state, had filed a request with the court to provide written observations on whether "the court can exercise jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, in...
Cornish lawmakers called on Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer to allow the devolution powers to Cornwall, citing its "unique" historical and cultural identity this month. The MPs, Ben Maguire and Andrew George, believe that a unique model of governance is needed in Cornwall, adding that "A lot of people in Cornwall do see themselves on a level of the other Celtic nations and therefore deserving special status". In a letter to the Prime Minister, the two MPs state that Cornwall has a "long-standing ambition to secure substantially greater decision-making powers and a Cornish assembly"...
In a landmark diplomatic achievement, China has brokered an agreement to form an interim “national reconciliation government” with 14 Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas. The agreement would see the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) acting as the sole representative for the Palestinian people and marked significant agreement between the parties on the need for a ceasefire, the urgent need for relief, reconstruction and a withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza. CNN notes it remains unclear what role Hamas, which is not a part of the PLO, would play under this proposed...
The UN’s International Court of justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible” and make full reparations for its “internationally wrongful acts”. In a historic, albeit non-binding, opinion, the court found multiple breaches of international law by Israel including activities that amounted to apartheid.The court has placed responsibility with all states and the United Nations to end these violations of international law. Reading the court’s opinion on Friday, the president of the ICJ, Nawaf Salam, said: “The court considers that...
More than 10 million Sudanese, or 20% of the population, have been driven from their homes since the war there began, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday The number is the latest figure out of the east African country, devastated by a conflict that began in April 2023. The war has left half the population of about 50 million facing a hunger crisis and in need of humanitarian aid, the most of any country. More than 2.2 million people have fled to other countries since the war began, while almost 7.8 million sought refuge inside the country, the IOM said in a...
The “Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on State and Environmental Violence in West Papua” took place last month at Queen Mary University of London. A panel of tribunal experts heard evidence from numerous international NGOs and local civil society organisations as well as testimonies from individuals who have witnessed human rights violations and environmental destruction. The Tribunal stated that the Indonesian state has forcibly taken Indigenous Papuan lands through racial discrimination, leading to cultural loss and violent repression, including unlawful detention, extrajudicial killings,...
Two Israeli strikes killed more than 20 people in separate parts of Gaza on Tuesday, one of which targeted a United Nations school turned shelter. Palestinian paramedics evacuated at least five killed and eight wounded at the school building, in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society emergency service. It was the sixth site that had been a U.N.-run educational institution in Gaza to be hit in just 10 days, according to UNRWA, the agency for assisting Palestinian refugees. Last Tuesday, at least 27 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike near the entrance...
Narendra Modi received Russia’s highest civilian award for “exceptional service” in promoting bilateral ties on Tuesday, as both states look to strengthen military cooperation and deepen economic ties. Mr Modi's two-day visit - his first to the Kremlin since 2019 - coincides with a Nato summit in Washington, where the 2022 invasion will be a major theme. India, a key global economy, has close ties with both Russia and the US and its partners and officials in Delhi are playing down questions over the timing of Mr Modi's trip. They say the annual summit is part of a long-standing strategic...
Turkey has begun mediating talks between Somalia and Ethiopia over a port deal Addis Ababa signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland earlier this year. The relationship between Somalia and Ethiopia became strained in January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km of coastline from Somaliland, in exchange for recognition of its independence. Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan hosted Ethiopian Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie, and Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi on Monday. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said that the three signed a joint statement following “candid, cordial, and...
A senior Bolivian general was arrested after armoured vehicles rammed the doors of the government palace in La Paz on Wednesay in what President Luis Arce called an attempted coup. Forces led by army chief General Juan Jose Zuniga appeared to take control of Mr Arce’s government as they vowed to “restore democracy” but the president vowed to hold firm and swiftly named a new military commander, who immediately ordered the troops to stand down. “What was this group’s goal? The goal was to overturn the democratically elected authority,” Mr del Castillo told journalists in announcing the arrests...