The UN has started to deliver airdrops of food aid to refugee camps in the South Sudan border region, where refugees from Sudan have sought safety. Over 170,000 people are believed to have fled Sudan according to the UN World Food Program (WFP). The Country Head of WFP in South Sudan, Chris Nikoi told Reuters , "As we speak, we've started an airdrop operation into Maban (camp). The planes have started flying today from Gambella, Ethiopia, with food dropping into Maban," "They have arrived in very poor nutritional condition. The children need nutritional support to quickly boost up their...
A former Israeli soldier has been sentenced to 45 days in prison for the killing of a Palestinian mother and her daughter, after avoiding manslaughter charges.
US officials have informed reporters that they expected changes in the military after the election of President Mursi. "We had expected President Mursi at some point to co-ordinate changes in the military leadership, to name a new team," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has agreed to suspend Syria from the body, according to an OIC source. The source told Reuters that foreign ministers agreed to the suspension at a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday. "The session just ended. The ministers adopted the resolutions, including the suspension of Syria," the source told Reuters. Iran opposed the suspension from the 57-member body.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged for a continued ‘flexible UN presence in Syria’ after the end of the current observer mission. "A continued UN presence in Syria that goes beyond our important humanitarian work would allow systematic and meaningful engagement with the Syrian stakeholders, inside the country," the UN chief said in a letter on Friday to the 15 members of the UN Security Council. "Furthermore, a flexible UN presence in Syria would provide the UN impartial means to assess the situation on the ground. "The UN cannot discontinue its support" while the crisis continues...
Russia’s President Vladmir Putin has stated that the country’s military will be boosted with the acquisition of 1,600 new warplanes and helicopters by 2020, as part of efforts to modernize the military.
The newly elected president of Egypt, Mohamed Mursi, dismissed two generals on Sunday, and quashed a military order that had curtailed the new government's powers. Mursi's spokesperson described it as "sovereign" decision designed to pump "new blood" into the army. Commenting on the announcement, Mursi said , "The decisions I took today were not meant ever to target certain persons, nor did I intend to embarrass institutions, nor was my aim to narrow freedoms. "I did not mean to send a negative message about anyone, but my aim was the benefit of this nation and its people,"
The United States and Turkey have been considering the imposition of a no-fly zone over Syria as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu this week. Announcing that a working group to help provide “very intensive operational planning" was being set up, Clinton said , "It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," "Our intelligence services, our military have very important responsibilities and roles to play so we are going to be...
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate recent violence in the north-eastern state of Assam. 77 people died after violence erupted between indigenous Bodo tribes and Bengali Muslim settlers. Tension between the native Bodo and Bengali migrants has been simmering for years and erupted into full-scale riots after four Bodo youths were killed last month. Bodos then attacked Muslims in retaliation, accusing them of being behind the killings. The CBI will now probe whether there was a ‘conspiracy’ behind the violence, which saw over 300,000 people fleeing their homes. The...
Mexico’s Supreme Court has moved to hand over cases of human rights abuses by the military to civilian courts. The decision is a blow to the military’s culture of impunity in abuse, torture and executions. The ruling undermines President Felipe Calderon’s resolute defence of the military during the goverment's six-year offensive against drug rings. His government had proposed that some military cases be moved to civilian courts, but this proposal did not include murder. “A soldier should never be judged by a military court when the victim is a civilian and their human rights have been...