WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

In recent weeks Yemen’s Houthi armed group has shot down seven US Reaper drones worth over $200m. The drones destroyed between 31 March and 22 April mark Washington's most significant material loss.  Three of the drones were destroyed in the past week, suggesting an improvement in the Houthis’ ability to strike high-altitude US aircraft.  The drones were conducting surveillance or…

US, Russia, China united on Iran issue: Obama

Speaking at the Asia-Pacific leaders’ summit, US President Obama has said that China, Russia and the US are united over the need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms.

The talks with his counterparts resulted in an agreement on a major objective.

"All three of us entirely agree on the objective, which is making sure that Iran does not weaponize nuclear power and that we don't trigger a nuclear arms race in region," he said.

Oxfam to leave South Sudan amid escalating violence

International aid group, Oxfam, announced its decision to remove its staff from the South Sudan border on Sunday, citing worsening violence and fears for the safety of Oxfam's twenty-two staff present.

The announcement follows the bombing of a refugee camp in South Sudan on Thursday. Both the UN and South Sudan have accused Sudan of launching the attack.

‘Brutal’ occupation of Kashmir must end – Arundhati Roy

Speaking at the Asia Society in New York, Indian novelist Arundhati Roy called on India to withdraw its troops from Kashmir and respect their right to self-determination.
"Kashmir is one of the most protracted and bloody occupations in the world, and one of the most ignored,"
she said in at the event entitled  ‘'Kashmir: The Case for Freedom'’.

Foreign embassies attacked as Arab League suspends Syria

Tens of thousands of pro-government protesters have taken to the streets in Syria to protest against the suspension of the country from the Arab League.

Protesters attacked embassies of Arab League members and other countries, including France and Turkey, with the latter withdrawing all diplomatic staff and their families from Damascus.

18 of the 22 members of the pan-Arab organisation voted for the suspension of Syria, after it did not implement proposals by the Arab League, which were initially supported by Syria.

Dutch parliament passes genocide bill

The Netherlands earlier this week passed a bill that allowed them to extend the possibly of detecting and prosecuting genocide suspects.

The bill, which now needs to be approved by the Senate, allows prosecutors to consider cases of genocide further retrospectively than currently allowed and also permits greater co-operation with international courts.

Currently, only genocide cases with crimes committed after the 1st of October 2003 can be considered before Dutch courts, a loop hole that has allegedly allowed many suspected war criminals to flee to the country.

The new bill though allows cases as far back as the 18th of September 1966, when the Genocide Convention Implementation Act in the Netherlands came into force, to be prosecuted for.

Former Minister for Justice, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, who proposed the bill said,

"It is unacceptable that an alien who is otherwise guilty of genocide is immune from prosecution, because the Netherlands, before the time of the crime, had no jurisdiction. This sends an undesirable signal to victims and their families."

The move has been welcomed by many groups, including those seeking justice for victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and have urged other European countries to emulate the bill.

UN committee endorses peoples' right to self-determination

The UN committee responsible for social, humanitarian and cultural affairs adopted a draft resolution on a peoples' right to self-determination on Tuesday.

The draft resolution, entitled 'Universal Realisation of the Right of Peoples to self-determination' was written by Pakistan and co-sponsered by over 50 countries including China.

The resolution states,

US soldier convicted of killing Afghan civilians

US soldier was convicted of three counts of murder, of conspiring to commit murder and other crimes, including assaulting a fellow soldier and taking fingers and a tooth from the dead, on Friday.

Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, sentenced to life in prison for his crimes, was the leader of the US army unit responsible for the killing of three Afghan civilians last year.

In all five soldiers have been charged with killing civilians. Some soldiers took pictures posing with the dead and took body parts as trophies.

Air strike on South Sudan refugee camp condemned

The United Nations has confirmed reports that Sudan has bombed a refugee camp in South Sudan after a flare up of tensions between the two nations, leaving twelve dead and more than 20 wounded.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for an “independent, thorough and credible investigation” and said,

Kosovan politician pleads not guilty to war crimes

A former Kosovo Liberation Army commander turned Member of Parliament, Fatmir Limaj, has pleaded not guilty to charges allegedly torturing and executing Serb prisoners during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

See report by the Associated Press here.

Human rights groups urge Arab League to back Syria's referral to ICC

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on the Arab League to endorse the UN Security Council motion to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court on allegations of crimes against humanity. 

In a report,'We Live as in War', released on Friday, the Human Rights Watch said,

"Human Rights Watch believes that the nature and scale of abuses committed by the Syrian security forces across the country indicate that crimes against humanity may have been committed.

"The similarities in the cases of apparent unlawful killings, including evidence of security forces shooting at protestors without warning in repeated instances, arbitrary detention, disappearances, and torture, indicate the existence of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population which has the backing of the state."

The Arab League needs to tell President Assad that violating their agreement has consequences, and that it now supports Security Council action to end the carnage.”