WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Rwandan genocide memorial in Nyamata (Fanny Schertzer) German prosecutors have arrested a German-Rwandan national on suspicion of complicity in genocide and 25 counts of murder during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda. The suspect, identified only as Innocent S. under German privacy rules, was arrested in the central German state of Hesse on Wednesday. According to Reuters,…

Bahrain court dissolves main Shi'ite opposition party, seizes funds

Bahrain’s court dissolved the main Shi’ite opposition group al-Wefaq and liquidated the organisation’s funds reports Reuters.

Amidst a deepening environment of cracking down on decent, Bahrain’s court found the group’s political activities had deviated towards incitement to violence and the encouragement of mass protests and sit-ins that could lead to sectarian strife.

Media organisations in Bahrain reported that the group’s funds would be seized by the state treasury.

Kurdish Peshmerga and US military sign MoU

US and Kurdish officials signed a memorandum of understanding this week, which “includes provisions of military support to the Peshmerga forces," according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

The US acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Elissa Slotkin met with Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani and acting Minister of Peshmerga Affairs Karim Sinjari, with whom she signed the memorandum with on Tuesday.

Amongst the topics discussed in talks were “the importance and urgency of the liberation of Mosul” and the role of Peshmerga forces in the fight against Islamic State.

Newspaper offices and television stations shut down by authorities in Kashmir amidst rising protests

Authorities in Indian controlled Kashmir seized newspapers and shut down cable television in attempts to quash mobilisation which has seen protests over the killing of Kashmiri separatist commander Burhan Wani.

A Kashmir government minister, who commented remained anonymous, told Reuters that,

Erdogan returns to Turkey after 'coup'

A military coup in Turkey appears to have failed as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to the country after attempting to seek asylum in Europe.

The army faction had announced that it was in control of the country but was met on the streets by protests and supporters of Erdogan.

The opposition, including the pro-Kurdish HDP, bitterly opposed to Erdogan, have denounced the coup attempt.

85 dead in Nice truck attack

Eighty-five people have been killed in Nice, France after a truck drove into the crowds gathered to celebrate Bastille Day last night before firing shots at those trying to flee.

The driver of the truck ploughed into the crowds for 2km before French police shot him dead.

The attack was condemned by the French president Francois Hollande who said it was of "an undeniable terrorist nature".

Bastille Day is a celebration of France's Independence Day.

Condemning the attack "in the strongest terms", the US president Barack Obama also speculated that it appeared to be "a horrific terrorist attack in Nice".

Germany to apologise to Namibia for Herero genocide

Germany is to recognise the massacre of over 100,000 Herero people by German troops between 1904 and 1908 as a genocide, and make a formal apology to Namibia. Reparations have been ruled out however.

The massacre, considered the first genocide of the 20th century, is believed to be a precursor to the Holocaust.

The Herero, as well as Nama people were sent to concentration camps, where many were beheaded or died of malnutrition and abuse. Others were driven into the Namibian desert where they died.

Hundreds 'disappeared' in Egypt - Amnesty

Human rights group Amnesty International has accused the Egyptian regime of forcibly disappearing and torturing hundreds of people, including political activists, students and protestors.

The group says many of the disappeared, some as young as 14, have been held for months.

The Egyptian government has denied the allegations.

See more on the BBC here.

Syrian government sued for killing of journalist Marie Colvin

Relatives of Marie Colvin, a veteran journalist killed in Syria in 2012, have filed a lawsuit claiming she was deliberately targeted by the Syrian government.

The lawsuit alleges that veteran Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin was killed in order to silence her reporting on Syria and Homs.

Ms Colvin was killed in 22nd February 2012 along with French photographer Remi Ochlik in a rocket attack on a makeshift broadcast studio in Homs.

Indian troops fire on Kashmir protesters and cut internet in crackdown

Indian troops opened fire on thousands of protesters killing at least eight civilians from south Kashmir reports Al Jazeera.

The shooting came after tens of thousands of people defied a curfew in Kashmir to pay respects to a Kashmiri rebel fighter, Burwan Wani, who was shot dead by security forces.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, a local journalist, who travelled to the protest regions, said authorities had cut electricity, blocked roads and internet as part of a wider crackdown on protesters.

Rwandan mayors jailed in France over genocide

Two former mayors from Rwanda have been jailed for life in France for their role in the 1994 genocide in the country.

Tito Barahira, 65, and Octavien Ngenzi, 58, were found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide, including during the massacre of 2,000 Tutsis in a church in Kabarondo/.

The two men were arrested in France a few years ago and had both denied involvement in the killings.