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,…

Civilians in Iraq face dire rights violations under Islamic State control finds UN

Civilians in Islamic State held territory in Iraq are facing a “terrible”  existence found a UN report released on Monday.

The joint report compiled by the Office of the UN High commissioner for human Rights (OHCHR) and UN Assistance mission for Iraq (UNAMI) noted that the situation facing civilians remained dire.

IS Khorasan leader 'killed' in drone strike

The leader of the Islamic State in Khorasan, a region across Afghanistan and Pakistan, was killed in a drone strike according to Afghan officials.

Hafiz Saeed is said to have died on Friday night in Achin, in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province.

IS has rejected the claims, telling the BBC Hafiz Saeed Khan "is alive".

The Afghan intelligence agency, the NDS, said the drone strike was carried out by US-led coalition forces in coordination with intelligence provided by the spy agency.

Colombia agrees to de-escalate conflict with Farc

Colombia's government has agreed to reduce attacks on Farc positions, after the militant group announced a unilateral ceasefire earlier this week.

The government and the rebels in  join statement said government forces will refrain from military attacks on rebel positions from July 20, if Farc fulfils the terms of its ceasefire.

Both parties said they would work together to try to speed-up an agreement on a permanent bilateral ceasefire.

Israel releases detained Palestinian hunger striker

Israel has released a Palestinian Islamic leader following a deal that saw him end a 56 day hunger strike, reports Reuters.

Khader Adnan’s hunger strike had sparked fears that his death could unravel the truce between Gaza and Israel leading to further violence.

UN brokered humanitarian ceasefire broken by Saudi coalition strikes in Yemen

A UN brokered humanitarian ceasefire was broken less than a day after being implemented, reports the BBC.

 The six day humanitarian truce which was agreed to commence on Friday, was broken on Saturday after the Saudi-led coalition conducted airstrikes over Yemen’s capital.

Still lessons to be learnt to prevent genocide says UN at Srebrenica memorial

Lessons remain to be learnt in protecting communities from genocide and mass atrocities, said the UN deputy Secretary General at the commemoration event of the Srebrenica genocide.

Stressing that more work had to be done by the international community, Jan Eliasson, said,

Serbian PM forced to flee Srebrenica memorial

The Serbian Prime Minister was forced to flee the memorial event marking the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacres, as thousands filed along the roads that saw the massacres of over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica to commemorate the killings.

Aleksander Vucic and his delegation were forced to leave the event after mourners hurled stones and bottles at the Serbian Prime Minister.

Germany moves towards recognising Namibian massacre as genocide

German authorities are moving towards recognising the colonial era killing of more than 65,000 ethnic Hereros in Namibia as genocide, according to the latest reports.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Martin Schaefer said that talks were ongoing with Namibia on a joint declaration, which would follow a previous parliamentary motion signed three years ago. The motion states that "the war of destruction in Namibia from 1904 to 1908 was a war crime and genocide".

The latest moves follow the speaker of the German parliament Norbert Lammert writing a guest column for news weekly Die Zeit earlier this week, where he said “using today's standards of international law, the crushing of the Herero revolt was genocide".

Pope Francis condemns ‘genocide’ of Christians in Middle East

The Pope has condemned the killing of Christians in the Middle East, describing the killings as genocide in a speech on Thursday this week.

Speaking at the World Meeting of the Popular Movements in Bolivia, Pope Francis said, "today we are dismayed to see how in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world many of our brothers and sisters are persecuted, tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus."

“In this third world war, waged piecemeal, which we are now experiencing, a form of genocide is taking place, and it must end," he continued.

UN peacekeeping chief calls for South Sudan arms embargo

The head of UN peacekeeping, Hervé Ladsous, called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the government and opposition of South Sudan.

Speaking the day before the 4th anniversary of the formation of the country, Mr Ladsous told reporters the situation on the ground was “absolutely appalling.”

Last week, the Security Council imposed sanctions against those disrupting the political process, with travel bans and asset freezes on three generals loyal to President Salva Kiir and three from his political rival Riek Machar’s opposition camp.

“What really should be looked at is the possibility of more sanctions towards more leaders,” he said. “I do think that there should be a decision about an arms embargo, because it is really completely questionable that the very meager resources that the country has go into buying more weapons.”