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,…

Thousands at funeral of killed Kachin teachers

The funeral of two female Kachin teachers, suspected to have been raped and killed by Burmese soldiers, was held today in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state in northern Myanmar.

Maran Lu Ra and Tangbau Khawn Nan Tsin, aged 20 and 21, were in a remote village in Shan state, to teach children on behalf of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KCB), the group's spokesperson Lama Yaw told AFP news agency.

“The victims are dead and can’t point out who did it to them. But everyone in Myanmar -- not only the Kachin people -- knows the truth,” Lama Yawsaid, referring to KBC claims that soldiers were responsible.

Villagers say they were raped and beaten, and that boot prints were found outside their shared home. Activists and local media say Burmese troops were stationed near the village.

Yemen crisis deepens as president quits, US pulls more embassy staff

The Yemeni president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, quit on Thursday after Houthi rebels advanced upto the presidential palace, plunging the country into deeper crisis.

Mr Hadi said he could not continue in office after the rebels failed to abide by the peace deal. According to the BBC, Mr Hadi's intelligence chief, Ali Hassan al-Ahmedi has also resigned.

Whilst, the Houthi rebels are yet to officially comment on the resignation, Reuters reported that some figures within the rebel group welcomed the move and proposed the creation of a 'ruling council'.

US and Cuba commence diplomatic discussions

The US and Cuba commenced historic talks on Thursday, in an attempt to restore diplomatic ties after the presidents of the two nations announced a new era of engagement on December 17 last year.

Leading the American delegation, US Secretary of State, Roberta Jackson, said, “We have to overcome more than 50 years of a relationship that was not based on confidence or trust, so there are things we have to discuss before we can establish that relationship and so there will be future conversations.”

UN calls for Myanmar condemnation of 969 leader's sexist rant

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussain called on Myanmar’s government to condemn Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu for the sexist insults directed at South Korea’s envoy to the country, Yanghee Lee, who had highlighted anti-Muslim sentiment.

Mr Wirathu of the notorious Buddhist nationalist 969 movement was slammed by Mr Zeid, who called the language employed by the monk as “sexist” and “incitement to hatred”.

"I call on religious and political leaders in Myanmar to unequivocally condemn all forms of incitement to hatred including this abhorrent public personal attack," Mr Zeid said in a statement.

Ms Lee had said the country’s Rohingya Muslims faced discrimination and criticised draft legislation, proposed by a coalition of nationalist Buddhist monks, which includes restrictions on interfaith marriage and religious conversions.

Last week the UN passed a resolution, calling on Myanmar to grant the Rohingya citizenship.

The monk criticised UN “interference” and attacked Ms Lee at a rally last Friday.

US led coalition needs two years to expel Islamic State says UK

The US led coalition could take up to two years to expel Islamic State from Iraq said the British foreign secretary said on Thursday.

“This isn’t going to be done in three months or six months. It’s going to take a year, two years to push ISIL (IS) back out of Iraq but we are doing the things that need to be done in order to turn the tide,” Mr Hammond told Sky News before hosting a meeting of 21 coalition members in London.

Genocide occurs when 'warning signs' ignored - UN deputy Sec Gen

The UN deputy Secretary General, Jan Eliasson, speaking at a Holocaust memorial event on Wednesday, said it is important to learn from the past in order to prevent future mass atrocities, stating that "genocide can only happen when we ignore the warning signs – and are unwilling to take action.”

"It is important that we examine why we continue to fail to prevent mass atrocities, despite lessons learned, despite knowledge of causes and drivers and despite our assurances of ‘never again," Mr Eliasson said.


The UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Genocide, Adama Dieng also spoke at the event.

Last year, Mr Dieng, said the killing of thousands of Tamils in Sri Lanka at the end of the armed conflict in 2009, was the "failure of the international community".

This "led to the killing of thousands of them [Tamils] under our eyes" he added, when asked by the journalist, Matthew Russell Lee whether the atrocities committed against the Tamil people, before, during and after May 2009, met the criteria for genocide.

Houthi rebels take control of presidential palace

The Yemeni capital Sanaa has been overrun by Houthi rebels, who have stationed their fighters at strategic points in the city, including the presidential palace.

The rebels defeated the presidential guard and have surrounded the private home of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, but Houthi officials said he was free to leave.

“President Hadi is still in his home. There is no problem; he can leave,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi politburo, told Reuters.

Bahraini activist sentenced over tweet

The prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been sentenced to six months in prison over a tweet in which he suggested Bahraini jails served as an "ideological incubator" for jihadists.

The founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has been imprisoned several times for his activism.

Speaking to the BBC after his sentencing, Mr Rajab said the sentence was designed to prevent him from speaking up and also accused the British government of silence on his case.

Former Guatemalan police chief sentenced over civil war attack

A former special investigations chief with Guatemala's national police has been sentenced to 90 years over an attack on the Spanish embassy during a protest in 1980, which left 37 people dead.

Pedro Garcia Arredendo was found guilty of homicide and crimes against humanity for his role in the raid on the building, which was occupied by indigenous people, peasants and students, during a protest in the country's 36-year long civil war.

The police chief, who denied the charges, ordered officers to prevent those in the mission from leaving as it burned down.

Among those killed in the fire were Vicente Menchu, the father of indigenous rights activist and winner of the 1992 Noble Peace Prize, Rigoberta Menchu, the Spanish consul and two Guatemalan politicians who had been visiting the embassy, former vice-president Eduardo Caceres Lenhoff and former foreign minister Adolfo Molina Orantes.

LRA commander to stand war crimes trial in The Hague

A senior leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army has arrived in the International Criminal Court in The Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Dominic Ongwen, said to be the feared deputy of the rebel group's leader, Joseph Kony, was taken into US custody in the Central African Republic earlier this month, after Uganda agreed he should be tried by the ICC, despite being a critic of the court, the BBC reports.

The ICC in a statement thanked the Central African Republic, Uganda, Belgium and the Netherlands, the African Union and the US - who are not a signatory to the Rome Statute - for facilitating the detention and transfer of Mr Ongwen.