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,…

Relatives in fear after Bosnia court releases genocide convicts

Relatives of victims of Srebrenica said they were in fear, after a court in Bosnia released 10 Bosnian Serb men jailed for genocide.

The men, sentenced for 28 to 32 years, were released by the court, stating that it had applied the wrong criminal code during their trials.

ABC News reported, that one relative, Munira Subasic, who lost 22 loved ones during the massacre, said she was now living in fear.
"I feel like a victim again," she said. "I don't know where the released criminals now are. They could be standing behind my back as we speak."

Iran embassy in Beirut hit by blast

The Iranian embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut was hit by a double suicide bombing earlier today.

At least 22 people are thought to have been killed, with scores more injured.

The head of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a group some suspect of having links to Al Qaeda, said it was behind the attack and that the attack was a "double martyrdom operation carried out by two heroes from the heroic Sunnis of Lebanon".

The US condemned the bombings as "senseless and despicable" .

Spanish court indicts former Chinese president for genocide

Spain’s National Court has ordered arrest warrants for former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and four other officials on suspicion of involvement in alleged genocide in Tibet.

Iran unveils powerful drone

The Iranian Defence Ministry has announced the development of a new drone, with a range that would cover most of the Middle East, including Israel.

Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan said that progress will not be halted by sanctions imposed by “enemies”.

He added that the drone could be airborne for up to 30 hours and was its largest drone.

Lawyers accuse Egypt of crimes against humanity

A team of UK-based lawyers have accused the Egyptian military and interim government of war crimes and crimes against humanity, in a report released this weekend.

The team was appointed by the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom of Justice Party (FJP), with lead lawyer Tyab Ali saying,

President of Iraqi Kurdistan supports Turkish peace process

The president of Kurdistan in Iraq, Masoud Barzani, has called on Kurds in Turkey to back the peace process with the Turkish government.

Barzani was visiting Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey’s Kurdish region.

"This is a historic visit for me ... We all know it would have been impossible to speak here 15 or 20 years ago," Barzani said, as crowds waved the Kurdish flags.

Over 40 dead in Libya clashes

At least 43 people were killed in clashes between militia on the outskirts of Libya's capital city Tripoli.

Fighting broke out on Friday after protesters marched on the headquarters of a militia group from Misrata, demanding they leave Tripoli.

The Libyan government is struggling to contain powerful militias within the country.

AFP quotes Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan as saying:
"The coming hours and days will be decisive for the history of Libya and the success of the revolution."

China to relax one-child policy

China will loosen its longstanding policy of restricting the number of babies a couple may have.

A key decision making body of the Communist Party met this week, bringing about new reforms.

China’s “re-education through labour” camps will also be abolished, and the role of the private sector in the economy will be boosted.

The one-child policy would be "adjusted and improved step by step to promote 'long-term balanced development of the population in China'", according to Xinhua.

Armed men torch El Salvadoran war crimes NGO

Armed men torched the offices of an El Salvadoran NGO dedicated to tracing missing children from the era of military rule in the country, destroying the organisation's archives.

The Pro-Búsqueda had their offices set ablaze and computers, which contained sensitive information on the relatives of missing children, stolen in the raid on Thursday.

UN security council rejects calls to delay ICC war crimes trial

The United Nations Security Council refused to delay the International Criminal Court trial of Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his deputy for crimes against humanity on Friday.

An African sponsored resolution calling for the delay of leader’s trial was voted down at the security council with the U.S, Britain, France, Guatemala, Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg and South Korea abstaining.