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,…

Arab league agrees joint military force

The heads of Arab league countries meeting in Egypt this weekend, agreed to establish a joint Arab military force, in an attempt to combat Shi’ite militants in Yemen, reports the Associated Press

A resolution passed at the Arab summit, mandated a joint Arab defence force that could be deployed at the request of any Arab nation facing a security threat.

A Saudi led 10 nation coalition is currently performing airstrikes in Yemen to aid efforts to tackle advances by Houthi militants in the region.

Idlib captured by Syrian rebels

Syrian rebels captured the key Syrian city of Idlib from government forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The monitoring group said that the Ahrar al-Sham, Jund al-Aqsa and Nusra Front groups had taken the city on Saturday.

The Syrian government has not confirmed the loss, with state television saying, "The army is fighting fierce battles to restore the situation back to what it was."

Nigerian voters killed by Boko Haram attacks

Boko Haram militants killed 6 people in two separate attacks on Nigerian voters on Saturday.

Gunmen opened fire on voters as they made their way into polling stations, reports Channel 4 news.

One polling station was hit by a bomb, whilst in a separate incident, a Nigerian soldier was killed in an ambush by the militants.

The current president Goodluck Jonathan, has faced strong criticism over his inability to tackle Boko-Haram militants and curtail the organisation's rising militancy.

Libya calls for lift of UN arms embargo

The Libyan government made fresh calls for a UN arms embargo on the country to be lifted as a measure to help combat the advance of Islamic State militants in the region.

Speaking at an a meeting of the Arab League leaders in Egypt on Saturday, the president of Libya’s internationally recognised parliament, Aquila Saleh, said,

“Those who oppose or delay the arming of the Libyan army that you are giving an opportunity to Daesh terrorists to flourish in Libya and not spread beyond it.”

UN diplomats evacuate Yemen as Saudi Arabia intervenes

United Nations staff were pulled out from Yemen on Saturday after a third day of Saudi-led air strikes to tackle advances of Houthi militants left the area inhabitable.

Saudi Arabia’s navy evacuated dozens of diplomats from the region amidst attempts to quash the advances of Iranian allied Shi’ite Houthi fighters, reports Reuters.

A total of eighty-six diplomats and Saudi nationals were shipped out of Yemen through the Red Sea.

Boko Haram head quarters retaken by Nigerian army

Nigeria’s army announced it has recaptured the town of Gwoza, thought to be the headquarters of Boko Haram.

The group have suffered a serious of setbacks in recent months and have lost a large amount of the territory it held since Nigeria's neighbours, Cameroon, Chad and Niger sent troops to help it earlier this year.

"These successful operations have culminated in the dislodgment of terrorists from towns and communities in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states," military spokesperson Chris Olukolade said.

Chadian policemen sentenced to life for torture

Seven former policemen in Chad have been sentenced to life imprisonment for torture, in the first trial of former president Hissene Habre's accomplices.

Under Mr Habre's rule from 1982 to 1990 thousands of people are thought to have been killed and tortured. He is currently being held in Senegal awaiting a war crimes trial.

OHCHR highlights 'obligation to prosecute' after investigations into disappeared persons

The Chief of Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination of the OHCHR highlighted the obligation to persecute violations of international humanitarian law at an event presenting the ‘Good practice guide for the use of forensic genetics in investigations into human rights and international humanitarian law violations’ at the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday.

Panellists at the event included the Permanent Representative of Argentina (H.E. Ambassador Alberto D’Alotto), the Deputy Head of Operations of ICRC (Christophe Martin), the Chief of Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination of the OHCHR (Mona Rishmawi), along with several experts on forensic genetics involved in the drafting process.

In her presentation Ms Rishmawi made clear that states have an obligation under international human rights law and international humanitarian law to investigate gross violations of human rights, of which enforced disappearances is one. She said that this obligation to investigate was “very closely tied” to the “obligation to prosecute” and “the right to truth” and that the right to truth included the right to know what happened to the person, the circumstances under which the disappearance occurred, the gross violations of rights, the status of progress made, results of identification processes, and the identity of perpetrators.

Saudi Arabia leads air strikes against Houthi rebels as President Hadi flees

The Saudi air force has led air attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen, as Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi left the country and arrived in Riyadh.

Iran has described the air strikes as "dangerous", while Saudi Arabia said it was "defending the legitimate government" of President Hadi.

Reports say at least 13 civilians died in air strikes in the capital Sanaa.

On Wednesday, the Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubair, announced the beginning of the air strikes.

Global asylum claims in industrialized countries rise 45% in 2014

In their annual report on asylum claims in 44 industrialized countries released today, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) found that the number of asylum claims globally rose by 45% from 2013 to 2014.

There were approximately 866,000 asylum claims filed in 2014 - the second highest figure since the early 1980s when the UNHCR started systemically collecting statistics.

The report explains the overall increase as the result of, “[a] combination of armed conflict, deterioration of security or humanitarian situation and human rights concerns in a number of countries – notably the Syrian Arab Republic.” Syria went from being ranked 20th as a source of asylum-seekers in 2010, to 1st in 2013 and 2014.