WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

German police arrest Rwanda genocide suspect accused of ordering killings
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,…

Obama confirms beheading of US aid worker by IS

Nov 15, 2014
US President Barack Obama confirmed Islamic State militants have executed US aid-worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, condemning the killing as "an act of pure evil by a terrorist group that the world rightly associates with inhumanity."

Kassig's execution, shown in a video which has been authenticated by the White House, is the fifth such killing of Western hostages by the Islamic State. The latest video by IS also shows the mass beheading of at least 14 Syrian soldiers captured by the Islamic militant group, who are paraded out before the camera.

In a statement aboard Air Force One, Obama said,
“Today we offer our prayers and condolences to the parents and family of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known to us as Peter.”

"Today we grieve together, yet we also recall that the indomitable spirit of goodness and perseverance that burned so brightly in Abdul-Rahman Kassig."
British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was horrified by the "cold-blooded murder."

Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government agree preliminary oil export deal

Nov 15, 2014
The government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) came to an agreement over Kurdish oil exports and civil servants payments from Baghdad to ease tension last week.

A statement by the KRG spokesperson in Arbil, confirmed that Baghdad would recommence payments for KRG civil servant salaries after they were stopped in protest of Iraqi Kurdistan’s independent oil exports.

“What they have agreed is that Baghdad will release some funds - $500 million – and the KRG will give 150,000 barrels per day of oil to Baghdad,” said Safeen Dizayee.

Hong Kong protest leaders prevented from boarding flight to Beijing

Nov 14, 2014
Student leaders of the Hong Kong protests have been prevented from boarding a flight to Beijing, where they hoped to meet with Chinese government officials in their push for greater democracy in Hong Kong.

The three members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students – Alex Chow, Nathan Law and Eason Chung – were stopped from boarding a flight to Beijing at Hong Kong's main airport.

Yvonne Leung, a representative of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said,

Sanctions on Russia will harm global economy - Putin

Nov 14, 2014

The Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that sanctions imposed on his country by the EU and US will negatively affect the global economy.

North Korea to send senior envoy to Russia

Nov 14, 2014
North Korea announced that a special envoy has been appointed to visit Moscow, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Choe Ryong-hae, a high-ranking member of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and reported close associate of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, was appointed as the special envoy.

Islamic State militants should be prosecuted at ICC concludes UN report

Nov 13, 2014
Commanders of Islamic State militants should be tried at the International Criminal Court for war crimes in northeast Syria concluded UN investigators on Friday.

A report based on over 300 interviews with witnesses and victims found that mass killings that constituted of “egregious violations of binding international humanitarian law and the war crime of murder on a massive scale,” had been committed by Islamic State commanders.

Transition plan to civilian led rule agreed in Burkina Faso

Nov 13, 2014
A plan to transition between military rule to a civilian led government in Burkina Faso was agreed on Thursday, by the army, opposition parties, civil society groups and religious leaders.

The transition charter was "unanimously voted" for by all sides, said a spokesperson for the talks.

The military took control of the country with Lt Col Isaac Zida declaring himself head of state, after mass protests forced the president, Blaise Compaore, to resign on October 31.

According to the agreed charter, an interim president will be selected by military, political, civil society and religious leaders. The interim president will then appointed a prime minister, who in turn will form a 25 member government.

Boko Haram capture symbolic town of Chibok

Nov 13, 2014

Islamic militant group Boko Haram have captured Chibok, the town where they kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls earlier this year.

On Thursday evening Boko Haram militants reportedly overran Nigerian army defences in the town, situated in the Borno state.

Several vigilante groups attempted to defend the town, with one of the vigilantes Musa Ali, saying “you couldn't count them because there were so many.”

"All the security and the soldiers, they ran away and left us on our own. They didn't shoot at them, they just ran,” he added. “All the ammunition we had was finished, so there was no way we could attempt to hold the area.”

However, Pogo Bitrus, chairman of the Chibok elders' forum, told Voice of America that “the fight, I believe, is not finished yet."

In April of this year Boko Haram kidnapped schoolgirls from the town, with 219 of them remaining missing.

Car bombs target Egyptian and UAE embassies in Libya

Nov 13, 2014

Two car bombs have exploded outside the UAE and Egyptian embassies in Libya, in an attack reportedly carried out by Islamic militant groups in Tripoli.

The attack left two guards outside the Egyptian embassy wounded and three guards injured outside the UAE embassy. Both buildings were empty at the time of the explosion, after both countries alongside other nations, pulled diplomatic staff out of Tripoli.

Israel denies entry to UN inquiry team

Nov 12, 2014
Israel has denied entry to a UN inquiry team mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against the Palestinian people in Gaza earlier this year.

Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Emmanuel Nachshon, was quoted by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, as saying the decision to stop the team from entering was made "in view of the [UN Human Rights] Council’s obsessive hostility toward Israel, the committee’s one-sided mandate and committee chairman William Schabas’ declared anti-Israeli positions."

"[The committee is] a pretense that some inquiry is being held before the conclusions are published,” he added.

“While Hamas launched thousands of rockets at Israel, the UN’s Human Rights Council made a decision stating Israel’s guilt in advance and set up a probe as a rubber stamp for its known positions."

Obama confirms beheading of US aid worker by IS
Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government agree preliminary oil export deal
Hong Kong protest leaders prevented from boarding flight to Beijing
Sanctions on Russia will harm global economy - Putin
North Korea to send senior envoy to Russia
Islamic State militants should be prosecuted at ICC concludes UN report
Transition plan to civilian led rule agreed in Burkina Faso
Boko Haram capture symbolic town of Chibok
Car bombs target Egyptian and UAE embassies in Libya
Israel denies entry to UN inquiry team