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,…

Former Pinochet aide charged over murder of political prisoners

A former Chilean army colonel Cristián Labbé has been arrested and charged with the murder of political prisoners held in a concentration camp in the 1970s, on Wednesday.

Labbé and 9 other military officials were charged over the death of 13 prisoners at a concentration camp in San Antonio.

Lawyer Rodrigo Lledo said "the (Interior Ministry's) human rights department asked for Cristian Labbé Galilea to be prosecuted for homicide, kidnapping, torture and unlawful association."

Labbé denies any wrong doing however.

Islamic State militants committing genocide says UN official after visiting Yazidi displacement camp

Islamic State militants are most likely committing genocide against the Yazidis in Iraq said a senior UN assistant secretary general for human rights on Tuesday.

“The evidence strongly indicates an attempt to commit genocide,” said Ivan Simonovic after meeting at least 70 Yazidis in Baghdad and in displaced persons camps in the Kurdish towns of Erbil and Dohuk.

Australian MP asks ICC to investigate treatment of asylum seekers

Independent Australian MP Andrew Wilkie has written to the International Criminal Court, asking for an investigation into the government’s treatment of asylum seekers.

Wilkie said he asked the court to look at policies which were causing "great suffering", citing forcible deportations, compulsory detention and detention camp conditions.

"The effect of the (asylum) policy is that men, women and children are being forcibly relocated and then subjected to arbitrary imprisonment through mandatory and sometimes indefinite detention," Wilkie said in the letter.

"The conditions they are forced to endure in detention are causing great suffering as well as serious bodily and mental injury."

“The Abbott Government’s conduct in relation to asylum seekers also contravenes the Refugee Convention, Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Pakistani anti-government protesters end sit-in, pro opposition news channel shut down

Anti-government protests in Pakistan’s capital ended on Wednesday, with protesters vowing to continue their campaign calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.      

Tahir ul-Qadri, who led the protests with former cricket player turned politician, Imran Kahn, called an end to the mass sit-in protests.


“This sit-in has achieved its purpose, it has awakened the nation and played its role in the path of evolution," said Qadri.


The protesters staged a 65 day sit-in whilst facing several clashes with Pakistani police leaving three dead and hundreds injured.


The Pakistan Media Regulation Authority on Tuesday said that it would have to shut down a private news channel, ARY News Chennel, and ban one of its anchors from appearing on Pakistani national TV, reports the
Associated Press.

Ukrainian army accused of using cluster bombs in Donetsk

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report this week, accusing the Ukrainian military of using banned cluster munitions as they battle against pro-Russia separatists in Eastern Ukraine.

HRW said it had evidence of “widespread use of cluster munitions,” adding that, “while it was not possible to conclusively determine responsibility for many of the attacks, the evidence points to Ukrainian government forces’ responsibility for several cluster munition attacks on Donetsk”.

"It is shocking to see a weapon that most countries have banned used so extensively in eastern Ukraine," said Mark Hiznay, a senior arms researcher at HRW.

However, Ukraine’s "anti-terrorist operation" spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov dismissed the report as “utter nonsense”, saying "we do not use banned weapons… Neither do we shell civilian neighbourhoods because this endangers lives."

Syrian air force carries out ‘200 airstrikes in 36 hours’ says SOHR

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) stated that the Syrian government has ramped up the use of airstrikes against opposition forces, with over 200 bombing raids carried out within 36 hours.

Though there were several reported casualties, the organisation was unable to confirm an exact number. ‘Barrel bombs’ were amongst those dropped on targets in opposition held areas including Hama, Idlib and Aleppo.

The Syrian government meanwhile stated air raids had destroyed two of three fighter jets seized by Islamic State militant. The location of the third jet is still unknown.

The intensification of the bombing campaign comes as opposition groups accuse the regime of continuing to use chemical weapons.

Canadian parliament in lockdown after shooting

The Canadian parliament is in lock down today after a gunman shot and killed a soldier at a war memorial in Ottawa, before running into the parliament building.

Gunfire has been exchanged between the Canadian police and the gunman, who has reportedly been shot dead inside the main parliament building.

Police are currently searching the area for more suspects with the situation described as “ongoing”.

Security has been tightened across the country following the incident.

Myanmar confirms 2015 elections will be held in presence of international observers

Myanmar’s government announced that the 2015 general elections will be held as scheduled, rejecting rumours that the election was to be postponed, the Associated Press reports.

The chairman of the Myanmar Union Election Commission, on Tuesday, said that international and local observers would be invited to witness the election, to be held in late October 2015.

Myanmar's 2010 election was criticised for being stage managed to ensure that the military-backed government retained power.

Islamic State militants release video of captured US aid drops

Islamic State militants claimed that they had captured US aid drops that were meant to arm Kurdish rebels, in a video released on Tuesday.

The Pentagon press secretary, commenting on reports that US air drops fell in to the hands of Islamic State militants, said that analysts were working to determine what happened, the Washington Post reports.

Both sides in eastern-Ukraine conflict committing atrocities says Amnesty International

Both sides in the eastern Ukraine conflict have committed atrocities though not on the scale reported by Russia, said Amnesty International in a statement on Monday.