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,…

Spanish courts to hear genocide case against Hu Jintao

Spain’s highest criminal court has agreed to hear a lawsuit against former Chinese President Hu Jintao, as part of an investigation into whether genocide was carried out in Tibet.

The decision was made after an appeal against an earlier court decision to drop the case in June. Judges ruled they were competent to carry on with the case because one of the plaintiffs, Thubten Wangchen, holds Spanish citizenship.

AU to call for suspension of ICC cases whilst leaders are in power

The African Union is set to ask the International Criminal Court, to suspend cases against the presidents of Kenya and Sudan while they remain in office, officials have said today.

African Union to discuss ICC pull-out

Leaders of African Union members are currently meeting to discuss a withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the court is treating Africans unfairly and that it is specifically targeting African nations.

"Far from promoting justice and reconciliation... the court has transformed itself into a political instrument targeting Africa and Africans. This unfair and unjust treatment is totally unacceptable," he said.

War criminal Charles Taylor to serve sentence in UK prison

The UK Ministry of Justice has confirmed that convicted war criminal and former president of Liberia Charles Taylor will serve his 50-year prison sentence in Britain.

Justice minister Jeremy Wright told parliament in a written statement that, "former President Taylor will now betransferred to a prison in the UK to serve [his] sentence".

US ‘recalibrates’ military aid to Egypt

The Obama administration has cut back on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military aid to Egypt, in what the US is describing as a “recalibration” of aid.

According to State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, Washington has suspended the delivery of jets, tanks, missiles and helicopters to Egypt,

“pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through free and fair elections”.

In a program that has lasted over 30 years, $1.3 billion of military aid has been annually sent to Egypt from the United States.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had said,

"by no means is this a withdrawal from our relationship or a severing of our serious commitment to helping the government".

A senior U.S. official had been quoted by Voice of America as saying,

"the United States will not support actions that run contrary to our interests and our principles."

Burma strikes peace deal with Kachin rebels

Burmese authorities announced  today that they had signed a preliminary peace agreement with ethnic Kachin rebels in the north of Burma.

US decides to suspend military aid to Egypt

The US government has decided to suspend some parts of the aid it supplies to the Egyptian military.

Aid for counter-terrorism operations and border security will remain unaffected, but deliveries of tanks and aircraft will be stopped, due to the crackdown on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood after President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown in a coup.

The US refused to label the ouster as a coup, as that would have required a full suspension of aid, but a review of the aid worth $1.3bn was launched in August.

Weapons inspectors call for truce in Syria

UN weapons inspectors in Syria have called for a truce, in order for the Syrian government's chemical weapons arsenal to be destroyed by the deadline.

Speaking to reporters at The Hague, Ahmet Uzumcu, the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said the deadline for destroying the weaponry was "extremely tight", but was possible if truces were agreed.

Pakistani Taliban invites government to peace negotiations

In a rare television interview, the leader of the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Taliban Paksitan (TTP), Hakimullah Mehsud, offered an invite to representatives of the government to meet in Taliban territory, to hold talks about bringing peace into the country.

US ambassador summoned over Libyan raid

The Libyan government has summoned the US envoy to the country after a raid saw an alleged al-Qaeda operative abducted by US special forces.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said ties between the two countries would remain unaffected but said that Libyan nationals must be tried in Libyan courts.

The US embassy in Tripoli told the BBC that Ambassador Deborah Jones was "in regular contact with the Libyan government, including the Libyan ministry of foreign affairs".