WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Sadia Moalim Ali, a 27-year-old nursing graduate and rickshaw driver from Somalia, has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after being convicted of insulting government institutions over comments she made on social media. Ali, who had posted on Facebook and TikTok, was sentenced on 25 June in a case that has sparked outrage in Somalia and renewed concern over the shrinking space for…

Nepalese man arrested by Met Police over torture

A 46-year old man from Nepal has been arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police, over allegations of torture, committed in 2005 during the war in Nepal.

He was held on Thursday in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex and is currently detained in a police station in neighbouring Sussex.

The BBC reported that the man is thought to be linked to the former government and was arrested due to a complaint made in the UK.

Argentinean President sparks Falklands self-determination row

The President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has reignited the longstanding debate over the Falkland Islands, provoking responses from both the British Prime Minister and the British Foreign Office, who staunchly have defended the islanders right to self-determination.
 
Kirchner sparked the recent row by publishing a letter in the Guardian which slammed what she called "a blatant exercise of 19th Century colonialism" and called for the restoration of the “territorial integrity” of the Argentine Republic.

French MP resubmits Armenian genocide bill

French Member of Parliament has submitted a new draft of a bill that will criminalise denial of the Armenian genocide of 1915, after France’s highest court deemed it unconstitutional last year.

The bill, submitted by French Parliament Member Valerie Boyer, looks to introduce a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for denial of the genocide.

UN sanctions imposed on DRC rebels

The UN Security Council has placed sanctions on the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The sanctions, imposed on New Years’ Eve, mean that those connected to the rebels will face travel bans and the freezing of their assets.

Sanctions were also placed on Rwanda’s FDLR rebel movement.

Rwanda and Uganda are accused of supporting the M23 rebels by the UN, but both governments have denied the allegations.

Iran slams new US law

Iran has slammed a new US law, intended to curb Iran's influence in Latin America.

President Obama signed the "Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act" last week, which gave the US State Department 180 days to develop a plan to "address Iran's growing hostile presence and activity".

Aid worker killing spree continues in Pakistan

Five female teachers and two aid workers were killed on Tuesday by gunmen on motorcycles in Swabi, Pakistan.

The victims had been working with an NGO, Support With Working Solution, on polio immunisation campaigns.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the shootings director of the NGO, Javed Akhtar, suspected that the attack was a part of a spree targeting anti-polio efforts in Pakistan.

Farc rebels ‘killed’ in air strike – Colombia

The Colombian military has announced that 13 Farc rebels have been killed in an air strike.

Air force officials said they had hit a camp in the northwest of the country on New Years’ Eve and has found 13 bodies.

The government did not reciprocate a unilateral truce called by the rebels last year and has continued attacks, while peace talks are continuing in Cuba.

Bosnia charges former soldiers and police over war crimes

Bosnian prosecutors charge former members of their armed and police forces with war crimes allegedly committed against Serbian civilians during the Bosnian War which took place over a decade ago.

According to a statement from the national prosecutor’s office, eight people were charged with,

UN peacekeepers to leave East Timor after 13 years

The UN is to end its peacekeeping mission in East Timor on Monday, after 13 years and over 1500 UN troops.

In a statement, the chief of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste, Finn Reske-Nielson, said,

"The Timorese people and its leaders have shown courage and unswerving resolve to overcome great challenges,"