• UN Secretary General slams Israeli settlement plan

    Jul 04
    The United Nations Secretary General Bank Ki-moon slammed Israel’s decision to advance plans to build further hundreds more units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, reports Reuters.

    Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric in a statement released on Tuesday, said,
  • 3 suicide bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia
    Three seemingly coordinated suicide bomb attacks took place in Saudi Arabia on Monday as Ramadan draws to an end.

    One bomb targeted a mosque of the Prophet Mohammad in the city of Medina, considered one of the holiest cities in Islam.

    Another bomb went off in the city of Qatif, whilst another near the US consulate in Jeddah.

    No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
  • Islamic State claims Baghdad bombing, 120 dead
    Islamic State has claimed responsibility for two bombings in Baghdad over night which over 120 dead and over 200 injured.

    The bombs went off at a shopping area as people celebrated Ramadan.

    The attack comes after Iraqi forces won Falluja last month.

    The Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared three days of morning.
  • UN Security Council condemns Dhaka attack
    The United Nations Security Council has condemned an attack on a café in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, which killed twenty hostages and two police officers on Friday night.
  • Government pressure forces cancellation of Myanmar rights group report launch

    A rights group in Myanmar was forced to cancel the launch of a report on alleged army torture and war crimes, the Guardian reports.

    Ta'ang Women's Organisation (TWO) claimed that the regional government forced two hotels in Yangon to cancel their booking for the launch event.

  • Human rights groups call for suspension of Saudi Arabia from Human Rights Council
    Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for Saudi Arabia to be suspended from the UN Human Rights Council, stating it has been using its position “to effectively obstruct justice for possible war crimes”.

    Speaking from the UN on Wednesday, head of Amnesty’s UN Office Richard Bennett said, “Since joining the council, Saudi Arabia’s dire human rights record at home has continued to deteriorate and the coalition it leads has unlawfully killed and injured thousands of civilians in the conflict in Yemen”.

    “To allow it to remain an active member of the council, where it has used this position to shield itself from accountability for possible war crimes, smacks of deep hypocrisy. It would bring the world’s top human rights body into disrepute,” he added.

    “The credibility of the U.N. Human Rights Council is at stake.”
  • Serbian parties call for recognition of Srebrenica genocide
    A group of political parties in Serbia have submitted a proposal calling for the recognition of the Srebrenica genocide, in hope of reconciling relations between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    Factions composed of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak, the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina and The Green Party submitted a resolution which “condemns the genocide in Srebrenica and any denial of genocide, and proclaims July 11 the Day of Remembrance of the Genocide in Srebrenica".

    The parties urged parliament to pass the resolution as "a major step towards resolving outstanding issues between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Serbian and Bosniak [Muslim] peoples".

    "The recognition of genocide in Srebrenica is a civilised step that Serbia needs [to make] to confirm the seriousness of the intent to build dialogue, cooperation, trust and lasting peace in the region, based on the acceptance of the acts committed in the past, dealing with the past and commitment to justice, support for victims as the basis for strengthening security, stability and prosperity in the region," the resolution added.
  • Scotland lobbies in Brussels, amidst Spanish opposition
    Scotland has “won the right to be heard in Brussels” said European Union Parliament president Martin Schulz, as Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon attended a series of talks with senior officials this week, reports the BBC.
  • Cambodian PM tells foreign countries to stop interfering in domestic politics

    International powers should stay out of Cambodian domestic politics warned Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen on Tuesday, as tensions run high between the Prime Minister's ruling party and the opposition.

  • 36 confirmed dead in Istanbul airport attack
    Thirty-six people have been confirmed dead in a bomb and gun attack on Istanbul's international airport on Tuesday.

    Turkey's prime minister Binali Yildirim suggested that the attack may have been perpetrated by Islamic State. Three suicide bombers blew themselves up after opening fire.
  • US express concern at detention of Bahraini journalist for reporting on torture
    Bahrain’s attempt to try an activist for tweets condemning the prison system as sparked criticism by the US State Department reports Reuters.

    Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab was arrested earlier this month on unspecified charges in what appears to be an escalating crackdown on dissent by the Sunni-led government, and is set to face over a decade in person.
  • US court finds former Chilean army officer liable for murder of activist

    A former Chilean army officer who now resides in the United States has been found liable for the murder of a folk singer and political activist in 1973, by a Florida jury.

    Pedro Pablo Barrientos Nuñez, who now lives in Deltona, Florida, is alleged to have shot dead political activist Victor Jara, in September 1973 during a coup by Augusto Pinochet.

  • German lawsuit accuses Turkish president of war crimes against Kurds

    A group of German parliamentarians and civil society activists have filed a lawsuit against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other government officials, accusing them of committing war crimes against the Kurdish population.

    Lawyers for the group, Britta Eder and Petra Dervishaj said,

  • Former UN Sec Gen calls on Africans to seek justice at ICC
    Former UN Secretary Kofi Annan has defended the International Criminal Court (ICC) amid criticism from African leaders, urging Africans to seek justice from abroad if they cannot find it in domestic courts.

    In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Annan said he wanted to “remind the Africans that it’s wrong for them to say that only African leaders are put into the dock”.
  • ‘Time to put Welsh independence on the agenda’ – Plaid Cymru

    The leader of Plaid Cymru said that her party would be outlining moves to “put independence on the agenda now in order to safeguard Wales’s future”, in light of last week’s European Union referendum.

    Commenting on action ahead for Wales in light of the fallout from Britain voting to exit the European Union, Leanne Wood said:

    “Even though this situation was not of our making, Plaid Cymru believes that redesigning the current UK is the only option. A new union of independent nations working together for the common good”.

    “The Welsh economy and our constitution face unprecedented challenges,” she added. “We must explore options that haven’t been properly debated until now.”

    “It’s time to put independence on the agenda now in order to safeguard Wales’s future,” the party leader continued. “This is about us beginning a national conversation rather than calling for a referendum, though that is where it will end up.”

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