• Islamic State claims responsibility for American shootings

    Islamic State militants on Tuesday claimed responsibility for shootings on American soil and warned of further attacks, reports the Guardian.

    In a statement made on Tuesday, the militants claimed responsibility for a carton festival in Texas on Sunday that featured cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed.

    The Islamic State broadcast, warned,
  • Kerry in historic visit to Mogadishu

    US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Mogadishu earlier today, the first such visit by an American in his position.

    Mr Kerry met with Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the airport amidst tight security and said: "Next time I come, we have to be able to just walk downtown".

    "I visited Somalia today because your country is turning around," he said.

  • Lauryn Hill cancels Israel concert amidst boycott pressure
    The world renowned artist Lauryn Hill, three days before performing, cancelled her performance in Israel after being unable to perform in Palestinian Territory.

    In a statement released on Tuesday, Ms Hill, said,

    “My intention was to perform in both Tel Aviv and Ramallah. Setting up a performance in Palestinian Territory, at the same time as our show in Israel, proved to be a challenge. It is very important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans. For this reason, we have decided to cancel my upcoming performance in Israel.”

    The announcement came amidst a campaign held by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which called on the artist to pull out of her Israeli performance, and produced a boycott campaign video using her music.

  • Former IRA commander shot dead in Belfast
    A former senior commander with the Provisional IRA has been shot dead in Belfast on Tuesday morning.

    Gerard 'Jock' Davison is the most senior republican to have been killed since the ceasefire of 1997, having been a prominent backer of the peace process. He was reportedly murdered in front of local school children this morning.

    The killing drew condemnation from Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, who said,

    “This brutal act will be condemned by all sensible people – there can be no place today for such actions. I would urge anyone with any information to bring that forward to the PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland].”
  • Low ranking Israeli soldiers could face investigation – ICC chief prosecutor

    The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said that all sides involved in potential war crimes committed in Gaza could face investigation, including middle and low ranking Israeli soldiers.

    In an extensive email interview with Haaretz, Fatou Bensouda said that if a formal investigation was to be opened, it would be carried out with the purpose of  “bringing stronger cases against those most responsible” for the alleged crimes committed.

    She went on to say that it “will of course look into the alleged crimes committed by all sides to the conflict”.

    “If an investigation is opened in any given situation, my office will be guided by a policy of investigating and prosecuting those most responsible for the commission of mass crimes,” said Ms Bensouda.

    “That is the general rule. In accordance with my office’s new strategic plan, where appropriate, we may indeed investigate and prosecute notorious perpetrators whose conduct has been particularly egregious or a number of lower- or mid-level perpetrators, building upwards, and thereby bringing stronger cases against those most responsible."

  • Taliban political office needs reopening conclude Afghan talks
    Talks on Afghanistan's conflict this weekend agreed that the Taliban's political office in Doha, Qatar, should be reopened in order to facilitate negotiations, and that senior Taliban leaders' names should be removed from the UN terrorism black list, reported Reuters.

    The 'non-official meeting', which took place over two days in Qatar, included UN representatives, as well as representatives from the Taliban and the Afghan government.

  • Modi to visit China next week
    The Indian president, Narendra Modi is to visit China next week, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, in his visit trip since taking office, reports Reuters.

    The visit, which will take place from May 14 to 16, will include visits to Xian, Beijing and Shanghai, and will be followed by visits to Mongolia and South Korea. He is expected to look to encourage trade and business between the two countries.

    On Modi, Mr Modi launched himself on China's social media site, Weibo.

  • Taliban and Afghan officials fail to agree ceasefire
    Taliban militants met with Afghan political figures for a second day in Qatar and failed to agree on ceasefire, reports Reuters.

    A statement released by the Taliban at the end of the informal talks indicated a shift in position on foreign presence in Afghanistan.

    The Taliban, using their formal name in a statement made on Sunday, said,
  • Kurdish and US presidents to meet to discuss self-determination
    The question of Kurdish self-determination and the war against Islamic State militants will be discussed by a high level Kurdish delegation heading to meet the US president and other officials at the White House.

    The Kurdish delegation, led by President Masoud Barzani, will meet American officials, US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, reports Rudaw.
  • UN denies cover-up of French child abuse in CAR

    The UN has denied it covered up allegations of child abuse by French troops in the Central African Republic, after it suspended a senior UN official for leaking an internal report detailing the abuse.

    A UN spokesperson said the report was not supposed to be made public in order to protect the identity of victims and witnesses.

    Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said publication of the internal report risked making those named "extremely vulnerable to reprisals", the AFP news agency said.

  • Israeli NGO accuses IDF of firing indiscriminately in Gaza
    An Israeli NGO has accused Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers of having fired indiscriminately during the escalation in violence in Gaza last year, in a "drastic change" in policy, reports the FT.

    The NGO, Breaking the Silence, published a report on Monday detailing findings following interviews of over 60 IDF soldiers who were deployed during the conflict, known as 'Operation Protective Edge'.

    “The soldiers were briefed by their commanders to fire at every person they identified in a combat zone, since the working assumption was that every person in the field was an enemy,” the report said.

    One first sergeant was quoted as saying: “The instructions are to shoot right away, whoever you spot — be they armed or unarmed, no matter what."

    “The instructions are very clear: any person you run into, that you see with your eyes, shoot to kill.”

  • Curfew lifted in Baltimore

    The curfew which has been in place in Baltimore over the last 5 nights, after protests caused by the death of a black man while in police custody, has been lifted.

    Troops with the National Guard have begun withdrawing from the city.

    On Sunday morning, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she did not want to maintain it longer than necessary.

  • Thousands welcome charging of officers involved in death of Freddie Gray

    Thousands of people took to the streets, a day after the officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray were charged with homicide, with many exuberantly celebrating the move, while demanding justice to be served.

    "We will gather in peace and we will march in peace and we will march until police brutality ends in the United States," Malik Shabazz, president of Black Lawyers for Justice which helped organise Saturday's march, told the crowd, according to Reuters.

    Using social media hashtags #BlackLivesMatter and #BlackSpring, rallies were also planned on Saturday in more than 20 US cities including Dallas, New York and Los Angeles.

    At the rally at City Hall, protesters held signs that said, "Running black is not a crime in Baltimore" and "Who's policing the Baltimore City police?", the Baltimore Sun reported.

    Mark-Anthony Montgomery of the group Hearts with Promise said the protesters are fighting a "war on poverty" and a "war on injustice."

  • Islamic State 'kills 300 Yazidis'

    Around 300 Yezidi captives have been killed by Islamic State near Mosul, according to a statement from the Yazidi Progress Party.

    Thousands of Yazidis were captured by IS militants last year, when they took over huge swathes of land in northern Iraq.

  • HRW accuses Saudi coalition of using American cluster bombs
    Credible evidence indicates that the Saudi led coalition used banned cluster munitions supplied by the US during airstrikes against Houthi militant advances, said Human Rights Watch in a statement on Sunday.

    The arms director at Human Rights Watch, Steve Goose, said
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