• Israel’s current status quo makes stability in region difficult says US president

    US President Barack Obama, reiterating his belief that a two state solution was the best way to ensure the long term security of Israel, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pre-election stance would make it “hard to find a path were people are seriously belieiving that negotiations are possible.
  • Report finds sexual abuse and rape in Australian detention centre in Nauru
    An Australian asylum camp at Nauru has been plagued by reports of rape, "indecent assault, sexual harassment and physical assault", according to a report by former integrity commissioner Philip Moss.

    Guards traded drugs for sexual favours and a minor was amongst those who were raped, said the report, which made 19 recommendations. The Australian government said it has accepted all the recommendations.
     
    Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the findings were "very disturbing", adding, "these are very important, very important claims, very disturbing findings - and that's why we have fully accepted the recommendations of the report."

    The heavily redacted report also rebuffed Australian government claims that Save the Children charity workers had lied about abuse claims at the centre. “The Moss Inquiry shows beyond a doubt that there was and is no basis to these claims," said Save the Children chief executive Paul Ronalds. "There was never any need for fabrication or exaggeration by Save the Children staff – the evidence is clear."
  • Attack on Shi'ite mosques in Yemen kills dozens
    Explosions at mosques in the Yemeni capital Sanaa have killed dozens of worshippers and injured over 100 people, as people gathered for noon prayers on Friday.

    At least 77 people were reported to have been killed in the blasts, after suicide bombers attacked the Badr and al-Hashoosh mosque, reports the BBC.
  • Mass grave found in Nigeria

    At least 70 bodies have been found in a mass grave in a Nigerian town recaptured from Boko Haram.

    Troops form Chad and Niger said they found the bodies in Damasak, which was under the control of the militants for months.

    Some of the victims are reported to have had their throats slit and others were decapitated, according to reports.

    Chadian army Col Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP that he had visited the grave and seen "about 100 bodies spread under a bridge just outside the town".

  • Al Shabab leader killed in US drone attack

    Senior Al Shabab leader Adan Garar was killed in a drone strike last Friday, the Pentagon confirmed.

    Mr Gara, who was a key suspect in the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate mall in 2013, was targeted with Hellfire missiles in southern Somalia.

  • Attacks on Yazidis may constitute genocide – UN

    The militant group ISIS may have committed genocide against the Yazidi people in Iraq, according a new report by the UN.

    The report said ISIS had "the intent... to destroy the Yazidi as a group."

    "In some instances, villages were entirely emptied of their Yazidi population."

    The report found “widespread abuses committed by ISIL include killings, torture, rape and sexual slavery, forced religious conversions and the conscription of children”.

    A statement by the OHCHR said: "One witness described how two ISIL members sat laughing as two teenage girls were raped in the next room.

  • Mali government rejects peace-talks on autonomy
    Mali’s government said it will not participate in further talks with rebels seeking autonomy for northern Mali, in a statement made on Wednesday.

    The government spokesperson, Choguel Kokala Maiga, said,

    “There is no question for us to resume negotiations again, otherwise it will never end.”

    The government refusal comes only a day after the rebel coalition agreed to further rounds of talks.
  • Deaths in attack on Tunis museum

    The Tunisian capital was hit by an attack on its most prestigious museum, leaving 19 people dead, including two Tunisians and 17 foreign tourists, and over 40 injured.

    Gunmen stormed the Bardo Museum, world famous for its large collection of Roman mosaics, and started shooting at tourists, killing several. Two gunmen were killed by police.

  • US drone strike kills senior al Shabaab leader
    A US drone strike last week killed an al Shabaab leader who was thought to be responsible for the 2013 attack on a Nairobi shopping mall killing 67 people, announced the Pentagon on Wednesday.

    In a statement, the Pentagon said,
  • Almost all mosques in CAR destroyed says US envoy

    Almost all of the Central African Republic’s 436 mosques have been destroyed said the US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, after her visit to the country last week.

    Describing the scenes she saw as “kind of crazy, chilling,” Ms Power told the UN Security Council that 417 of 436 mosques in the Central African Republic had been destroyed after months of sectarian violence in December 2013.

  • Serbia arrests seven over Srebrenica massacres
    Serbian police arrested seven men in accused of taking part in the massacre of over 1,000 Muslim in Srebrenica, reports the BBC.

    The men arrested on Wednesday are the first to be reprimanded in Serbia for their involvement in the massacres in 1995.

    The massacre at Srebrenica is the only atrocity in Europe to be labelled as genocide by the United Nations.
  • Syrian bombing of Islamic State stronghold may be war crime says Amnesty International

    The bombing of Raqqa by Syrian government forces may constitute war crimes, said Amnesty International, stating multiple air raids appear to have killed dozens of civilians.

    Amongst the targets hit were a mosque, a school and a market, said the human rights organisation, in a report that examined air raids carried out on Raqqa in November last year. Raqqa is currently the stronghold of Islamic State militants, which has increased its hold over the city since May 2013.

    “The conclusions are damning,” said Amnesty International. “In some cases, the evidence points to the Syrian government forces having violated international humanitarian law by directing attacks against civilians.”

  • Mali separatists agree to further talks with government
    Northern Mali’s rebels agreed to another round of talks with the government after the rebel coalition said it was not ready to sign a preliminary UN brokered deal, alleging that it fully meet the demands of greater autonomy for the rebel controlled areas.

    The spokesperson for the MNLA rebel group, Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, said,
  • UN to share Syrian investigation info with EU to encourage prosecutions
    United Nations investigators have begun sharing details from their database on suspected war crimes and criminals in Syria with European authorities working on domestic prosecution cases, reports Reuters.

    The chairman of the United Nations commission of inquiry, Paulo Pineiro, on Tuesday, urged national authorities to contact the independent investigators who have compiled five lists over nearly four years of evidence gathering.
  • Burmese court jails three men for ‘insulting Buddhism’

    A man from New Zealand and two Burmese men have been handed a prison sentence by a court in Myanmar for “insulting Buddhism”, after they posted a flyer on their Facebook page advertising for their bar, showing Buddha with his eyes shut, wearing large headphones.

    Ye Lwin, judge at the Bahan Township courthouse, said that though the men had apoligised, they had "intentionally plotted to insult religious belief" when posting the flyer on social media.

    Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson criticised the verdict saying "by using the Religion Act to criminalise these three individuals, rather than accepting an apology and dealing with it in another way, the government is, sort of, setting up more witch hunts against persons that these Buddhist groups view as being insulting to their religion”.

    "What this shows is freedom of expression is under greater threat than ever in Burma (Myanmar) just as the country heads into a pivotal election year," added Mr Robertson.

Subscribe to International Affairs