• China to relax one-child policy

    Nov 14

    China will loosen its longstanding policy of restricting the number of babies a couple may have.

    A key decision making body of the Communist Party met this week, bringing about new reforms.

    China’s “re-education through labour” camps will also be abolished, and the role of the private sector in the economy will be boosted.

  • Armed men torch El Salvadoran war crimes NGO

    Armed men torched the offices of an El Salvadoran NGO dedicated to tracing missing children from the era of military rule in the country, destroying the organisation's archives.

    The Pro-Búsqueda had their offices set ablaze and computers, which contained sensitive information on the relatives of missing children, stolen in the raid on Thursday.

  • UN security council rejects calls to delay ICC war crimes trial

    The United Nations Security Council refused to delay the International Criminal Court trial of Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his deputy for crimes against humanity on Friday.

  • Scottish Independence Referendum Bill passed
    In a historic vote, the Scottish parliament voted through the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill today, which allows the people of Scotland to choose whether or not Scotland should be an independent country.

    The Bill dictates that the vote will take place on September 18th, 2014, and will pose the question - "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
  • Serbian PM calls for withdrawal of genocide lawsuits
    The Prime Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic has called for both Serbia and Croatia to withdraw pending genocide lawsuits they have against each other and to "put an end to all the open issues from the past".
  • Hezbollah leader vows to back Assad
    The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has stated that his fighters will remain in Syria, fighting for the Assad regime, as long as necessary in a speech on Thursday.

    Speaking to thousands of people at a Lebanese Shi'ite ceremony, Nasrallah said
  • French court approves extradition of Rwanda genocide suspects
    A court in France has approved the extradition of two suspects, who are wanted for their alleged role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

    One of the men, 52-year-old Claude Muhayimana, has been a French citizen since 2010. The extradition ruling, which also includes 41-year-old Innocent Musabyimana can still be challenged and will go to a higher court for a final ruling.
  • John Kerry against further Iran sanction

    US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned that further sanctions against the Iranian government could lead to the failure of ongoing nuclear talks.

    Kerry told the BBC that the so-called P5+1, US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany, came “extremely close” to finalising a deal with Iran over the weekend.

  • Argentine war crimes convict escapes

    A former Argentine army officer, convicted of crimes against humanity, has escaped in Buenos Aires.

    Alejandro Lawless was sentenced in 2010 for crimes committed during military rule between 1976 and 1983.

  • Former Bangladeshi minister charged with war crimes

     Bangladesh’s former State Minister for Agriculture, Syed Mohammed Qaiser, was charged, this week, with 18 war crimes that were committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

  • Chinese soldiers arrive in Hawaii for disaster drills with US counterparts
    Chinese soldiers arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday to take part in disaster relief exercises along with their US counterparts - the first time soldiers from China's People Liberation Army would have drilled on US territory.

    Speaking to the press last Tuesday, Admiral Samuel Locklear, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said,
  • 14 new members elected to UN Human Rights Council
    Fourteen countries were elected to the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, to sit in the 47-member council for a three year term starting in 2014.

    The new members Algeria, China, Cuba, France, Maldives, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Vietnam, Russia, and the United Kingdom were all elected by a secret ballot at the UN headquarters in New York.
  • US to proscribe Boko Haram - Reuters
    The US State Department is to proscribe the Nigerian group, Boko Haram, as a 'foreign terrorist organisation' reports Reuters, citing congressional sources.

    The proscription will make it illegal to provide 'material support' to the group.
  • Buddhist monks protest visit of Islamic political body

    Hundreds of Buddhists marched through Burma’s biggest city, Yangon, to protest against the upcoming visit of an Islamic Political organisation.

  • Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia – ICJ

    The UN’s highest court, the International Court of justice in The Hague, has ruled that the disputed area around the Preah Vihear temple complex belongs to Cambodia.

    The court said Cambodia should have full sovereignty over the temple and Thailand should withdraw all soldiers from the area at once.

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