• Weapons inspectors call for truce in Syria

    UN weapons inspectors in Syria have called for a truce, in order for the Syrian government's chemical weapons arsenal to be destroyed by the deadline.

    Speaking to reporters at The Hague, Ahmet Uzumcu, the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said the deadline for destroying the weaponry was "extremely tight", but was possible if truces were agreed.
  • Pakistani Taliban invites government to peace negotiations

    In a rare television interview, the leader of the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Taliban Paksitan (TTP), Hakimullah Mehsud, offered an invite to representatives of the government to meet in Taliban territory, to hold talks about bringing peace into the country.

  • US ambassador summoned over Libyan raid

    The Libyan government has summoned the US envoy to the country after a raid saw an alleged al-Qaeda operative abducted by US special forces.

    Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said ties between the two countries would remain unaffected but said that Libyan nationals must be tried in Libyan courts.

  • Iran preparing to negotiate
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  • North Korea restart nuclear reactor
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  • Kerry praises Assad for chemical weapons co-operation

    US Secretary of State John Kerry has praised Syria’s President Basahr Al-Assad for co-operating with international monitors in destroying the government’s stockpile of chemical weapons.

  • Malaysian FDI in Africa surpasses China – UNCTAD

    Malaysian Foreign Direct Investment in Africa has surpassed that of China, making the country the top foreign investor from Asia on the continent, according to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN’s economic think tank.

    Malaysia is now the third largest investor overall, after France and the US and ahead of China and India.

  • US capture of Libyan al-Qaeda suspect under “law of war”

    The US administration has defended the abduction of suspected al Qaeda cadre Abu Anas al-Liby, saying he was a “legal and appropriate target”.

    A Pentagon statement on Sunday said al-Liby was “currently lawfully detained under the law of war in a secure location outside of Libya”.

  • Heightening violence in Cairo

    Latest reports suggest that at least 50 people have been killed in the latest wave of clashes between security forces and supporters of the recently deposed Mohammed Morsi.

  • French Foreign Minister - 'A Call for Self-Restraint at the U.N.'
    Writing  in the New York Times, France's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, has called upon the UN Security Council members to 'voluntarily regulate their right to exercise their veto'.

    Speaking in the aftermath of the Security Council passing a resolution on Syria, Fabius said France had proposed a change to the UN system that would "convey the will of the international community to make the protection of human life a true priority", in the event of "mass crimes".

    Extracts have been reproduced below. See the full piece here.

    "France is dedicated to multilateralism and to the organization at its heart, the United Nations; this institution represents the main instrument of global political regulation in favor of peace and security. But a United Nations stalemate that lasts for two years, entailing dramatic human consequences, cannot be accepted by the global conscience."

    ...

    "Populations were massacred and the worst scenario unfolded as the regime implemented large-scale use of chemical weapons against children, women and other civilians. For all those who expect the United Nations to shoulder its responsibilities in order to protect populations, this situation is reprehensible."
  • Syrian chemical weapons destruction begins

    International monitors have announced that the removal and destruction of chemical weapons in Syria has begun.

    Observers from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are overseeing the operation, which was established after a UN resolution was passed.

    An official from the joint OPCW-UN delegation said,

  • US urges Congo to prosecute soldiers accused of rape

    The United States and Britain, pushed officials of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to prosecute soldiers accused of raping women, a United Nations Security Council envoy confirmed today.

  • Syrian asylum seekers end Calais standoff

    A group of Syrian asylum seekers who had blocked a gangway at a ferry terminal in Calais, France have ended a 3-day standoff with French authorities on Friday evening.

    According to Maël Galisson, the coordinator of Migrant Services Platform, the group of 60 Syrians, who had climbed on top of a ferry terminal roof,

    “are very disappointed because they were hoping to go to Britain and find a better life…But they realized that they would not be able to leave and that staying on the roof was futile.”

    “These are Syrians who have come from cities in Syria like Damascus and Dara’a to escape from the Syrian conflict,”

    One of the Syrian asylum seekers has said earlier,

    “We are here for one or two months and the French government and police have treated us very badly, and shown no interest in resolving our situation… They have systematically expelled us from our homes and put us on the street. We are here for one thing, and that is to ask for asylum in England.

    Tarik, a 19-year-old engineering student from the southern Syrian city of Deraa had said,

    "We thought that France was the country where human rights are respected… But we live outside like dogs, hunted down by the police, we see we are not welcome, how can we seek asylum here?"

  • Ayatollah Khamenei endorses Rouhani US efforts

    The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has confirmed that he supports the initiative by President Rouhani to improve the relationship between Iran and the US.

    "We support the diplomatic initiative of the government and attach importance to its activities in this trip," he said in a statement on his website.

  • Netanyahu says Iranians “deserve better”

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iranians that life under the regime could get worse and that they deserve better than the government they currently have.

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