WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

  Three United Nations (UN) experts called for a full and independent investigation into the killing of three Lebanese journalists by Israel last week, which they described as ‘another attack on press freedom by Israeli forces.’ On March 28, Israeli forces killed Al Mayadeen reporter Fatima Ftouni, her brother and cameraman Mohamed Ftouni, and Al Manar TV reporter Ali Shoeib as they were…

UN Security Council agrees on Syria peace negotiation plan

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international road map seeking a peaceful political solution.

The resolution, endorsed on Friday, supported a plan agreed by world powers in Vienna on how to help transition Syria form civil war to a political solution.
 
The US Secretary of State John Kerry told the 15 nation council that,

Colombia government and FARC militants agree on accountability and reparations for victims

The government of Colombia and FARC militants announced that a deal had been reached on reparations for war victims on Monday.

The agreement will include the set up of a special judicial system to deal with the accountability for war crimes. The courts would offer amnesties or lower sentences for those who admit their crimes, but exclude from amnesty those responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity.

A government spokesperson Marcela Duran, speaking to press said,

“We are very pleased with this agreement on victims which no doubt is transcendental for what we are doing this process.”

A representative for Farc at the negotiation process said, “With this important step, it is nearly certain that this (peace process) is irreversible.”

Thousands protest deployment of Turkish troops to fight in northern Iraq

Thousands of Iraqis protested against Turkey’s deployment of troops to a base near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Saturday.

The deployment of Turkish troop into Iraq earlier this month sparked uproar in Baghdad, which appealed to the United Nations Security Council to demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Iraq.

Turkey has refused, stating that the troops were part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces fighting Islamic state militants, reports Reuters.

Hundreds of cases of rape and torture in CAR over last year finds UN

Almost 800 cases of rape, torture and murder were committed over eight months in the Central Africa Republic by armed groups, reported the UN mission MINUSCA on Friday.

MINUSCA’s first human rights report said 775 violations and abuses affecting at least 785 victims were committed between September 2014 to May 2015.

The 25 page report found that “serious challenges remain given the lack of progress towards the disarmament of armed groups and the absence of a functioning state authority in much of the territory.”

Congo arrests Rwandan former mayor indicted for genocide

A former Rwandan mayor who was wanted for genocide was arrested by the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday.

Ladislas Ntaganzwa, accused of orchastrating the killing of tens of thousands of people during the 1994 genocide, was indicted in 1996 and accused of genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide as well as extermination murder and rape.

Rwanda’s Prosecutor General Richard Muhumza, in a statement made after the arrest, said,

Syrian opposition groups agree to political solution talks with Assad

Syria’s political and armed opposition agreed to meet with the Assad regime for talks seeking a political solution to the conflict next month announced the chair of the opposition groups conference in Saudi Arabia.

Over 100 members of Syria’s opposition parties and rebel fighting groups agreed, at the end of two days of discussion in Riyadh, to attend talks with President Assad’s government, reports Reuters. 

Mugabe warns Zimbabwe security forces

President Robert Mugabe has warned his security forces not to get involved in politics after continued uncertainty over the ageing Zimbabwean leader's successor.
The president said Army, police and intelligence officers were taking sides in his Zanu-PF party's infighting over who will take the helm.
"We had come to a point where there were some in the military, the police and the intelligence services joining factions.

Kenyan MPs released after questioning over mass graves

A group of Kenyan politicians have been released by police, after facing questioning over the alleged discovery of mass graves in the north-east of the country.

Lawmaker Billow Kerrow and other parliamentarians claimed that mass graves had been discovered and suggested they contained the bodies of people killed by the security forces.

Kenya’s Interior Minister Joseph Nkaisserry reacted strongly to the allegations, stating,
"I wish to inform the country and the world at large that nothing was found in any of those sites. Today, following insistence by the political leaders that people might have been buried deep in the ground, excavators were brought in the site to dig for the bodies and nothing was found”.

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) also issued a statement saying they were "not involved in any way with the disappearance of people or extra judicial killings in Mandera or anywhere in the country”.

Army barracks attacked in Burundi

Several military bases across Burundi were attacked by insurgents, killing at least 12 attackers.

An army spokesperson said that five soldiers were injured in the clashes.

It is unclear who is behind the violence but the spokesperson said insurgents wanted to take weapons before freeing prisoners.

A presidential adviser, Willy Nyamitwe, said the insurgents had failed, describing them as Sindjuma, meaning "I am not a slave".

India-Pakistan talks to resume

High-level peace talks between India and Pakistan will resume, announced India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, after meeting her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz.

"The foreign secretaries of both countries will meet and chart out the agenda for the meetings," Ms Swaraj told reporters.

The talks stalled in 2012, after tensions escalated over attacks in India, which Delhi blamed on Pakistani infiltrators.