• Dominican Republic seeks extradition of French nationals

    Oct 26

    The Dominican Republic says it is seeking the extradition of two French nationals who were convicted of smuggling cocaine but subsequently fled the island in the Caribbean.

    The men, both pilots, were arrested in 2013 and sentenced to 20 years in prison after police found the drugs on their plane.

    Dominican Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito said his office was in contact with the French authorities "to determine how they escaped the country, and their accomplices".

    "It doesn't make the slightest sense that a foreigner accused of drug trafficking should be granted a relaxed form of restrictions," he said.

  • China condemns 'illegal' US South China Sea passage

    China has condemned the US for transgressing territory it claims in the South China Sea as "illegal" and a threat to its sovereignty.

    Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said Beijing would "resolutely respond to any country's deliberately provocative actions".

  • MSF hospital bombed in Yemen, Saudi-led coalition denies responsibility
    A hospital in Yemen run by Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was destroyed by a missile strike on Tuesday.

    The Saudi led coalition responsible for current airstrikes in Yemen has denied responsibility for the attack.

    Speaking to Reuters via telephone, the MSF Country Director Hassan Boucenine said,
  • Over 100 countries sign pledge not to block UN action against genocide
    Over 100 countries have signed a “code of conduct” at the United Nations pledging not to vote against credible Security Council resolutions that seek to prevent or end genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

    France and Britain, both permanent members of the UN Security Council signed up to the pledge, but the other 2 members – Russia, China and the United States – did not.
  • Nazi war crimes researchers to investigate Yazidi genocide
    A group of European researchers that documented Nazi war crimes have begun investigations as to whether the massacres of the Yazidi people committed by the Islamic State amount to genocide, reports AFP.

    The team from Yahad In Unum, an organisation that documented the Nazi killings of Jews and Roma in the former Soviet areas, was backed by the French foreign ministry and will be conducting investigations in Kurdish refugee camps.
  • FSA rejects Russia help

    The Free Syrian Army has rejected offers of military support from the Russian government, stating that they could not be trusted.

    A spokesperson for the western-backed rebel alliance told the BBC that Moscow's help was not needed.

    "[Russian President] Vladimir Putin, is assisting a regime that indiscriminately kills their own people," Issam al-Reis said.

  • Indonesia cancels events marking mass killings

    The Indonesian government on Friday forced the cancellation of events marking the 50th anniversary of mass killings, at a literary festival in Bali.

    The government threatened organisers that the whole festival would be cancelled if they did not comply with the order.

  • South Korea shoots at North Korean boat

    A North Korean boat strayed into its southern neighbour's waters and was fired at, according to Yonhap news agency.

    South Korea's navy fired five shots at the North Korean boat, when it crossed the disputed maritime border between the countries.

  • US Secretary of State meets Palestinian president
    The US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the ongoing violence in the West Bank and Gaza.

    In a meeting held in Jordan, Mr Kerry and President Abbas discussed steps to ease tensions.

    Earlier in this week, the US Secretary of State managed to secure Israel’s agreement to place video surveillance around mutual holy sites that had seen recent unrest.
  • China to fund UK nuclear power plant, pledges to cooperate with world on human rights

    The China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) reached a deal with the mainly state owned EDF  Energy for a new nuclear power plant in Somerset on Wednesday.

    The deal will see the Chinese corporation pay a third of the cost for the new power plant which is expected to cost £18bn.

  • Germany insists it is responsible for the Holocaust

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel has responded to controversial comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, by saying that Germany was responsible for the Holocaust, in which millions of Jews were killed by Germany during the Second World War.

  • Conduct in Myanmar's elections will determine future bilateral relations says US

    The United States will not turn a blind eye to shortcomings in Myanmar’s election next month said a top US diplomat for Asia.

  • European Court of Human Rights overrules Armenian genocide denial conviction

    The European Court of Human Rights stated that a Turkish politician who was convicted for denying the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire was genocide was wrongly prosecuted.

    The ECHR ruled that Dogu Perincek had not called for "hatred or intolerance" when he stated "the Armenian genocide is a big fat lie" in 2005.

  • Liberal Party wins Canadian elections

    The Liberal Party of Canada claimed victory in the country’s elections on Monday evening, ending almost a decade of Conservative party rule.

    The party managed to form a majority government having won 184 seats, having started the campaign in third place.

  • UN Secretary General calls safeguarding of two state solution between Israel and Palestine

    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Palestinians and Israel to step away from escalating conflict on a snap visit into the region.

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