• Countries pledge support for Saharawi's right to self-determination

    Jun 14

    At the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation on Wednesday, UN member states reiterated their support for the Saharawi's people's right to self-determination, including representatives from Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Cuba.

  • Russia dismisses Syria chemical weapons claims

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed assertions made by the US that Syria has used chemical weapons against rebels.

    Lavrov said it made "no sense" for President Assad, who also denies the claims, to use chemical weapons as "the regime has not been driven into a corner".

  • South Africa to hand over hidden Gaddafi funds to Libya
    South Africa has agreed to hand over Gaddafi's secret funds, believed to be worth almost £650m, to the Libyan government.

    In a statement, South Africa's Treasury said:
    "The Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, has agreed with the Libyan government that the repatriation from South Africa of Libyan funds and assets will be handled in terms of United Nations (UN) protocols."
  • US to arm Syrian rebels

    The US has said it will provide arms to the Syrian opposition, after confirming that chemical weapons had been used by the regime.

  • Ecuador attacks free media:HRW

    According  to Human Rights Watch a new law passed by the Ecuadorian government seriously undermines free speech in the country.

  • 93,000 deaths in Syria – OHCHR

    Latest figures from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights say that over 93,000 people have died in Syria since November 2012.

    Over 80% of the dead are reported to be men, however the report by the OHCHR says over 1,700 children under 10 also died.

  • BBC condemns Iran harassment

    The BBC has condemned harassment of its Persian staff’s families by Iranian authorities.

    It said there had been "unprecedented levels of intimidation" ahead of presidential elections which are due to take place on Friday.

    The corporation is accusing Iran of warning the families of 15 members of the BBC Persian Service that they have to stop working for the BBC.

  • Controversy over Zimbabwe poll date
    Morgan Tsvangirai, chief rival of Robert Mugabe, has rejected the president's proposed election as "unlawful".

    Mugabe bypassed parliament to set the poll date for the 31st July, a move which breaches the 2008 power-sharing agreement made between the president's Zanu-PF party and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change.

    Tsvangirai said of Mugabe's declaration:
  • Bangladesh domestic war crimes court criticised
    British legal representatives of defendants sentenced to death by Bangladesh's international crimes tribunal have appealed for a UN intervention on the basis that their clients were not tried fairly.

    The domestic court trying those accused of atrocities during the 1971 war of liberation against Pakistan, has faced growing criticism from international human rights and legal groups.
  • Afghanistan Taliban agree to UN discussions

     A senior United Nations official in Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, confirmed to press today that the Taliban had shown signs of willingness to meet and discuss the reduction of civilian casualties with the UN.

  • Syrian opposition fighters kill Shia villagers

    Fighters from the Free Syrian Army have killed at least 60 Shiite villagers in an apparent reprisal raid for a previous attack on a rebel base by pro-government militias.

  • Kuwaiti supermarkets to boycott Iran over Assad support
    Kuwaiti supermarket chains have begun to boycott goods from Iran in protest at Iranian support of the Assad regime in Syria. At least nine cooperative societies are said to be backing the boycott.

    According to local media, the activists' next stage would be to cancel the residency permits of Iranian nationals in Kuwait, and effectively expel Iranian labourers currently working in Kuwait. Over 50,000 Iranians are understood to work in Kuwait.
  • Strong opposition to Palestine-Israel peacetalks

    Leaders of a Palestinian movement to boycott Israel have outlined their intention to oppose any peace talks, even if they include a conversations relating to the freezing of Jewish settlements.  

  • Farc resumes peace talks

    The Colombian rebel group Farc, has resumed peace talks with the Colombian government in Havana.

    This phase of the discussions will focus on the disarmament of the rebels and their transition to a political entity.

  • Turkish PM warns no more tolerance, as protest continue
    The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Tuesday that he will not show "any more tolerance" towards the protesters.

    Pledging to put an end to the demonstrations, Erdogan said that protesters had 'infringed on other people's freedom'.

    Protests have been on-going since 31st May. Here are some photographs of the protests last week sent to Tamil Guardian by Ismail Okan Ukav, a journalism student at Istanbul Aydin University in Turkey:


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