• We are in a war' - Assad

    Addressing his new Cabinet, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, remained defiant, and instructed the Cabinet to defeat the 16-month-old uprising.

    Assad said,

    “We live in a real state of war from all angles,”

  • Sudan deports journalist as protests continue

    An Egyptian journalist was deported by the Sudanese government on Tuesday, as authorities continued to try and end anti-austerity protests.

    The journalist, Salma El Wardeny, who works for Bloomberg News, had been covering the protests and uploading videos of protests on the site YouTube.

  • China offers Latin American countries $10bn loan

    Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has proposed a $10 billion loan for countries in Latin America to fund infrastructure projects.

    Speaking near the end of his tour to the region, Premier Wen also proposed a free trade agreement between regional trade bloc Mercosur, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

  • South Korea to stop Iran oil imports

    South Korean officials have confirmed that oil imports from Iran will be halted from 1 July, due to EU sanctions.

    The EU has imposed a ban on insurance of vessels carrying the product, in order to to hit Iranian oil revenue.

  • Syria is ‘open threat’ – Erdogan

    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has told parliament that the military rules of engagement with Syria have changed and it will view Syrian troops approaching the border as a threat, after a Turkish plane was downed after mistakenly crossing Syrian airspace.

    Mr Erdogan described Syria as a “clear and present” threat.

  • UK cuts aid to Uganda over rights concerns

    Thirty percent of UK direct aid to the Ugandan government will by cut due to concerns over government corruption and the country's increasingly intolerant stance towards homosexuality.

    In a statement the Department for International Development (DFID) said,

  • Muslim Brotherhood's Mursi wins presidency - Egypt

    Mohammed Mursi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, was announced as the winner of Egypt's contentious presidential election on Sunday.

    Beating rival, and former Mubarak ere Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, with 51.73% of the vote, Mursi was declared the winner by the Higher Presidential Election Commission. Shafiq obtained 48.27% of the vote.

    Tens of thousands of Egyptians flocked to Tahrir Square to celebrate his victor, shouting "down with military rule!"

    See here, here and here.

    In his victory speech, Mursi thanked the "blood, tears and sacrifices" of his fellow Egyptians.

    Mursi said,

    "Today I am a president for all Egyptians, wherever they may be,"

    "Thanks to our unity and our love for each other, we will able to make a respectable future for ourselves."

    According to the state-run news channel, Nile News TV, the country's military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, also congratulated Mursi on his victory.

  • Libya's former PM extradited from Tunisia

    Libya's former prime minister, al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, was extradited to Libya by the Tunisian authorities on Sunday, making him the first senior Gaddafi regime official to be tried for his part in the brutal crackdown of anti-government protesters.

  • Senior military figures defect from Syria

    High ranking military figures from the Syrian army were part of a group of soldiers that have defected to Turkey, one of the largest to have done so since the start of the conflict.

    A general, two colonels, two majors and over 30 soldiers crossed the border into Turkey’s Hatay province on Sunday night.

  • Syrian Olympic head denied UK visa

    The head of the Syrian Olympic Committee, General Mofwak Joumaa, has been refused a visa to the UK, reports The Times on Saturday.

    Home Office sources reportedly said the visa was refused due to General Joumaa's senior military rank and links to the Assad regime.

  • Turkey calls for Nato consultation over warplane shot down by Syria

    Turkey has called for a meeting of Nato members to consult over its response to the downing of one of its fighter jets by Syria.

  • UN names Congo war crimes suspects
    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has named five Congo rebel leaders as war crimes suspects that need to be apprehended.

    In a statement released earlier this week, Pillay said,
  • UN experts urge greater action to protect journalists and safeguard media freedom
    Two UN Special Rapporteurs have called for greater protection for media professionals, referring to the unacceptably high number of attacks against those disseminating news, including torture, arrests, killings and sexual violence against female journalists.
  • More protests at Tahrir Square

    Tahrir Square became the site of public anger once more on Friday, as tens of thousands of protesters returned to denounce Egypt's military rulers.

    Condemning what they state is effectively a military coup, protesters vowed to continue their protests until democracy was achieved.

  • Serbia to investigate genocide fugitive aides
    Serbia has announced that they will investigate 13 persons accused of aiding genocide fugitives from evading justice, after criticism from a UN tribunal last month.

    Following condemnation from the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Serbia announced that 13 people, including a high ranking military official, would be amongst those investigated for aiding genocide suspects Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic before their eventual capture.
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