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…

NGOs accuse Islamic State of using chemical weapons

Islamic State militants may have used chemical weapons in an attack in Syria said Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Tuesday.

The organisation said that it had treated four civilians who suffered from breathing difficulties after a shell hit their home on Friday.

North Korea expresses regret over death of South Korea soldiers

North Korea expressed regret over a landmine incident that wounded South Korean Soldiers this month.

A joint statement issued by South Korea and North Korea after a weekend of talks in response to escalating violence, added that South Korea had agreed to stop anti-north propaganda broadcasts.

Red Cross suspends work in Yemen after offices raided by gunman

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was temporarily stopping all operations in the city of Aden in Yemen, after a gunman entered its office, reports Reuters.

The ICRC, which had earlier this month warned of the escalating violence and lawlessness in the region, is one of the few aid agencies in the area after violence erupted between pro government forces backed by the Saudi government, and the Houthi forces. 

Former KLA political head endorses war crimes court in Kosovo

Kosovo's foreign minister, and former head of the Kosovo Liberation Army's political wing, Hashim Thaci, endorsed the establishment of a war crimes court to investigate crimes committed by the KLA during the 1990s conflict with Serbia.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, published on Tuesday, Mr Thaci, he had “nothing to hide” and would cooperate with the court “in any circumstance and any form needed”.

“I very much hope that no one will try to rewrite history, to try to draw parallels or equate the genocide perpetrated by Serbia with individual acts of some desperate citizens,” Mr Thaci told the WSJ. See here for more.

South Sudan military offensive committed grave atrocities finds UN

South Sudanese soldiers raped children, burned people alive in their houses and hunted others for days using and $850 million military budget said the UN panel of experts monitoring the region on Tuesday.

The UN panel of experts into the conflict in South Sudan found that the government offensive between April and July t

Guatemala court in genocide ruling for former dictator

A Guatemalan court says former dictator Efrain Rios Montt can stand trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, but ruled that he cannot be sentenced because the 89-year-old suffers from dementia.

UN tribunal calls for halt in Indian trial of Italian marines

The UN's International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas has called upon India to suspend all legal proceedings against Italian marines, who stand accused of killing two Indian fishermen, pending international mediation.

The tribunal also rejected Italy's request to release the marines while the final ruling was decided.

Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone face murder charges for the killing of the two men off the coast of Kerala and are on bail awaiting trial. The Italians say they thought the fishermen were pirates.

World markets plummet as China stops supporting slowing Asian market

World stock markets plummeted with a sharp drop in the US dollar and major commodities, as China failed to mitigate sliding confidence in its domestic stock market on Monday.

Destruction of ancient Palmyra ruins 'war crime'

Unesco says the destruction of Palmyra's nearly 2,000 year old Baalshamin temple is a war crime.

The UN body said the destruction of the site by Islamic State militants was "an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity".

"The systematic destruction of cultural symbols embodying Syrian cultural diversity reveals the true intent of such attacks, which is to deprive the Syrian people of its knowledge, its identity and history," Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova said.

Let Sudan’s President Come to New York. Then Arrest Him.'

The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) called on the United States to grant Sudan’s fugitive president Omar al-Bashir a visa to entry the country for an upcoming United Nations summit and then arrest him on arrival.

Writing in the New York Times, Luis Moreno-Ocampo who was chief prosecutor at the ICC until 2012 said, “ICC judges issued arrest warrants in 2009 against Mr Bashir for crimes against humanity and war crimes and in 2010 for genocide. The challenge now is to arrest him.”

Mr Moreno-Ocampo continued to say that:

“Sadly, Mr Bashir’s ability to commit atrocities in full sight of the international community has kept ahead of humanity’s ability to protect genocide victims. Rape and hunger are his new silent weapons, replacing open attacks on villages. To avoid the international spotlight, the Sudanese government expels aid workers and denies access to refugee camps. Mr Bashir has tried to shift attention from his criminal actions by making the argument that the ICC is biased against Africans.”