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 to hold new round of Libya talks

The United Nations will hold a new round of Libya talks on Monday in Geneva to persuade warring parties to agree on a unity government, reports Reuters.

The UN mission for Libya in a statement said,

Swedish man questioned over war crimes in Ukraine

A man based in Sweden is being investigated over suspicions he committed war crimes in the conflict in Ukraine according to the head of International Public Prosecution Office in Stockholm, Tora Holst.

“I can confirm that a person based in Sweden is being investigated. It is in regards to suspicions of some kind of war crime that is said to have been committed in Ukraine in 2014,” Holst said on Thursday.

“An investigation can take a long while before the suspicions are put to the suspect in question. If the person is set to be questioned as a suspect and want a lawyer he will naturally be awarded one,” said Holst.

Sweden's security service, Säpo, believes a handful of Swedes have travelled to Ukraine to take part in fighting since the country's armed conflict with Russia began in 2014, Swedish website The Local reported.

Australia has turned back over 600 asylum seekers in boats

The Australian government confirmed that it had turned back 20 boats carrying 633 asylum seekers in the past 18 months, according the country’s immigration minister.

Minister Peter Dutton said that the government would “celebrate” what he called a “significant achievement”, telling reporters,

“We have [more than] a year since we have had a successful people-smuggling operation and that is good news because we have had no reported deaths under Operation Sovereign Borders at sea and we have been able to stare down these evil people smugglers”.

"I think the important point to remember in all of this is had those 20 boats arrived, 200 boats or 2,000 boats would have followed them," he added.

The announcement comes as the Australian government confirmed it turned back a boat carrying 46 asylum seekers from Vietnam last month. The Vietnamese government was contacted, the boat they arrived on scuttled and the refugees sent back, confirmed the minister.

Japan marks 70 years since Hiroshima atomic bombing

Thousands of people gathered in Hiroshima on Thursday to mark 70 years since an atom bomb was dropped on the city by a US aircraft.

Approximately 55,000 people attended a ceremony at the peace park in Hiroshima, which saw bells tolled and doves released into the sky. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the audience that Japan had “an important mission to bring about a world without nuclear weapons”.

However, the prime minister also faced protests at the fringe of the ceremony, with hundreds of people demonstrating against his new security bills and the continued presence of US military bases in Japan.

Also speaking at the ceremony was Hiroshima’s mayor, Kazumi Matsui, who appealed directly to US President Barack Obama to strive towards a nuclear weapon free world. Marking the deaths of 140,000 people who died in the bombing and from its subsequent effects, Mr Matsui said, “President Obama and other policymakers, please come to the A-bombed cities, hear the survivors with your own ears, and encounter the reality of the atomic bombings”.

“You will be impelled to start discussing a legal framework, including a nuclear weapons convention,” he added, saying nuclear weapons represent the “absolute inhumanity and the absolute evil”.

Kosovo makes constitutional change for war crimes court

Kosovo’s parliament amended its constitution to allow the creation of a special court to investigate alleged war crimes committed by ethnic Albanian fighters during the 1990 conflict on Tuesday.

The tribunal will be part of Kosovo’s judicial system however the proceedings will be held abroad. Early reports suggest that they will be held in the Netherlands.

The constitutional change comes as the US and European Union have applied pressure on Kosovo to address longstanding accusations of war crimes committed by Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The constitutional changes were backed by 82 seats in the 120 seat parliament reports the BBC

US warns Israel of deadly consequences for blocking Iran nuclear deal

President Barack Obama told US Jewish leaders that rockets could fall on Israel should they decide to reject the Iran nuclear deal.

The National Jewish Democratic Council, quoting the US president Obama, said,

South Sudanese opposition leader blocked from travelling to peace talks

South Sudanese opposition leader Lam Akol was barred from boarding a plane to attend peace talks in Ethiopia reports Reuters.

Mr Akol, who belongs to the side-lined Shilluk ethnic group, said,

US calls on Venezuela to remove ban on opposition politicians

The United States called on Venezuela to remove its ban on opposition members from holding office and participating in upcoming parliamentary elections.

The request was made after opposition leader Maria Machado said that her registration had been rejected.

The US State Department, in a statement said,

“We call on all relevant Venezuelan authorities to reconsider the ban imposed on candidates, and reiterate our call for credible and timely electoral observation.”

Sudan committing war crimes in South Kordofan - Amnesty International

The Sudanese army is shelling and bombing civilians in South Kordofan, Amnesty International said in a report released today, accusing Sudan of committing war crimes in their war against armed militants who demand more rights for the region.

US 'support fire' for US-trained forces

The US has for the first time provided support to defend Syrian militants, trained by the US.

Pentagon spokesperson Capt Jeff Davis said "defensive support fire" was provided to the militants last Friday, while they were engaging suspected al-Nusra fighters.

The US-trained militants from the New Syria Force, were fighting alongside the Free Syrian Army.

Capt Davis said the US would provide defensive fire support to the NSF "no matter whom they came up against".