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…

Lawyers accuse Egypt of crimes against humanity

A team of UK-based lawyers have accused the Egyptian military and interim government of war crimes and crimes against humanity, in a report released this weekend.

The team was appointed by the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom of Justice Party (FJP), with lead lawyer Tyab Ali saying,

President of Iraqi Kurdistan supports Turkish peace process

The president of Kurdistan in Iraq, Masoud Barzani, has called on Kurds in Turkey to back the peace process with the Turkish government.

Barzani was visiting Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey’s Kurdish region.

"This is a historic visit for me ... We all know it would have been impossible to speak here 15 or 20 years ago," Barzani said, as crowds waved the Kurdish flags.

Over 40 dead in Libya clashes

At least 43 people were killed in clashes between militia on the outskirts of Libya's capital city Tripoli.

Fighting broke out on Friday after protesters marched on the headquarters of a militia group from Misrata, demanding they leave Tripoli.

The Libyan government is struggling to contain powerful militias within the country.

AFP quotes Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan as saying:
"The coming hours and days will be decisive for the history of Libya and the success of the revolution."

China to relax one-child policy

China will loosen its longstanding policy of restricting the number of babies a couple may have.

A key decision making body of the Communist Party met this week, bringing about new reforms.

China’s “re-education through labour” camps will also be abolished, and the role of the private sector in the economy will be boosted.

The one-child policy would be "adjusted and improved step by step to promote 'long-term balanced development of the population in China'", according to Xinhua.

Armed men torch El Salvadoran war crimes NGO

Armed men torched the offices of an El Salvadoran NGO dedicated to tracing missing children from the era of military rule in the country, destroying the organisation's archives.

The Pro-Búsqueda had their offices set ablaze and computers, which contained sensitive information on the relatives of missing children, stolen in the raid on Thursday.

UN security council rejects calls to delay ICC war crimes trial

The United Nations Security Council refused to delay the International Criminal Court trial of Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his deputy for crimes against humanity on Friday.

An African sponsored resolution calling for the delay of leader’s trial was voted down at the security council with the U.S, Britain, France, Guatemala, Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg and South Korea abstaining.

Scottish Independence Referendum Bill passed

In a historic vote, the Scottish parliament voted through the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill today, which allows the people of Scotland to choose whether or not Scotland should be an independent country.

The Bill dictates that the vote will take place on September 18th, 2014, and will pose the question - "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said,

Serbian PM calls for withdrawal of genocide lawsuits

The Prime Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic has called for both Serbia and Croatia to withdraw pending genocide lawsuits they have against each other and to "put an end to all the open issues from the past".

Speaking to reporters in Belgrade earlier today, Dacic said that Serbia "has no reason to be afraid of these trials more than Croatia", adding,

Hezbollah leader vows to back Assad

The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has stated that his fighters will remain in Syria, fighting for the Assad regime, as long as necessary in a speech on Thursday.

Speaking to thousands of people at a Lebanese Shi'ite ceremony, Nasrallah said
"As long as the reasons remain, our presence there will remain,”
He went on to add,

French court approves extradition of Rwanda genocide suspects

A court in France has approved the extradition of two suspects, who are wanted for their alleged role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

One of the men, 52-year-old Claude Muhayimana, has been a French citizen since 2010. The extradition ruling, which also includes 41-year-old Innocent Musabyimana can still be challenged and will go to a higher court for a final ruling.

French prosecutors stated that while the men could not be extradited for may of the crimes they stand accused of, they could for genocide and crimes against humanity.