At least 11 schoolchildren have died after an airstrike on a village in Myanmar, according to the United Nations children’s agency, in what could be the deadliest attack on children since the junta seized power last year.
UN chief António Guterres on Tuesday condemned the strike, according to his office, which stated that the death toll had climbed to at least 13 people died, including the 11 students whose school was hit.
The south-east Asian country has been in chaos since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021, with nearly 2,300 civilians killed in a crackdown on dissent according to a local monitoring group. The junta claims the deadly attack on Friday was targeting rebels hiding in the area.
Earlier this year Myanmar's military was accused of shooting dead two Tamils.The two Tamils have been identified as 28-year-old P. Mohan and 32-year-old M. Pyanar. They had reportedly travelled across the short border from Moreh where they lived to Tamu
Sri Lanka has continued to strengthen its relationship with the military junta in Myanmar with the Sri Lankan ambassador presenting credentials to Myanmar's ruling military last month, even as countries around the world continue to condemn the regime for its human rights abuses. Sri Lanka joins the likes of India and Saudi Arabia, who have strengthened ties with the Myanmar regime, in opposition to many embassies that have downgraded diplomatic ties.
The last surviving leader of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime, Khieu Samphan has had an appeal against his conviction for genocide rejected at a war crimes tribunal.
The ruling last week in the appeal of Khieu Samphan 91, the former head of state of the 1975-1979 - "Democratic Kampuchea" government, marks the final decision by the court and ends 16 years of work by the UN-backed war crimes tribunal.
The rejection of the appeal sought to clear Khieu Samphan of the genocide of minority Cham Muslims and ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia. Of the two million victims of the Khmer Rouge, 100,000 to 500,000 were Cham Muslims, and an estimated 20,000 were ethnic Vietnamese.
Last week's ruling is expected to be the last by the tribunal, which brought to justice just five senior Khmer Rouge leaders – including one who died during proceedings and another who was ruled unfit to stand trial – at a cost of more than $330 million.
Though Khieu Samphan and his legal team were unable to convince the judges that he was innocent of genocide, he appeared to have convinced himself — despite being found guilty of crimes against humanity in a separate case before the tribunal in 2014.
Addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA) at its 77th Session, Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar urged the international community must rise above narrow national agendas and slammed the current UN framework as "anachronistic and ineffective".
"The call for reformed multilateralism – with reforms of the Security Council at its core – enjoys considerable support among UN members [...] It does so because of the widespread recognition that the current architecture is anachronistic and ineffective. It is also perceived as deeply unfair, denying entire continents and regions a voice in a forum that deliberates their future".
His statement follows a growing push by the United States for India, Germany and Japan to become permanent members of the UN Security Council. Russian officials have noted that they will support India and Brazil's push to become permanent members of the UNSC. The Indian diplomat maintained that "India is prepared to take up greater responsibilities".
Commenting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jaishankar did not denounce Russia as many Western countries have urged India to do. However, the India diplomat did state:
As the Ukraine conflict continues to rage, we are often asked whose side are we on.
And our answer, each time, is straight and honest.
India is on the side of peace and will remain firmly there.
We are on the side that respects the UN Charter and its founding principles.
We are on the side that calls for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way out.
We are on the side of those struggling to make ends meet, even as they stare at the escalating costs of food, of fuel and fertilizers.
It is therefore in our collective interest to work constructively, both within the United Nations and outside, in finding an early resolution to this conflict.
His statement follows a damning speech address delivered by US President Joe Biden, in which he accused Russia of having “shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter”.
While the global attention has been on Ukraine, Jaishankar notes that India has also had to contend with other challenges, especially in its own neighbourhood.
"Some of them may be aggravated by the Covid pandemic and ongoing conflicts; but they speak too of a deeper malaise. The accumulation of debt in fragile economies is of particular concern. We believe that in such times, the international community must rise above narrow national agendas. India, for its part, is taking exceptional measures in exceptional times.
We do so, when we sent 50,000 metric tons of wheat and multiple tranches of medicines and vaccines to Afghanistan. When we extend credits of 3.8 billion dollars to Sri Lanka for fuel, essential commodities and trade settlement. When we supplied 10,000 metric tons of food aid and vaccine shipments to Myanmar. When we fill the gap in humanitarian needs left unaddressed by political complexity.
Whether it is disaster response or humanitarian assistance, India has stood strong, contributing particularly to those nearest to us".
Read more from the Indian External Ministry's statement here.
Amidst growing geopolitical tensions, a senior White House Official has stressed the Biden administration’s continued support for Germany, Japan and India to be made permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
The statement follows US President Joe Biden’s address to the UN General Assembly, where he stressed the need for a ‘more inclusive’ UN and his support for “permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean”.
During his address, President Biden spoke sharply about two permanent members of the UNSC, Russia and China.
Russia
Addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden slammed Russia for having “shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter”.
Whilst stressing his sustained solidarity with Ukraine, he emphasised that:
“The United States is also working closely with our allies and partners to impose costs on Russia, to deter attacks against NATO territory, to hold Russia accountable for the atrocities and war crimes”.
He also warned that “if nations can pursue their imperial ambitions without consequences, then we put at risk everything this very institution stands for. Everything”.
China
On China, the American President struck a more measured tone stating;
“As we manage shifting geopolitical trends, the United States will conduct itself as a reasonable leader. We do not seek conflict. We do not seek a Cold War. We do not ask any nation to choose between the United States or any other partner”.
Whilst highlighting his continued commitment to the “One China” policy, Biden raised alarm over continued Chinese aggression
“Today […] they’re making irresponsible nuclear threats to use nuclear weapons. China is conducting an unprecedented, concerning nuclear buildup without any transparency”.
In an interview on Sunday, Biden maintained that America would “defend” Taiwan if the island was attacked, in a way that went beyond its assistance to Ukraine.
He maintained in his speech that the “United States will be unabashed in promoting our vision of a free, open, secure, and prosperous world”.
Adding that “what we have to offer communities of nations: investments that are designed not to foster dependency, but to alleviate burdens and help nations become self-sufficient; partnerships not to create a political obligation, but because we know our own success — each of our success is increased when other nations succeed as well”.
His statement growing concerns of Chinese investment in countries across Asia and Africa and growing political influence within these regions. Sri Lanka is often cited as a textbook example of Chinese “debt diplomacy”.
Biden further stressed the need for UNSC member states to “refrain from the use of veto, except in rare and extraordinary situations, to ensure that the Council remains credible and effective”. According to UN records, the UNSC has vetoed more than 200 different proposals since its founding.
Richard Mills, U.S. deputy ambassador, has noted that the US is “extraordinarily troubled by Russia's pattern of abusing its veto right over the past decade," citing resolutions it vetoed ranging from referring Syria to the International Criminal Court, protesting Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and demanding Russia immediately halt its invasion of Ukraine.
A fourth-day of protests has spread across Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini last Friday.
The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw, which is based in Norway, said it had confirmed three deaths at rallies in Kurdistan province – one in each of the towns of Divandareh, Saqqez and Dehglan.
It added that 221 people had been wounded and another 250 arrested in the Kurdistan region, where there had also been a general strike on Monday.
Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks reported "near-total disruption to internet connectivity in Sanandaj" - the provincial capital of the Kurdish region - on Monday, linking it to the protests, according to its Twitter account.
While Hengaw reported deadly force by security forces in the Kurdish region, there were no immediate reports of protest fatalities in other parts of Iran.
The head of Iran’s morality police has reportedly been suspended from his post as protests swept across Iran over the killing of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was detained by the police after being accused of not wearing the hijab appropriately.
A CT scan of Amini’s head showed a bone fracture, haemorrhage, and brain edema, seemingly confirming that she died due to being struck on the head.
Amini was visiting Tehran with her family on Tuesday last week when she was detained by morality police in what Amnesty International called “an arbitrary arrest”.
Police accused her of not complying with the country’s hijab regulations and took her to a police station, telling her family she would be released after a “re-education” session.
However, she was subsequently transferred in a coma to the emergency department of a nearby hospital. Pictures of her face in hospital showed discolouring around her ears that seemed consistent with physical blows. She died on Friday.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have said troops from neighbouring Eritrea have launched a "full-scale offensive".
The TPLF has been battling Ethiopian federal forces and their allies for nearly two years.
Eritrean troops entered Tigray to back the Ethiopian military after fighting broke out in November 2020 before withdrawing from most areas last year.
“Eritrea is deploying its entire army as well as reservists. Our forces are heroically defending their positions,” Getachew said.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the account on Twitter from Getachew Reda, a spokesperson for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
If confirmed, the offensive would mark an escalation in a war that has displaced millions and triggered a humanitarian disaster across northern Ethiopia.
Getachew said Ethiopian troops and special forces from the Amhara region had also joined the offensive.
The conflict in Tigray re-erupted on 24 August, breaking a ceasefire in place since March. Earlier this month, Tigrayan forces said they were ready for a ceasefire and would accept an African Union-led peace process.
The Tigray conflict has its roots in tensions that go back generations in Ethiopia.
The country is made up of 10 regions -- and two cities -- that have a substantial amount of autonomy, including regional police and militia. Because of a previous conflict with neighboring Eritrea, there are also a large number of federal troops in Tigray. Regional governments are largely divided along entrenched ethnic lines.
Before Abiy Ahmed came to power, the TPLF had governed Ethiopia with an iron grip for decades, overseeing a period of stability and economic growth at the cost of basic civil and political rights. The party's authoritarian rule provoked a popular uprising that ultimately forced Abiy's predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn, to resign.
Nearly six million people were still under evacuation warnings after Typhoon Nanmadol slammed into Japan on Monday, dumping heavy rain, paralysing traffic and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.
Two people have died and more than 100 were injured. About 130,000 homes, most of them in the Kyushu region, were still without electricity on Tuesday morning. Many convenience stores were closed at one point and there was disruption to some supply lines.
Japan is struck by about 20 typhoons a year, mainly in the autumn, and routinely experiences heavy rainfall that causes landslides and flash floods.
Experts have warned that typhoons are travelling much slower and causing more damage across Japan in September, a trend that has been attributed to global heating.
Ukrainian police say there are 445 new graves at the site, but some contain more than one body. It's unclear how all of them died. Many are said to be civilians, women and children among them.
They are trying to establish the cause of death of hundreds of people buried in a forest at the edge of the city, recently liberated by advancing Ukrainian forces.
Kharkiv regional prosecutor Olexander Ilyenkov says there is no doubt war crimes have been committed here.
"In the first grave, there is a civilian who has a rope over her neck. So we see the traces of torture," he told the BBC.
He said almost everyone died because of Russian soldiers.
"Some of them were killed, some were tortured, some were killed because of Russian Federation air and artillery strikes."
The burial ground - beside an existing cemetery - contains row after row of graves, marked by crude wooden crosses.
Names were written on a few, but most were marked only by a number. The burials here were carried out under the orders of the Russians when they were in control.
A senior advisor to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky told the BBC evidence of torture was found in some areas recently retaken by Ukrainian forces.
"We saw wildly frightened people who were kept without light, without food, without water, and without the right to justice," Mykhailo Podolyak said.
Kharkiv prosecutor Mr Ilyenkov said several similar burial sites had been found in areas recently retaken by Ukrainian forces.
US national security spokesman John Kirby said reports of the graves in Izyum were "horrifying" but "in keeping with the kind of depravity and the brutality with which Russian forces have been prosecuting this war against Ukraine".
"We're going to continue to actively support efforts to document war crimes and atrocities that Russian forces commit in Ukraine and to assist national and international efforts to identify and hold Russians accountable," he added.
The EU expects to raise €140bn from windfall taxes on energy company profits to “cushion the blow” of the energy crisis.
The European Commission published the proposals on Wednesday as the 27-member European Union grapples with an energy crisis fuelled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
During her annual speech, EU Chief Ursula Von der Leyen laid out measures to address the energy crisis.
The emergency levy will be placed on oil, gas and coal firms alongside a separate measure to cap revenues from renewable electricity generators at less than half of current market prices.
Fossil fuel extractors will be asked by the EU to hand back 33% of taxable surplus profits for the 2022 fiscal year,
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday: “In our social market economy, profits are good. But in these times it is wrong to receive extraordinary record profits benefiting from war and on the back of consumers."
“Profits must be shared and channelled to those who need it the most. Our proposal will raise more than €140bn for member states to cushion the blow directly.”
The EU also proposed a mandatory target for countries to cut electricity by 5% use during peak hours, in a bid to save fuel.
EU countries will have to negotiate the Commission's proposals and agree on final laws.
Two airstrikes hit the capital of the Tigray region, Mekele on Wednesday morning, killing 10 people, many of them first responders, the director of the city’s flagship Ayder Referral Hospital said
Since the conflict broke out in November 2020, tens of thousands are believed to have been killed and millions displaced in the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions.
The conflict has also repeatedly spilled into the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar.
The Tigray leadership said they were ready to participate in an “immediate” cessation of hostilities with Ethiopian forces leading to a comprehensive cease-fire, and even welcomed mediation led by the African Union, a significant shift.
But Ethiopia’s federal government is yet to publicly respond amid reports of more talks between the two sides in Djibouti. With independent media, human rights groups and monitors barred from Tigray, and with most basic services like internet severed, it is challenging to assess the situation on the ground.
Ethiopia’s government was unsettled when the U.S. last year removed it from a preferential trade program over its failure to end the war in Tigray that the U.S. said led to “gross violations” of human rights. Addis Ababa is lobbying for a reversal.
Inside Tigray, millions of residents are still largely cut off from the world. Communications and banking services are severed, and their restoration has been a key demand in mediation efforts.
two Amhara journalists who publicly criticised the federal government were arrested last week, according to a police document seen by Reuters. The Amhara region, Ethiopia's second most populous, has been a key part of Ethiopian Prime minister Abiy Ahmed's powerbase.
Gobeze Sisay, the founder of Voice of Amhara, was accused of supporting the TPLF on social media. Meaza Mohamed, a journalist with Roha Media, was accused of encouraging Amhara people to allow the TPLF to pass through their areas, the police document showed.
"Amhara people, especially those close to the Tigrayan border - we are tired of war," Gobeze said in a Facebook post a week ago.
Last month Gunmen killed at least 42 people in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, amid escalating violence that has left hundreds dead. The latest attack by an armed group against local residents occurred in the Amuru district, about 370km (230 miles) west of the capital, Addis Ababa.
WHO Chief Dr Tedros Gherbreysus condemned the attacks on civilians and first responders in a tweet.
We condemn attacks on civilians in #Tigray. As long as the fighting continues, innocent lives will be at risk. Ayder Referral Hospital has been short on medicines, equipment & staff to treat patients for months. We urge Ethiopian & Eritrean govts to work for peace & end the siege https://t.co/LmLHXcvw1B
Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday night killed almost 100 soldiers, with Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of acts of aggression.
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said 49 of its soldiers died in overnight clashes, while Azerbaijan's defence ministry said 50 of its servicemen were also killed.
At the core of the dispute is the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is, according to internationally-recognised borders, firmly a part of Azerbaijan - but is populated by ethnic Armenians.
The dispute has led to full-scale war in the 1980s and 1990s, a six-week war in 2020 and continuing clashes for decades.
The two countries put blame on each other for the latest outbreak of violence. Armenia has claimed that several towns along the border had been shelled and it responded to the acts of aggression, whilst Azerbaijan said its infrastructure came under attack first.
Monday night's fighting is believed to be the worst since the 2020 conflict, in which thousands were killed. That war ended in a deal brokered by Russia, which saw Armenia withdraw its troops from occupied areas around Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Secretary general of the UN called on "the sides to take immediate steps to deescalate tensions, exercise maximum restraint & resolve any outstanding issues through dialogue and within existing formats". He also urges them to fully implement previously reached agreements.
Ukraine has reclaimed vast swathes of territory in the eastern region after a rapid counter-offensive forcing the retreat of Russian forces.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces were now working on fortifying their hold over 8,000 sq km of retaken territory in the Kharkiv region.
While Russia still controls around a fifth of Ukraine's territory, towns in the Donbas that fell early in the war are now under threat from Kyiv's advancing forces.
The Kremlin has admitted that its forces have moved out of some eastern towns, but refused to call it a retreat, instead insisting that its forces are regrouping.
On Monday, Moscow insisted that it would press on with its invasion "until all the goals that were originally set are achieved", The BBC reports.
Russia's full-scale invasion started more than six months ago,despite the territorial regain by Ukrainian forces, commentators have noted that the conflict will be drawn out.
US President Joe Biden said Ukraine had made "significant" gains.
Mr Biden said it was "clear" that the advance had enjoyed success, but cautioned that the offensive "could be a long haul".
The UN's Western Sahara envoy, Staffan de Mistura met with representatives of the Polisario Front.
De Mistura met at a Sahrawi refugee camp with Khatri Addouh, the Polisario’s chief negotiator, and Omar Sidi Mohamed, the group’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
The camp is located in Tindouf, where the Polisario Front is based in far southwestern Algeria near the borders with Morocco and Western Sahara.
Announcing the visit on Friday, a UN spokeswoman said de Mistura was “looking forward to deepening consultations with all parties concerned on the prospect of constructively advancing the political process in Western Sahara”.
On Sunday, he is scheduled to hold talks with Polisario leader Brahim Ghali, the movement’s UN representative told AFP.
The Polisario Front wants an independent state in the Western Sahara, a vast stretch of mineral-rich desert that Morocco sees as a sovereign part of its own territory.
A former Spanish colony, Western Sahara sits on the western edge of the vast eponymous desert, stretching along the Atlantic coast.
When Spain withdrew in 1975, Morocco sent thousands of people across the border and claimed it was an integral part of its territory.
The following year the Polisario Front declared a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), with support from Algeria and Libya, and demanded a referendum on self-determination.
Since then 84 UN member states have recognised the SADR.
The international community has long backed a referendum to be held to decide the territory’s status.
But Morocco rejects any vote in which independence is an option, arguing that only granting autonomy is on the table for the sake of regional security.
Trump agreed to recognise Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, where there has been a decades-old dispute with Morocco pitted against the Polisario Front.
In a deal brokered by United States President Donald Trump’s outgoing administration, Morocco became the latest Arab country to normalise ties with Israel.
Chileans have voted against a new, progressive constitution that had been drafted to replace the 1980 document written under Gen Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.
In 2020, an initial plebiscite saw nearly 80% of voters opt to draft a new constitution, but after an arduous year of negotiations, people appear to have expressed their dissatisfaction with the end product.
The proposed constitution included a long list of social rights and guarantees that had appeared to respond to the demands of that vast social movement.
It enshrined gender parity across government and other organs of the state – for the first time anywhere in the world – prioritised environmental protection and recognised Chile’s Indigenous peoples for the first time in the country’s history.
The proposed constitution included new measures such as :
Women would make up at least 50% of the officials and office-holders in all state agencies and institutions.
Chile would take on the character of a “multinational and intercultural state,” where Indigenous peoples would be regarded as nations occupying autonomous regions.
The state, rather than private entities, would assume primary funding responsibility for education, healthcare, low-income housing, and pensions.
The proposed constitution recognized the “free exercise of sexual and reproductive rights.” It limited penalization of abortion.
The document prioritized ecological sustainability and especially water rights.
Formation of a Congress of Deputies for passing laws and a Chamber of the Regions for dealing with legislation agreed upon at the local level. The National Congress, with its Chamber of Deputies and Senate, would disappear.
No longer would there be high quorum requirements for passing legislation.
President Gabriel Boric, whose government is largely tied to the new text, said cabinet changes were coming and the government would work to draft another constitution.
"We have to listen to the voice of the people. Not just today, but the last intense years we've lived through," Boric said. "That anger is latent, and we can't ignore it."
Center-left and right wing parties that promoted the reject campaign, have also agreed to negotiate to prepare a new text.
The UN Human rights Committee have ruled that the suspension of former Catalan government and parliament members from public duties prior to their conviction, following an independence referendum in 2017 was a violation of their political rights by Spain.
The findings by the group of independent human rights experts were published after revision of a complaint filed by Oriol Junqueras i Vies, former Vice-President of Catalonia, and three former ministers, Raül Romeva i Rueda, Josep Rull i Andreu and Jordi Turull i Negre.
The Parliament of Catalonia passed a law authorising a referendum on Catalonia's independence, in September 2017. Despite the Constitutional Court’s suspension order and police intervention, the referendum went ahead on 1 October.
In mid-October, Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled that both the law and the referendum were unconstitutional, null and void.
Nevertheless, the Catalonian Parliament declared independence and was thus immediately dissolved by the Government of Spain.
Mr. Junqueras and the three ministers were prosecuted, together with other officials, for the crime of rebellion, which entails a call for a violent uprising against the constitutional order, the group of experts said.
“The Committee took an important step in affirming that the safeguards against the restrictions of political rights must be applied more rigorously if these restrictions occur prior to, rather than after, a conviction for an offence,” said Committee member Hélène Tigroudja.
Taking note that the four complainants had urged the public to remain strictly peaceful, the Committee considered that the decision to charge them with the crime of rebellion, which led to their automatic suspension prior to a conviction, was not foreseeable and therefore not based on reasonable and objective grounds provided for by law.
