A vessel carrying over 150 asylum seekers sank on route to Australia yesterday, approximately 45 nautical miles from Indonesia.

At 4.20am and 5am yesterday a distress call was put out by the vessel to Australian officials, stating that there were 155 people on board including women and children.

Search and rescue efforts now retrieved 55 survivors. The effort is being led by BASARNAS, the Indonesian search and rescue agency, with the assistance of Australian counterparts at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

Following the distress call on Wednesday, Indonesian teams searched the water, but could not find the vessel. It was not until the following morning, when a merchant vessel spotted six people in the water, that further search and rescue operations were instigated.

Captain Manuel Nistorescu, from one of the merchant vessels assisting in the search and rescue effort, told Sydney Morning Herald, that survivors including a group of Afghan men who had been in the water for 24 hours.

Speaking to reporters on the sinking of an asylum seekers' boat en route to Australia yesterday, the Australian Home Affairs Minister, Jason Clare, offered his take on the events:

"More than 300 people have died in the last three months and it appears more people have died in the last 24 hours."

"My message to them, is don’t get on the boat."

Focussing on people smugglers and "their business model", Clare said: 

"They're telling people they're selling them a ticket to Australia,”

"What they're really doing is selling them a ticket to Nauru or a ticket to the bottom of the sea."

"I think the legislation [to set up offshore processing] only encourages people smugglers to try and get people onto boats as quickly as they can because they know setting up offshore processing in Nauru, in Manus Island...will shut down their business model."

“the preliminary findings suggest that a significant number of people-most of them women and children-were slaughtered. The sheer viciousness of these murders is beyond comprehension. In some cases, the attacks against civilians may constitute crimes against humanity.”

“Day after day, Aleppo residents line up to get bread for their families, and instead get shrapnel piercing their bodies from government bombs and shells,”

“Ten bakery attacks is not random – they show no care for civilians and strongly indicate an attempt to target them.”

“These repeated attacks are either deliberate attacks on civilians, or they are reckless and indiscriminate attacks – both of which are war crimes.”

“Any pilot who launches a rocket against a line of civilians or any commander who gives an order to do so, should face justice for their crimes.”

The German government has admitted it provided training and equipment worth over €50,000 to the Belarusian security forces.

The interior ministry said it supplied surveillance equipment including digital cameras and computers and three Volkswagen police vans between 2008 and 2010, but could not confirm reports that batons and other riot combat equipment were also delivered during the period.

Germany said last week that it provided training to senior militia officers and border guards, trusting Belarus to be committed to a “process of democracy”.

Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich is now under pressure from opposition politicians to explain why training and equipment was provided.

"It would have been better if the civilian population had been given support," said Cem Ozdemir, the Green party leader.

Belarus has been ruled with an iron fist by President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been accused of persecuting opposition politicians, independent journalists and human rights activists.

Lukashenko was re-elected in 2010, in what was widely believed to be a rigged vote, prompting widespread protests.

The regime suppressed the protests, arresting over 600 demonstrators.

"Ultimately, the archbishop is of the view that Mr. Blair's decision to support the United States' military invasion of Iraq, on the basis of unproven allegations of the existence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, was morally indefensible."

"The Discovery Invest Leadership Summit has leadership as its theme. Morality and leadership are indivisible."

"In this context, it would be inappropriate and untenable for the archbishop to share a platform with Mr Blair."

"As far as Iraq is concerned, they have always disagreed about removing Saddam by force. Such disagreement is part of a healthy democracy,"

"As for the morality of that decision we have recently had both the memorial of the Halabja massacre where thousands of people were murdered in one day by Saddam's use of chemical weapons; and that of the Iran-Iraq war where casualties numbered up to a million including many killed by chemical weapons.

"So these decisions are never easy morally or politically."

The Colombian government and Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) are to hold exploratory talks towards peace, the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday.

Addressing state TV, Santos said,

"Since the first day of my government I have completed my constitutional obligation to find peace. With that aim, we have had exploratory conversations with the FARC to seek an end to the conflict,"

The talks are understood to take place later this year in Norway or Cuba.

Santos added that the Colombian military would continue to act "throughout every centimetre" of the country whilst the talks took place.

According to Reuters, Santos has agreed that Farc rebels would not be extradited to any other country to face convictions.

Over recent years, Farc has seen the deaths of a number of its highest in command, as the Colombian military has received assistance from the US, including US trained special forces, technology, intelligence and large amounts of funding supposedly for fighting narcotics.

The second largest rebel group, the ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional), have refused to lay down arms as a prerequisite to coming to the table.

Commenting on the ELN's interview with Reuters, Santos said,

"Today the ELN has expressed, via an international news agency, its interest in participating in conversations to put an end to the violence,"

"I tell that group that, within the same framework, they too can be part of the effort to end the conflict."

Six soldiers and three marines have escaped criminal prosecution and received administrative punishments for burning the Quran and urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters.

The actions by the soldiers triggered widespread rioting and led to retaliatory killings of at least four US military personnel and the deaths of over 30 Afghans.

The exact punishments have not been revealed but could include demotions, forfeit of pay and extra duty.

Up to a hundred copies of the Quran had been burnt ‘mistakenly’ by the soldiers, according findings from the investigations into the incident.

Brigadier General Bryan Watson, the investigating officer, wrote: "I absolutely reject any suggestion that those involved acted with any malicious intent to disrespect the Koran or defame the faith of Islam."

President Obama apologised to Afghan president Hamid Karzai at the time for the incident.

How the US and Israeli justice systems whitewash state crimes - The Guardian (28 Aug 2012)

"I believe that this was a bad day not only for our family but a bad day for human rights, for humanity, the rule of law and also for the country of Israel,"

"Rachel was a human being and we as her family deserved accountability,"

"The (Israeli) state has worked extremely hard so that the truth behind what happened to my daughter is not exposed."

“We believe this could be the start of a much larger influx. Some of those who have crossed in recent days — especially Friday — report being bombed by aircraft. There are also reports of shelling, mortars and other weapons fire.”

“Refugees say many thousands more are waiting to cross amid violence around Dara’a”

"We will be asking the United Nations to be more active in terms of helping the Syrians on their side of the border."

Burmese courts have given two United Nations workers prison sentences for involvement in promoting hatred between the ethnic communities and participating in arson attacks.

A UN spokesman confirmed that one of those sentenced was an UN refugee agency employee and the other was a member of the UN World Food Programme.

A spokesperson for the world body’s refugee agency in Bangkok, Vivian Tan described the Burmese decisions as “very disappointing”.

Humanitarian groups have claimed that 12 local staff belonging to international aid groups were detained in June with only 6 being released.

Last week, Doctors Without Borders said two of its employees were still being held.

The UN refugee agency, as well as the World Food Programme have both claimed that more members of their staff have been detained.

A US military spokesperson has denied making a deal was made with the militant Haqqani network in Afghanistan.

A report in the Express Tribune quoted a ‘senior military official’, claiming that the US was prepared to hand over control of three provinces to the militant group if they withdrew their support for the Taliban.

"These comments, attributed to 'a senior American military official' are inconsistent with U.S. policy," U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Twitty said in a statement.

"Further, only the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has the authority to take political steps on behalf of the Afghan people."

The statement follows reports that the leader of the network, Badruddin Haqqani was killed in a US drone strike.