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page 19 I/Coast Ex-first lady goes on trial for war crimes Ivory Coast’s former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, went on trial on Tuesday, accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes for her alleged role in a civil war that followed a 2010 presidential election and killed around 3,000 people. The trial, the West African […]
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I/Coast
Ex-first lady goes on trial for war crimes
Ivory Coast’s former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, went on trial on Tuesday, accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes for her alleged role in a civil war that followed a 2010 presidential election and killed around 3,000 people.
The trial, the West African nation’s first for crimes against humanity, is being held in a domestic court after the government rejected her extradition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
It has already drawn criticism from Gbagbo’s supporters, who claim it is politically motivated, as well as from rights groups, who accuse the prosecution of rushing the investigation.
Her husband, ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, is already before the ICC on charges linked to the brief conflict, which was sparked by his refusal to accept defeat to Alassane Ouattara in an election run-off.
Flanked by policemen, Simone Gbagbo, a key figure in her husband’s regime, greeted dozens of cheering supporters who gathered at the entrance of the court in the commercial capital Abidjan with waves and smiles.
AFGHANISTAN
Amnesty: 1.2 million Afghans internally displaced by war
Amnesty International said Tuesday that more than 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to flee their homes due to violence in the past three years and urged the Kabul government and the international community to tackle the country’s growing crisis of refugees internally displaced by war.
Those numbers are growing as the war, now in its 15th year, intensifies, the rights group said in a report released in Kabul, adding that many of the internally displaced “live in horrific conditions on the brink of survival.”
The Taliban have been waging war on the Afghan government since their regime was toppled in the 2001 U.S. invasion. With the withdrawal of most international combat troops in 2014, the insurgency has stepped up – the United Nations says that in 2015 alone, 11,002 civilians were killed or wounded, most of them by insurgents.
SYRIA
Air strikes on rebel-held city kill 23
At least 23 people have been killed by air strikes on the rebel-held city of Idlib, in north-western Syria, activists say.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian aircraft targeted various positions overnight.
Turkey also blamed Russia and put the death toll at more than 60. Russia has denied any involvement.
Idlib city and the province of the same name are a stronghold of groups including al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
The Nusra Front is excluded from a partial cessation of hostilities brokered by the US and Russia in February to make way for a resumption of peace talks.
The Syrian Observatory said the attacks hit several residential neighbourhoods, and areas near a hospital and a public garden.
IRAQ
Fear for civilians as IS halts army at gates of Falluja
Islamic State fighters halted an Iraqi army assault on the city of Falluja with a counter-attack at its southern gates on Tuesday, while the United Nations warned of peril for civilians trapped in the city and used by militants as human shields.
A week after Baghdad announced the start of the assault, its troops advanced in large numbers into the city limits for the first time on Monday, pouring into rural territory on its southern outskirts but stopping short of the main built-up area.
Baghdad describes the assault to retake the city as a potential turning point in its U.S.-backed campaign to defeat the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim militants who rule a self-proclaimed caliphate across much of Iraq and Syria.
N/Korea
Missile test launch off east coast ‘fails’
North Korea has attempted to fire a ballistic missile off its east coast but the launch appears to have failed, South Korean military officials say.
It is unclear what type of missile it was, but it follows three failed tests of the medium-range “Musudan” missile in April.
The North is banned by the UN from using any ballistic missile technology.
Tensions have run high in the region after Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January and numerous missile tests.
Also on Tuesday, the newly promoted vice-chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers Party, Ri Su-yong, arrived in China for what South Korean media said was an unannounced official visit.
GREECE/CZECH REPUBLIC
Migrant document forgers arrested
Police in Greece and the Czech Republic have arrested more than 20 people suspected of forging travel documents for migrants trying to enter Europe.
European police agency Europol said visas and passports were sold for up to £2,500 ($3,600) and sent across the EU, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Greek police said the criminal networks were also involved in smuggling people across borders.
About 100 people are still wanted in Greece and other countries.
Europol said the network was based in Athens and consisted of two criminal groups, one run by Sudanese people and another by Bangladeshis, and 16 people have been arrested in Greece.
Both groups forged passports, national ID cards, Schengen visas, driving licences, asylum seekers’ registration cards and residence permits, police said.
UNITED STATES
U.S. warns of possible Europe attacks
The US has warned that the Euro 2016 football championship being held in France next month could be a target of militant attacks.
“The large number of tourists visiting Europe in the summer months will present greater targets for terrorists,” the State Department said.
The event is being hosted from 10 June to 10 July at various venues. France is already under a state of emergency following last year’s Islamist-claimed attacks in Paris.
The near-simultaneous assaults on a stadium, concert hall, bars and restaurants left 130 people dead and many more wounded.
Up to one million foreign fans are expected in France for the tournament, which involves the continent’s top national teams.
In its travel alert for US citizens, the State Department warns of the dangers of militant attacks throughout Europe.
INDIA
Transfusions infect many with HIV
At least 2,234 Indians have contracted the deadly HIV virus while receiving blood transfusions in hospitals in the past 17 months alone.
The information was revealed by the country’s National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) in response to a petition filed by information activist Chetan Kothari.
Mr Khothari said that he was “shocked” by the revelation. India has around 2.09 million people living with HIV/Aids.
The highest number of patients who had been infected with HIV as a result of contaminated blood in hospitals, were from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh with 361 cases, Mr Kothari’s RTI (Right to Information) query revealed.
MALAYSIA
Passport systems ‘sabotaged’
Malaysia has fired 15 immigration officers, accusing them of sabotaging passport systems to let in certain travellers undetected.
Suspicions were raised after computer systems at Malaysian airports crashed several times a day.
The 15 are accused of deliberately taking them offline, allowing people to bypass criminal background checks.
Another 65 officers have been redeployed, while a new roster will now monitor immigration points.
As many as 100 immigration officials may have been involved in the operation, investigators say.
The country’s passport system may have been compromised for the past two years, according to the Malaysian authorities, possibly benefiting people traffickers and militant networks.
WESTERN SAHARA
Polisario Front leader Mohamed Abdelaziz dies
Mohamed Abdelaziz, the secretary general of the Polisario Front, a movement fighting for independence of the largely desert region of Western Sahara, has died.
Abdelaziz, 68, died on Tuesday afternoon after a lengthy battle with cancer in an Algerian hospital, the official website of the separatist movement said.
The movement ordered a 40-day mourning period, after which a new secretary-general will be chosen, it added.
Khatri Abdouh, the head of the Saharawi National Council and a long-time aide of Abdelaziz, was appointed as interim Polisario leader.
Samir Bennis, the editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Morocco World News, said Abdelaziz’s death would have little impact on attempts to end the conflict.