UN accused of ‘shocking’ lack of action over murder and rape in South Sudan
Peacekeeping mission has failed to stop systematic atrocities, MSF says, as civil war enters third year
The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has been accused of a “complete and utter failure” to protect civilians in one of the most dangerous and volatile parts of the war-ravaged country.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says that although civilians in southern Unity state – an oil-rich area and key battleground in the civil war – have been subjected to murder, rape and abduction for many months, there has been a “shocking” lack of action from the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (Unmiss).
“There has been a complete and utter protection failure on Unmiss’ part in southern Unity,” said Pete Buth, deputy operations director of MSF Holland and manager of MSF’s activities in Unity state.
China to ‘promote its repression of Uighurs’ at Shanghai group meeting
Self-professed Uighur government in exile says Beijing is using the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as well as Paris and San Bernardino attacks to promote repression of Muslims in China
China may have embarked on its latest mission to gain regional support for its crackdown on its Uighur ethnic minority at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Monday, rights activists warned.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with leaders from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia in the northeastern city of Zhengzhou to discuss bolstered industrial cooperation but also collaboration on security issues, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Officials from “observer” states like India and Iran were also in attendance, Xinhua said.
SCO member states have in recent years pledged their support for Beijing’s campaign against what it calls Uighur separatist terrorism. The Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group originally from the far-Western region of Xinjiang, say that Beijing has cracked down on religion and cultural observances as a means of quelling unrest that it feels could threaten its international business in the region.
Bananas facing extinction, scientists warn
Researchers from the Netherlands have published a study to show that the most widely consumed banana variety could be wiped out by a fungus in the near future.
The Cavendish banana is the most popular banana worldwide, but it could disappear in the coming years due an aggressive fungus known as “Panama Disease.” This finding was published in a newstudy by a group of scientists from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Already in the 1960s, Panama Disease drove the previously popular banana variety, Gros Michel, to near-extinction. Now, a different strain of the fungus known as TR4 is threatening the Cavendish variety. The scientists believe it is only a matter of time before it reaches Latin America, where over 80 percent of the world’s Cavendish bananas are cultivated.
The TR strain was first identified in 1994 after it had destroyed Cavendish banana crops in Taiwan three decades earlier. However, “the initial outbreak did not awaken the banana industry and the awareness levels remained low,” the study claims.
More boats carrying corpses washing up on Japan’s shores
(Mainichi Japan)
Since October this year, a steady string of wooden boats have washed up on the Sea of Japan coast from Hyogo Prefecture in the southwest up to Hokkaido in the north. More ominous than the drifting boats, however, are the 31 male corpses that have been found in or near them.
Most of the boats are thought to be from North Korea, based on their design, writing on the hulls and the equipment found in them. It’s believed the small vessels met some accident while fishing off the coast of North Korea. Experts speculate that the boats were manned by men with little experience on the sea, mobilized by the regime to boost its ongoing attempt to expand North Korea’s fishing industry.
Regional Japan Coast Guard (JCG) branches and other sources have told the Mainichi Shimbun that 13 of the vessels have washed up on the Japanese coast since October this year, though fragments of what is believed to be one other boat have also been found. Most are 10 to 13 meters long with a beam of about 3 meters, with flat bottoms that are a particular feature of North Korean fishing boats. At least eight of the vessels have Hangul writing on them.
Saudi Arabia forms Muslim ‘anti-terrorism’ coalition
Alliance includes 34 mainly Muslim states but excludes regional rival Iran as well as Iraq and Syria.
| Saudi Arabia, War & Conflict, ISIL, Middle East
Saudi Arabia has formed a coalition of 34 mainly Muslim countries – including powers such as Egypt and Turkey – to coordinate a fight against “terrorist organisations”.
The alliance was announced by Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s defence minister and deputy crown prince, on Tuesday.
Arab countries such as Qatar and the UAE will join the coalition, as well as Middle Eastern, Asian, and African states, including Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Nigeria.
Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran and its allies Syria and Iraq, were excluded from the alliance despite the states sharing a common enemy in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
Star Wars: Force Awakens gets world premiere
The hotly-anticipated latest addition in the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens, has had its world premiere in Los Angeles.
Stars from the original series Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were joined by newcomers like John Boyega and Daisy Ridley at the event.
Security was tight, with a giant tent shrouding the red carpet.
The plot of the film remains a closely-guarded secret and a media embargo on reviews is in place until Wednesday.
Although some reviewers did comment briefly on Twitter.
Adam B Vary, senior film reporter for Buzzfeed, tweeted: “Rest easy: #TheForceAwakens is 100% #StarWars.”
LA Times film writer, Rebecca Keegan, wrote: “Story, characters, design, humour – #StarWars fans, this is the movie you’re looking for.”
According to the Matthew Belloni, executive editor at Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, one man was forcibly removed from the premiere.
Fans had been camping out for days outside the TCL Chinese Theatre, which along with other LA venues screened the seventh Star Wars instalment.