Weekly News Wrap: Monday, November 17, 2014

Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world:

Africa

• The Nigerian army has driven out Boko Haram insurgents from Chibok, the home of over 200 schoolgirls who were abducted by militants of the Islamist group in April, an army spokesman said.
• Somalia’s al Shabaab militants said they fired mortar bombs at the presidential palace in Mogadishu on Sunday, but government and police spokesmen said none had landed inside the compound.

Middle East and Northern Africa

• Islamic State militants have beheaded another American hostage, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig, issuing a video claiming the killing on Sunday and warning the United States they would kill other U.S. citizens “on your streets.”
• Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE have agreed to return their respective ambassadors to Qatar. In an unprecedented public move, the three Gulf states had recalled their ambassadors in March, accusing Doha of failing to abide by an agreement not to interfere in one another’s internal affairs.
• Rebuffing international criticism, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told his German counterpart point-blank on Sunday that Israel will not stop building homes for Jews in East Jerusalem.

Asia

• Thousands of Rohingya boat people who have left Myanmar in the past month have yet to reach their destinations, say relatives and an advocacy group for the persecuted minority, raising fears their boats have been prevented from reaching shore.
• Three Hong Kong student leaders were stopped from boarding a flight to Beijing on Saturday to take their fight for greater democracy directly to the Chinese government after airline authorities said their travel permits were invalid.
• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is to send a personal envoy to Russia, state media said on Friday, the latest in a series of diplomatic moves by the isolated country as it fends off accusations of crimes against humanity.

Europe

• Britain leaving the European Union would be a “disaster” for both it and the 28-nation bloc, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Sunday.
• Russia President Vladimir Putin said in a German television interview on Sunday that he is convinced it should be possible to find a way to resolve the crisis in Ukraine but added he was concerned about the threat of ethnic cleansing.
• German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday he does not believe tighter sanctions against Russia will help resolve the Ukraine crisis even though Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday the European Union is considering further sanctions.
• Sweden has confirmed that a small foreign submarine illegally entered its waters last month, though it was still unclear which country was behind the intrusion, officials have said.
• The British prime minister has outlined plans to seize passports from British nationals linked to armed groups and stop them returning from fighting overseas.
• Russia plans to create its own “Wikipedia” to ensure its citizens have access to more “detailed and reliable” information about their country, the presidential library said on Friday.

Americas

• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos suspended peace talks with Marxist FARC rebels following the kidnapping of an army general, throwing into crisis the nation’s efforts to end 50 years of war.
• U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Sunday the Pentagon will accelerate its mission to train Iraqi forces to combat Islamic State militants, using troops already in Iraq to start the effort while funding is sought for a broader initiative.

Oceania

• Australian city Brisbane played host to the G20 meeting, where leaders have pledged to stimulate job growth, bolster global financial institutions and address climate change in the communique released at the end of a two-day summit in Brisbane.

UN/World

• Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity on a large scale in areas under the group’s control in Syria, UN investigators say. In its first report focused squarely on acts by ISIL, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria presented on Friday a horrifying picture of what life was like in areas controlled by the group, including massacres, beheadings, torture, sexual enslavement and forced pregnancy.