Weekly News Wrap: Monday, January 25, 2016

Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world:

Africa

• The United Nations Security Council should place an arms embargo on South Sudan, while the oil-rich country’s President Salva Kiir and a rebel leader qualify to be sanctioned over atrocities committed in a two-year civil war, U.N. sanctions monitors said in an annual report.
• A Rwandan man who had been accused of recruiting for the Islamic State was shot and killed in the capital Kigali while attempting to escape police custody, police said in a statement on Monday.

Middle East and Northern Africa

• Iraq summoned the new Saudi ambassador on Sunday after he suggested Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias were exacerbating sectarian tensions and should leave the fight against Islamic State to the Iraqi army and official security forces.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would allow Jewish settlers evicted by the Israeli army from two houses in the West Bank city of Hebron to return once proper permits were in place.
• Libya’s internationally recognised parliament based in Tobruk has voted against the UN-backed unity government with rival authorities based in Tripoli, Libyan news agencies reported.

Asia

• Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Islamic State is a “very real” threat to the country, hours after a video from the regional wing of IS warned of attacks in the Muslim-majority nation for arresting its supporters.
• Laos wants to see maritime rights respected and avoid a military build-up in the South China Sea, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday, after a meeting with Laos’ Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong to urge ASEAN unity in the face of Chinese claims.
• Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are to visit the Philippines, in a rare overseas “peace tour” seen as a continuation of efforts to strengthen ties with a former World War II adversary.
• Indian officials say their country will set up a satellite tracking and imaging centre in southern Vietnam that will give Hanoi access to pictures from Indian earth observation satellites that cover the region –  including China and the South China Sea.

Europe

• European Union countries have asked the bloc’s executive to prepare for the extension of temporary border controls within the Schengen passport-free travel zone for up to two years, the Dutch migration minister said.
• Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on Monday and agreed there was more work to be done to reach a deal on a reformed relationship between Britain and the European Union, a spokesman for the British leader said.
• London could not remain Europe’s financial center if Britain left the European Union at an upcoming referendum, top European politicians said on Monday, warning that reaching a free trade agreement with Britain would not be the bloc’s priority.
• Islamic State and other militants are very likely to attempt big new attacks in Europe following those in Paris, the EU’s police agency said on Monday, echoing previous warnings by senior security officials.
• The European Union’s foreign policy chief said on Monday she was “very confident” the bloc would deliver a promised 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in assistance to Turkey to help stem migrant flows, despite the funding being blocked by Italy.

Americas

• The U.N. Security Council is expected to approve a draft resolution on Monday that calls for establishing a U.N. mission to oversee disarmament should Colombia’s government and leftist FARC rebels reach a final peace deal, diplomats said.
• A coalition led by the United States conducted 16 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq on Saturday, and also targeted the jihadist group seven times in Syria, according to a U.S. military statement.
• A former senior British intelligence officer wants to give evidence that the country’s security services knew about the torture of inmates at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, a newspaper reported.

Oceania

• A leading Australian academic and Aboriginal activist has supported a renewed campaign for Australia to become a republic if it recognises the sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander citizens and gives them more political representation.

UN/World

• Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) called on Monday for a full investigation into an attack on a hospital in Yemen this month in which it says six people were killed and at least seven wounded, mostly medical staff and patients.
• The Zika virus – linked to births of babies with smaller-than-usual brains in Brazil – is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas except for Canada and Chile, the World Health Organization has said.