By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian president Joko Widodo called for the creation of an ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar to engage with all parties in the crisis-torn country during a gathering of Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta on Saturday.
The president, who is commonly known as Jokowi, said the leaders had reached a consensus on Myanmar that would be announced by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretary general. He also called for aid channels to be open and for Myanmar to release all political prisoners.
Jokowi was speaking after the 10-member bloc’s crisis meeting on Myanmar, aimed at persuading Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military takeover in February that sparked turmoil in his country, to forge a path to end the violence.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
NAIROBI (Reuters) - An armed group has taken control of a county in western Ethiopia, the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said, citing reports that civilians had been killed and public servants kidnapped.
The commission said it had received reports that Sedal Woreda, in the Kamashi Zone of the western Benishangul-Gumuz Region, was “under near full control of an armed group as of April 19”. It did not say which armed group it was referring to.
The woreda, or county, is home to around 25,000 people, the commission said in the statement issued late on Wednesday.
Local officials were not immediately available for comment.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain issued an apology on Thursday for failures that meant “pervasive racism” might have denied a proper commemoration to as many as 350,000 Black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for the British Empire in world wars.
An independent inquiry commissioned by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) found that hundreds of thousands of mostly African and Middle Eastern casualties from World War One were not commemorated by name, or at all.
The CWGC works to commemorate Commonwealth forces and ensure that all those killed in the two world wars are remembered in the same way, regardless of rank, background or religion.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
Seafarers who have spent the past months working onboard vessels arrive at the Changi Airport to board their flight back home to India during a crew change amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore June 12, 2020. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore health ministry said on Thursday it will not allow entry to long-term visa holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to India, which is battling a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
On Thursday, Singapore said it was investigating COVID-19 cases in a migrant workers’ dormitory for the possibility of re-infection and is quarantining more than 1,100 of the facility’s residents. So far, 17 recovered workers were found to be positive for COVID-19 at the dormitory.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday apologised for failing to properly commemorate as many as 350,000 Black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for the British empire.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) issued an apology after an inquiry it commissioned found hundreds of thousands of mostly African and Middle Eastern casualties from World War One were not commemorated by name, or at all.
“There can be no doubt: prejudice played a part in some of the commission’s decisions,” Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told parliament.
“On behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the government both of the time and today, I want to apologise for the failures to live up to their founding principles all those years ago, and express deep regret that it has taken so long to rectify,” Wallace said.