Because the United States-Israel war on Iran continues to dominate worldwide headlines, beneath is a roundup of a number of the tales you might have missed on Tuesday.
Syrian ex-colonel faces crimes towards humanity case in London
A former Syrian colonel residing in the UK has appeared earlier than a London court docket to face crimes towards humanity expenses linked to his alleged position in repressing demonstrations in 2011.
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Salem Michel al-Salem appeared just about at a listening to at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court docket on Tuesday. He didn’t converse or enter any plea, however could possibly be seen with a respiratory tube over his mouth.
The 58-year-old has been charged with three counts of homicide as a criminal offense towards humanity, referring to killings in April and July 2011 “as a part of a widespread or systematic assault towards a civilian inhabitants with data of the assault”.
The case is the primary prosecution of its variety within the UK, in response to police.
Syria appoints Kurdish YPG commander as deputy defence minister
Syria’s Defence Ministry has introduced that Sipan Hamo, a commander within the Kurdish Folks’s Safety Items (YPG), has been appointed deputy defence minister for the nation’s japanese territories.
The transfer on Tuesday is a part of the implementation of a US-brokered agreement reached in late January to finish weeks of lethal clashes between Kurdish forces and the Syrian military.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-led group that signed the reintegration deal, stated in a press release that Hamo’s appointment “confirms the dedication of all Syrian events to supporting safety and stability within the area”.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who took energy after the autumn of longtime chief Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, has been searching for to reintegrate Kurdish forces into the nation’s state establishments.
In a mid-January interview with the Reuters information company, Hamo stated the Kurds weren’t searching for secession and emphasised that they noticed their future inside Syria.
Zimbabwe cracking down on critics of presidential time period extension: HRW
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused authorities in Zimbabwe of intensifying a crackdown on critics of the ruling occasion’s try and advance a constitutional modification that may prolong President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s time period in workplace.
The worldwide rights group stated the amendment proposed by the Zimbabwe African Nationwide Union-Patriotic Entrance (ZANU-PF) occasion would prolong each the president’s and parliament’s phrases from 5 to seven years. That may successfully postpone the nation’s 2028 elections till 2030.
HRW stated on Tuesday that police and unidentified armed males in current months have “threatened, harassed, and beat up a number of folks” who’re against the transfer, together with members of the opposition Nationwide Constitutional Meeting political occasion.
“Zimbabwe’s leaders ought to reveal their dedication to the rule of regulation by respecting the nation’s structure and worldwide human rights obligations for freedom of expression and meeting,” Idriss Ali Nassah, a senior Africa researcher at HRW, stated in a press release.
“Civil society, authorized consultants, and atypical folks needs to be allowed to peacefully categorical their views with out worry.”
Italy buys uncommon Caravaggio portrait for about $35m
Italy has bought a uncommon portrait by Baroque grasp Caravaggio for practically $35m, one of many largest sums the state has ever paid for a single paintings, the nation’s Tradition Ministry introduced.
The portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, an influential cleric who later grew to become Pope City VIII, was painted by Caravaggio round 1598.
“It is a work of remarkable significance,” Italian Tradition Minister Alessandro Giuli stated in a press release.
The portray had been held in a non-public Florence assortment and was attributed to Caravaggio in 1963. It was proven in public for the primary time in 2024 at Rome’s Palazzo Barberini and can now enter the everlasting assortment within the palace’s artwork gallery.
The acquisition comes a month after the Italian Tradition Ministry purchased Antonello da Messina’s “Ecce Homo” for $14.9m, securing the uncommon work by the fifteenth‑century Renaissance grasp simply because it was on account of be auctioned in New York.
UN peacekeepers in South Sudan defy order to go away opposition-held city
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has stated it would maintain its peacekeeping drive in Akobo regardless of an order by the nation’s navy to go away the opposition-held city.
In a press release on Monday, UNMISS warned that any military operations in and around Akobo – a city within the nation’s northeast, close to the border with Ethiopia – might “gravely endanger the security and safety of civilians”.
The South Sudan Folks’s Defence Forces had on March 6 ordered civilians to go away Akobo and neighbouring villages forward of a deliberate offensive, UNMISS stated, whereas peacekeepers got 72 hours to go away.
“For its half, UNMISS reaffirms that its peacekeepers will stay in Akobo, offering a protecting presence for civilians. The Mission reiterates that the security and safety of its personnel, premises, and property should be totally revered always,” it stated.
Fears of a return to all-out civil warfare in South Sudan have increased amid a surge in violence between authorities forces and opposition teams.
