Human Rights

TRIPOLI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Nearly half a million internally displaced people (IDPs) who have returned to their homes in Libya are in need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Monday.

"Currently in Libya, there are over 445,000 returnees that are in need of humanitarian assistance," UNHCR said.

Many Libyan families are living in areas surrounded by unexploded remnants of war near their destroyed homes, UNHCR added.

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, marking a major shift in U.S. policy in the Middle East.

The proclamation said that it is "appropriate to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights" because of the security need of Israel.

"This was a long time in the making," Trump said before signing the decree at the White House with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing alongside.

25 Mar 2019; DW: Activists from 35 countries met in Berlin this week to call for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons, ahead of new talks on such weapons in Geneva. They say that if Germany took the lead, other countries would follow

24 Mar 2019; DW: A pre-dawn attack on ethnic villages in central Mali left 134 victims dead and 55 injured, including pregnant women, children and the elderly. Violence has spread down from the north.

A deadly raid on the mainly-Muslim Peulh-Fulani villages of Ogossagou and Welingara in central Mali on Saturday shocked a population already targeted by attacks and reprisals.

25 Mar 2019; DW: Crowds at a far-right rock concert in eastern Germany threw cups of beer at police and journalists and sprayed them with a fire extinguisher, police said on Sunday.

The journalists wanted to report on the event in the town of Ostritz and had initially been refused access. When they returned with a group of police officers, they were attacked by some of the concertgoers. 

ANKARA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey will take the issue of U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights to the United Nations.

U.S. President Donald Trump's statement on Golan Heights is a "gift" to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of parliamentary elections set for April, Erdogan said in an interview with local broadcaster TGRT Haber.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The father of a slain black teenager pleaded for peace Saturday after the acquittal of a white police officer triggered an apparent retaliatory shooting at the defense attorney’s office and touched off protests in the streets of Pittsburgh.

Police put officers on 12-hour shifts until further notice.

23 Mar 2019; DW: It's a well-worn exercise: The finishing touches are being made, readying the Washington Convention Center for the AIPAC meeting on March 24-26. A sound-check is carried out on the speakers through which the unmistakable American-accented baritone of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will boom, as he addresses a crowd of up to 18,000 participants — a man in the final throes of his bid for reelection.

23 Mar 2019; DW: Dogon tribe-members reportedly burned a large portion of a Muslim Fulani village. Tensions among ethnic communities have surged since the government started battling extremists in its desert territories.

Members of the Dogon tribe staged an attack on the Peulh village of Ogossagou in central Mali on Saturday, local officials confirmed. The Peuhl community is part of the Muslim nomadic Fulani group.

Washington, March 23; AFP/GANASHAKTI: The United States on Friday slapped sanctions on a key Venezuelan bank, BANDES and four affiliates over their support for President Nicolas Maduro.

The US move came just hours after Maduro's regime defied the United States and arrested a top aide of opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington recognizes as the crisis-hit country's interim leader.