Death toll mounts after bomb blast on Aleppo evacuee bus convoy

A bomb blast hit a bus convoy waiting to enter Aleppo on Saturday, killing and wounding dozens of people after an evacuation deal between Syria’s warring sides halted and stranded thousands at two transit points on the city outskirts.

Mosul: ISIS uses tens of thousands as ‘human shields’

 ISIS appears to be using tens of thousands of people as “human shields” in and around Mosul, where Iraqi forces are waging a large-scale offensive aimed at retaking the country’s second largest city, the UN human rights office said Friday.

Moscow: Syrian opposition obstructs humanitarian aid in Aleppo

Russian Foreign Ministry affirmed on Monday that the so-called Syrian opposition has obstructed the humanitarian process of the UN in Aleppo.

US urges Russia to halt Syria sieges; Russia slams humanitarian aid politicization

The United Nations Security Council must not allow civilians on both sides of the Syrian city of Aleppo to be cut off from humanitarian aid, the United States said Monday as Russia accused Washington of politicizing a humanitarian issue.

Austrian Police Save 3 Ailing Children in New Migrant Truck Incident

Austrian police said Saturday that they rescued three children suffering from severe dehydration who were close to death in a van in Austria, along with 23 other migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Malaysia confirms plane debris found on Reunion Island belongs to Flight MH370

Debris found on an Indian Ocean island last week is from MH370, Malaysia's prime minister announced on Thursday, confirming for the first time that the plane which mysteriously disappeared 17 months ago had crashed.

Kurds battle IS on Syria border as Turkey blocks refugees

Kurdish fighters pressed an offensive Saturday to capture a key Syrian border town from the Islamic State group, as Turkish forces sought to prevent thousands fleeing the fighting from crossing the frontier.

More aftershocks in Nepal as death toll soars

Nepal has been rocked by aftershocks as the death toll from the magnitude 7.8 quake rose to at least 4,000, and as aid agencies prepare "massive" humanitarian operations.
Nepal police said on their Facebook page late on Monday evening that over 3,904 deaths had been counted so far, and 7,180 more were reported injured.

Nepal quake kills more than 1,100; rips cities, crumbles history

Tens of thousands of people prepared to spend the night in the open under a chilly and thundery sky after a powerful earthquake shook Nepal on Saturday, killing more than 1,180 people, collapsing modern houses and centuries-old temples, and triggering a landslide on the slopes of Mount Everest. Officials said the death toll will rise as more reports from far-flung areas come in.

European Commission calls 1915 events 'tragedy'

The European Commission has refused to call the 1915 events a "genocide" following the European Parliament’s resolution on the contrary.

As chaos deepens in Yemen, UN expert warns of ‘worst case scenario’ displacement

 UN, 8 April 2015 – The United Nations expert on the human rights of internally displaced persons today urged the international community “to prepare for massive displacement and humanitarian crisis as conflict torn Yemen further descends into chaos and civilians flee the fighting.”

Second black box confirms co-pilot crashed plane (Several times during the descent, the pilot changed the automatic pilot...)

Data from the second black box found in the wreckage of the Germanwings flight that crashed last week in the French Alps confirm the co-pilot acted deliberately, investigators said.

"A first reading shows that the pilot in the cockpit used the automatic pilot to descend the plane towards an altitude of 100 feet (30 metres)," said the French BEA crash investigation office in a statement.

No survivors found at site of French plane crash

A plane operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline crashed in a remote area of the French Alps today, killing all 150 people on board including 16 schoolchildren.

Statement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the events in Ukraine

From the Official Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Statements and speeches):

"The centrality given to false claims of Russian aggression and incursions by our troops and armoured vehicles in discussions of the crisis in Ukraine raises a number of serious questions.
Why do those clamouring for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council consistently block our proposals for a comprehensive discussion of the origins of the Ukrainian tragedy and for collective action on a solution that serves the interests of all Ukrainian people, and instead treat Ukraine like a bargaining chip in unilateral geopolitical schemes?

Ukraine: UN urges central registration system amid rising internal displacement

UN, 5 August 2014 – With thousands fleeing the intensifying violence in eastern Ukraine, the United Nations refugee agency today urged the Government to establish a central registration system which would help coordinate relief efforts for the already 117,000 internally displaced people (IDPs).

“In the past seven days more than 6,200 people have been forced from their homes,” Vincent Cochetel, the Director for the European Bureau at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told reporters in Geneva today.

Israel confirms it fired into UN shelter in Gaza (denied killing anyone at the site)

The Israeli army has confirmed it fired a mortar round into a Gaza UN shelter where 15 people died on Thursday, but denied killing anyone at the site.
Briefing journalists on the findings of an internal military inquiry into the incident at a UN school in Beit Hanun, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said militants "in the vicinity" of the school fired mortar rounds and anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces.
The army responded with mortar fire, sending a stray round into the compound, he said.

"A single errant mortar [round] landed in the courtyard of the school," he said.
"The courtyard was completely empty" at the time of the incident, he added.

21 dead, scores injured in Moscow metro crash

Twenty-one people died and scores more were hurt after a train derailed in Moscow's packed metro during rush hour on Tuesday in the worst accident to hit one of the world's busiest subways.

Russian television described scenes of chaos and panic on the capital city's famed system, saying passengers fell like dominoes when the train braked abruptly and three carriages derailed.

Rescue teams were combing through the mangled metal carriages in an attempt to extricate several bodies.

Commissioner Malmström deplores loss of life in boat tragedy between Libya and Lampedusa

European Commission, Statement, Brussels, 12 May 2014/Anna Cecilia Malmström (European Commissioner for Home Affairs):

 

"I am deeply shocked by the new tragedy that took place in international waters between Libya and Lampedusa, resulting in at least a dozen deaths. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. Let me thank the Italian authorities for their huge efforts in putting in place the Mare Nostrum operation, also supported by the European Commission, which has saved and continues to save tens of thousands of lives. 

Ukraine president warns of 'step into abyss'

As two of the most tense regions in eastern Ukraine prepare to vote on declaring sovereignty, the country's acting president has warned them against self-destruction.
Ukrainian acting president Oleksandr Turchynov, in comments posted on the presidential website on Saturday, said the pro-Russian supporters of independence for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions "don't understand that this would be a complete destruction of the economy, social programs and general life for the majority of the population".
"This is a step into the abyss for the regions," Turchynov said.

Renewed Syrian peace talks make little progress as concern rises for detained evacuees – UN

11 February 2014 – United Nations-sponsored talks between the Syrian Government and opposition that resumed yesterday are making scant progress in ending the “nightmare” of the civil war, the top mediator said today, calling for a quicker pace as officials voiced “deep concern” at the detention by the authorities of men and boys leaving a long besieged city.

“The beginning of this week is as laborious as it was in the first week [of the talks]…I’m urging everybody to speed up,” UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi told a news briefing in Geneva of the latest diplomatic push to end a war which has killed well over 100,000 people and driven nearly 9 million others from their homes since the conflict erupted between President Bashar al-Assad and various groups seeking his ouster nearly three years ago.