A RECORD 71 million people have been displaced as a result of war, persecution and violence, the UN refugee agency has said.
This is an increase of more than two million on last year and nearly a 65% increase on a decade ago.
The annual Global Trends report released by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) counted the number of the world’s refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people at the end of 2018 – in some cases following decades of living away from home.
Launching the report ahead of World Refugee Day today, the high commissioner, Filippo Grandi, had a message for US President Donald Trump and other world leaders, calling it “damaging” to depict migrants and refugees as threats to jobs and security in host countries.
AN independent UN human rights expert investigating the killing of Jamal Khashoggi is recommending an investigation into the possible role of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, citing “credible evidence”.
Agnes Callamard released a 101-page report into the October killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul that lays out dozens of recommendations.
It calls on UN bodies, or Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to “demand” a follow-up criminal investigation.
Callamard noted the “extreme sensitivity” of considering the responsibility of the crown prince, pictured, as well as Saud Alqahtani, a senior adviser to the Saudi royal court who has not been charged.
“The only conclusion made is that there is credible evidence meriting further investigation,” she wrote.
IN the Netherlands, three Russians and one Ukrainian have been charged with murder over the downing of flight MH17 in July 2014 with the loss of 298 lives.
Dutch National Police chief Wilbert Paulissen identified Russians Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, along with Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, as suspects in the downing of the plane in Ukrainian air space, and announced that their trial would start in March 2020.
There are no plans to seek the extradition of the four.
AND in the United States, Donald Trump has officially kicked off his re-election campaign.
In front of thousands in Orlando, Trump complained he had been “under assault from the very first day” of his presidency by a “fake news media” and “illegal witch hunt” that had tried to keep him and his supporters down.
He said a vote for any Democrat “is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream”.
In polls, Joe Biden is leading the president 50%-41%, and Bernie Sanders is besting him 48%-42%.
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