Qatar takes UAE to UN human rights court over boycott

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The North Korean military shows no signs of unusual activity or being in a heightened state of readiness ahead of a historic summit in Singapore, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday.

“All’s quiet,” Mattis told Pentagon reporters when asked his assessment of North Korean military activity.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is due to meet with President Donald Trump on Tuesday in Singapore,

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis began purging Chile’s Catholic hierarchy on Monday over an avalanche of sex abuse and cover-up cases, starting with accepting the resignations of the bishop at the center of the scandal and two others.

More heads were expected to roll, given that the scandal has only grown in the weeks since all of Chile’s 30plus active bishops offered to quit over their collective guilt in failing to protect Chile’s children from priests who raped, groped and molested them.

A Vatican statement said Francis had accepted the resignations of Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, Bishop Gonzalo Duarte of Valparaiso and Bishop Cristian Caro of Puerto Montt. He named a temporary leader for each diocese.

Barros, 61, has been at the center of Chile’s growing scandal ever since Francis appointed him bishop of Osorno in 2015 over the objections of the local faithful, his own sex abuse prevention advisers and some of Chile’s other bishops.

They questioned Barros’ suitability to lead given he had been a top lieutenant of Chile’s most notorious predator priest and had been accused by victims of witnessing and ignoring their abuse by that priest.

Barros denied the charge, but he twice offered to resign in the ensuing years. Last month, he joined the rest of Chile’s bishops in offering to step down during an extraordinary Vatican summit. Francis had summoned Chile’s church leaders to Rome after realizing he had made “grave errors in judgment” about Barros, whom he had de-

LONDON (Reuters) – The government of Qatar took the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations’ International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday, accusing it of human rights violations as a result of a boycott enacted last year.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a boycott on Qatar in June 2017, severing diplomatic and transport ties with the tiny, rich state, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Doha denies that and says the pressure is aimed at stripping it of its sovereignty.

“As set forth in detail in Qatar’s application to the International Court, the UAE led these actions, which have had capping a remarkable buildup to the summit that Trump at one point canceled.

Mattis also repeated earlier comments that, as far as he knew, the large US troop presence in South Korea would not factor into discussions.

He noted that the matter was one only for Seoul and Washington to consider.

The US has some 28,500 troops permanently based in South Korea. fended strongly during a visit to Chile in January.

In a statement Monday, Barros asked forgiveness “for my limitations and what I couldn’t handle.” He thanked the pope for his concern for the common good and said he prayed “that one day all the truth will shine.”

Barros’ removal, which had been expected, was praised by abuse survivors and Catholics in Osorno. Some said more housecleaning now is needed to heal the devastation wrought by the scandal.

“A new day has begun in Chile’s Catholic Church!” tweeted Juan Carlos Cruz, the abuse survivor who had denounced Barros for years and pressed the Vatican to take action. responsibilities,” Claret said. a devastating effect on the human rights of Qataris and residents of Qatar,” the government said in a statement.

UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, in a post on Twitter, dismissed the claims as another of Doha’s “lies.”

The Qatari government said the UAE enacted a series of measures that discriminate against Qataris, including expelling them from the UAE, prohibiting them from entering or passing through the UAE, ordering UAE nationals to leave Qatar, and closing UAE airspace and seaports to Qatar.

Qatar said it believed the actions were in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) - including discrimination on the basis of nationality - of which the UAE and Qatar are both signatories.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt are not signatories of the CERD convention.

The complaint, filed by Qatar late on Monday, accuses the United Arab Emirates of discriminating against Qataris in UAE by limiting their freedom of speech and movement, inciting hatred against them, shutting down local offices of Qatar's state-funded Al Jazeera television station and blocking transmission of Qatari media outlets.

Qatar is asking the court to order the UAE to take steps to comply with its obligations under the CERD, ceasing and revoking the measures and restoring the rights of Qataris.

It also requested that the UAE make reparations, including compensation, but provided no details of the amount it might be seeking.

The court’s registry confirmed late on Monday it received the complaint, the first step in a dispute which the court may hear. The court typically solicits opinions from both sides as to whether it has jurisdiction before considering the merits of a case, a process that often takes years.