World news in brief
Israel pays respects to Peres as leaders arrive for funeral
Thousands of Israelis flocked to parliament yesterday to view the casket of Shimon Peres, paying final respects to the former president and prime minister whose life story mirrored that of his country. Dignitaries began arriving for a funeral that is expected to be Israel's largest since that of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Peres' partner in peace who was slain by a Jewish nationalist in 1995.
More than 90 delegations from 70 countries have confirmed their participation, including US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, German President Joachim Gauck, Prince Charles of Britain and King Felipe VI of Spain.
After an initial hesitation due to the collapse of peace efforts, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also confirmed his participation, as did representatives from Egypt and Jordan — the two Arab countries at peace with Israel. That was a testament to the wide reach of Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was
his country's strongest advocate for ending the conflict in the Middle East.
Call for Darfur chemical weapons investigation
Amnesty International is calling on the UN Security Council to take action over reports that the Sudanese government has used chemical weapons in Darfur. The British-based human rights group released a report yesterday detailing at least 30 chemical attacks they say took place in the Jebel Marra area over the past eight months. Amnesty estimates that chemical weapons may have killed some 200 to 250 people, with many or most being children.
"The world cannot stand idly by any longer. The UN needs to act. A cloud of suspicion hangs over the Sudanese authorities' conduct in Darfur," said Tirana Hassan, adding the alleged attacks have "every sign of being a war crime".
India ‘has struck militants across Kashmir frontier’
India says it carried out "surgical strikes" against militants across the highly militarised frontier that divides the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, in an exchange that escalated tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan dismissed the reports that India's military had targeted "terrorist launch pads" inside the Pakistancontrolled part of Kashmir. Islamabad said instead that two of its soldiers were killed in "unprovoked" firing by India across the border.
Tensions, which are always simmering between India and Pakistan, spiked after an attack earlier this month on an Indian military base in Kashmir.
Driver blames Autopilot as Tesla rear-ends bus
Police in northern Germany say that a Tesla driver is blaming the car's Autopilot after crashing into the rear of a bus on an autobahn about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Hamburg. But Tesla says the Autopilot was not at fault.
The Tesla driver, who was slightly injured, told officers he had used the Autopilot. A Tesla spokeswoman in Palo Alto, California, said yesterday the Autopilot system was on and functioned properly in the incident, based on conversations the company had with the driver and authorities. The system could not have prevented the crash, the company said, because the bus swerved into the Tesla driver's lane while the Tesla was next to the bus.
Ukraine marks Babi Yar massacre's 75th anniversary
Ukraine marked the 75th anniversary of one of the most infamous mass slaughters of World War II. Babi Yar, a ravine in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, is where nearly 34,000 Jews were killed within 48 hours in 1941 when the city was under Nazi occupation. The killing was carried out by SS troops along with local collaborators.
President Petro Poroshenko visited the Babi Yar monument ahead of a ceremony yesterday evening. Poroshenko tweeted that "we Ukrainians very well understand the grief of the Jews and take it as our own". The
World Jewish Congress President, Ronald S. Lauder, described Babi Yar as "one of the most infamous pieces of ground in the entire world".