Headline News 18/10/2017

Headlines:

Somalia in Limbo

United Nations - The Hypocrisy

Britain's Interests Before Human Life

Details:

Somalia in Limbo

A truck bomb blast on Saturday in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, killed at least 276 people and injured more than 300. The death toll is expected to rise, with people believed to be buried in the rubble of destroyed buildings. "We expect the death toll will rise today," said Abdirahman Omar Osman, Somalia's information minister, adding that rescuers need extra support because the city's tools cannot move the amount of rubble. It is the deadliest attack in Somalia since the al-Shabab group launched its insurgency in 2007. President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed blamed the attack on them, calling it a "heinous act". However this is despite any group claiming responsibility for the attack. Somali has been in Civil war since the 1980's as various armed opposition arose against the military leadership, however constant US meddling and interference has escalated the conflict and caused a power vacuum. The result has been the suffering of the Somali people with this attack being one of the largest since 2006.

United Nations - The Hypocrisy

Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Iraq, said 5.4 million civilians had fled their homes over the past three years. The latest figures come in the wake of the recapture of the town of Hawija - IS last major urban stronghold in Iraq. IS now hold only a stretch of territory on Iraq's border with Syria. Ms Grande said the UN was "deeply worried" for the wellbeing of those who have been displaced." Hundreds of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of very young children, have been exposed to extreme danger, stress, and trauma and will require years of specialised support and care," she said in a statement. However its surprising to see mention of the value of human life coming from the UN whose own peace keeping force has been under scrutiny for mass rape and unethical behaviour against the very people that they are meant to be protecting. It is also quite obvious that the UN tends to make noise regarding humanitarian issues but only acts when the US deems it necessary.

Britain's Interests Before Human Life

Matthew Rycroft, the UK's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told reporters on Tuesday that the country has measures in place to ensure weapons are used correctly. "The UK has extremely stringent measures in place to ensure that the end use of any and all weapons that the UK sells are appropriate, said Rycroft. "We monitor that in relation to Saudi Arabia extremely attentively." The comments come after a UN report placed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition on a blacklist of children's rights violators for their actions in Yemen. UN figures released on October 5 stated that the alliance was responsible for causing death and injury to 683 children in 2016, including in attacks on schools and hospitals. Britain has continued to supply arms to Saudi Arabia despite knowing the violence that is being caused in Yemen. In July, the high court in London ruled in a high-profile court case that the UK could continue to export weapons to Saudi Arabia, despite claims by campaigners that the arms were resulting in human rights abuses. As such, when the interests of Britain and the economic gain from pursuing them are weighed against the loss of innocent lives the former for Britain always takes precedence.