Hello, I'm Julie Candler with the BBC News.
Russia has vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have condemned the Srebrenica massacre twenty years ago as an act of genocide. The killing of eight thousand Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb troops in the town was the worst massacre since the Second World War. The American Ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, said reconciliation in the region would only be possible by acknowledging the genocide.
“Only by recognising this genocide, the gravity of this genocide, and how we outside failed to prevent it, will we be able to help the region move beyond such a dark part of its history, help it walk toward greater reconciliation, which we all seek, and live up to the promise of preventing genocide in our time.”
The Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, will present new reform proposals to Brussels on Thursday. As Greece has submitted a request for new bailout, the Head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said it was clear that Greece's debt would have to be restructured.
“In the context of Greece, we have always advised that that programme walk on two legs. One leg is about significant reforms and fiscal consolidation. And the other leg is debt restructuring, which we believe is needed in the particular case of Greece for it to have debt sustainability. That analysis has not changed. Greece is in the situation of acute crisis, which needs to be addressed seriously and promptly.”That comments come as US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, said the debt relief was important as a Greexit from the Euro will bring huge risks for the global economy. Greek banks will remain close for the rest of the week, and a sixty-euro limit on withdrawals will remain in force.
The Police Commissioner in the American city of Baltimore has been fired two and a half months after riots sparked by the case of Freddie Gray, a black man who died from injuries he received in police custody. The Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings Blake, said growing criticism of the Police Commissioner, Anthony Batts, was preventing the city from moving ahead.“I think it's important that we understand we cannot continue to debate the leadership of the department and we are going to see, you know, the profit that we want to see in the crime fight. And you know, I think, I would say the Commissioner understands that.”
Legislators in the U.S. state of South Carolina are deciding whether to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the Capitol. The bill was introduced following the killings of nine black church goers in Charleston by a gunman who'd opposed to the Confederate flags. It has starkly been seen as a symbol of the troops who died fighting to preserve slavery.
World news from the BBC.
Pope Francis, who's touring three of the poorest countries in Latin America, has arrived in Bolivia, in the city of Al Aoto. He will only stay a few hours because of concerns for his health at the high altitude before leaving for the low-land city of Santa Cruz. Earlier, in Ecuador, he called for more to be done to protect the environment.
The Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, has welcomed a new month-long unilateral ceasefire announced by the FARC rebel group. From Bogota, here's Nata Newcosoy.
“The FARC said it expected that the ceasefire would make it easier to discuss a bilateral ceasefire with the Colombian government. The statement was released in Havana, where the group has been holding peace talks with Colombian officials since 2012 to try to stop an internal conflict that has been running for more than half a century. The new unilateral ceasefire will be the second one in the past few months. The previous one ran between last December and May.”
The former Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has been found guilty of bribing a senator in an attempt to bring down the government. But he will not have to serve any time in prison because the statute of limitations were kicked in before his appeal can be heard.
Reports from Guinea say the former military ruler, Moussa Dadis Camara, has been indicted for his role in the 2009 massacre in the capital, Conakry. More than a hundred and fifty people were killed when security forces opened fire at thousands of protesters. Mr. Camara lives in exile in Burkina Faso.
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has assured Balkan countries there will be no delay in negotiations over their attempts to join the European Union. Speaking in the Albanian capital, Tirana, at the start of a two-day tour of Albanian, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mrs. Merkel said it was in the E.U.'s interest to make sure western Balkan countries have, what she called, a European perspective.