Representatives of a group of nations working together to investigate war crimes in Russia's invasion of Ukraine gathered in The Hague on Tuesday and called for those responsible for the atrocities to be brought to justice.

Tuesday's coordination meeting at the European Union's judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, of members of a Joint Investigation Team and International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan comes as Russian forces continue to pound Ukrainian towns.

Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has been widely condemned as an illegal act of aggression. Russian forces have been accused of killing civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha and of repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and a theater in the besieged city of Mariupol that was being used as a shelter by hundreds of civilians. An investigation by The Associated Press (AP) found evidence that the March 16 bombing killed close to 600 people inside and outside the building.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the AP and the PBS series "Frontline" have verified 273 potential war crimes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denounced the killings of civilians as "genocide” and "war crimes,” while U.S. President Joe Biden has called Russian President Vladimir Putin "a war criminal” who should be brought to trial.

The joint investigation team, made up of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland, that is meeting Tuesday in The Hague was established in late March, a few weeks after the ICC opened an investigation in Ukraine, after dozens of the court's member states threw their weight behind an inquiry. Khan has visited Ukraine, including Bucha, and has a team of investigators in the country gathering evidence.

Ukraine's prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, will be among those at the meeting. Her office has already opened more than 8,000 criminal investigations related to the war and identified over 500 suspects, including Russian ministers, military commanders and propagandists.

Last week, in the first case of its kind linked to the war, a Ukrainian court sentenced a captured Russian soldier to the maximum penalty of life in prison for killing a civilian. On Tuesday, a court in Ukraine convicted two Russian soldiers of war crimes for the shelling of civilian buildings and sentenced both to 11 1/2 years in prison.

Russia staunchly denies its troops are responsible for atrocities. The Defense Ministry said earlier this month that "not a single civilian has faced any violent action by the Russian military.”

Analysts warn that the process of meting out justice will be long and complex as investigators piece together forensic and other evidence and seek to establish who ordered or knew about atrocities and failed to act to prevent or punish them.

The meeting in The Hague isn't the only place accountability is being sought.

Prosecutors in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, France, Slovakia, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland have opened investigations of their own. And there have been growing calls to set up a special tribunal to try Russia for the crime of aggression in Ukraine. The ICC can't prosecute the crime of aggression because neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the court./AP

Lake Kuyucuk in eastern Turkey was barely recognizable for the past three years, with not a drop of its crystal-clear waters among cracks of dry land. The drought-stricken body of water, home to migratory birds, is thriving again after heavy precipitation this year.

Located in the Arpaçay district of the eastern province of Kars, Kuyucuk is one of the country's preserved areas under the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, which entered into force in Turkey in 1994. It maintains 14 sites, designated as Ramsar Sites, in Turkey that are under preservation.

From 2019 to 2021, the lake, the first Ramsar site of eastern Anatolia, had entirely dried up before a small amount of precipitation restored water to some parts. This year, the lake is more vivid than ever with lush green surrounding blue waters, to the relief of migratory birds traveling between Asia and Africa. The drought was partly human-made, stemming from high temperatures and excess use of its water by livestock breeders in the region watering their animals. Locals tried a human-made solution too, supplying water from nearby areas but it had limited success. Finally this year, heavy precipitation that continued well into spring brought water levels to more than 80% in the lake.

Nowadays, hundreds of birds rest on the shores of the lake, apparently cheering having their stopover back. Bird watchers say they counted at least 11 nests built by Eurasian coots. The wider bird sanctuary covers an area of 416 hectares (1,028 acres), 245 hectares of which is the lake alone, and is located 1,627 meters (5,338 feet) above sea level.

The lake hosts many bird species including stilts, ruddy shelducks, coots, black-necked grebes, starlings and graylag geese as well as many migratory birds flying between Eurasia and Africa. The biodiversity of the lake makes it a popular spot for birdwatchers as well as photography aficionados.

Climate change is the main cause of the drought that has been prevalent in Turkey's major lakes. It also takes its toll on animals relying on mass water resources that are now more in danger of drying up. Mass flamingo and seagull deaths in lakes exposed to lengthy dry spells had raised concerns in the past two years. Although the past season of rainfall and snowfall proved prosperous and revived dried parts of lakes, the danger is still here according to experts, who warn that future dry spells are still a possibility./aa

Nine people have died of monkeypox in Congo in 2022, while Nigeria recorded its first death from the disease this year, the countries' health authorities said, even as at least 20 countries continue to grapple with sudden outbreaks not seen in years.

Dr. Aime Alongo, chief of the Sankuru health division in Congo, said Monday that 465 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the nation, making it one of the worst-hit in West and Central Africa, where the disease is endemic.

The persistence of the disease in Congo is due to the consumption of dead monkeys and rodents, Alongo said.

"The residents enter the forest, pick up the corpses of monkeys, bats and rodents, which are the reservoirs of monkeypox,” the official added, urging those with monkeypox symptoms to visit a health center to isolate themselves.

Nigeria, meanwhile, recorded its first death from monkeypox this year in a patient with underlying medical conditions, the diseases control agency said Sunday.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention announced that in 2022 it has confirmed 21 out of 66 suspected cases of the disease, which is usually endemic in Nigeria and other parts of West and Central Africa.

"The death was reported in a 40-year-old patient who had underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications," the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (CDC) said.

Nigeria has not had an outbreak of monkeypox since September 2017 but it continues to report sporadic cases. At least 247 have been confirmed in 22 of its 36 states since then with a 3.6% fatality rate, the disease control agency said.

A spike in monkeypox cases reported in Europe and the U.S. has generated concerns among those countries, many of whom have not recorded a single case of the disease in years. Over 250 cases of the disease have been reported in more than 20 countries not usually known to have outbreaks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic.

One of the new cases in the U.K. was recorded in a man days after his arrival from Nigeria on May 4. Nigeria has recorded six confirmed cases of the disease since the British citizen left the country.

Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, head of the country’s CDC, told The Associated Press (AP) that nothing shows the British citizen contracted the disease in Nigeria and the country remains prepared to respond to an outbreak of monkeypox.

"The biggest challenge that you have with a disease such as monkeypox is that it is uncommon and the perceived risk by the population about how dangerous this condition is has been very low ... that is why ... we have conducted awareness training and advocacy training to increase the level of awareness of health care workers,” Adetifa said./AP

Somalia is experiencing its worst drought in decades, approaching famine-like conditions amid a worsening hunger and nutrition crisis, the special presidential envoy for drought response said Monday. 

Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame said 6.1 million Somalis are facing an extreme level of food insecurity while 330,000 children are facing severe acute malnutrition due to the prolonged drought.

"The Special Envoy for Drought calls on all stakeholders to increase efforts to support communities affected by drought," the Office of the Special Envoy for Drought Response said in a statement.

The statement underscored the need for an urgent and well-coordinated response and for all Somalis to stand to save lives.

"The contentious political environment which led to the prolonged electoral process, global political crisis, and the emergence of humanitarian crisis fronts elsewhere in the world have contributed to the inadequate response to the drought in the face of the impending famine in the country," the envoy said.

The climate change-related drought in Somalia is one of the worst in 40 years and has affected 66 districts in the country, displacing 771,400 families, according to the UN and the Somali government./aa

A total of 71 more cases of monkeypox have been identified in England, bringing the UK-wide total to 172, the UK Health Security Agency announced on Monday. 

The lion’s share are in England, but there are currently four cases in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland, and one in Wales.

Authorities have asked people to look out for new rashes on their body, and if they have been in contact with someone with monkeypox to voluntarily self-isolate for 21 days.

Dr. Ruth Milton, a senior medical advisor at the agency, said: “We are reminding people to look out for new spots, ulcers or blisters on any part of their body.”

Experts maintain that the risk to the public is low, as most people suffer only a mild illness and recover within a few weeks.

Monkeypox passes from person to person through close physical contact, including sexual intercourse./aa

France on Monday demanded an urgent investigation into the death of journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, who was allegedly killed during a bombing campaign by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who is on an official visit to Ukraine, described the death of the 32-year-old, who worked for French news channel BFMTV, as a “double crime which targets a humanitarian convoy and a journalist.”

“I am deeply saddened & shocked by the death of our compatriot Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, killed by a Russian bombardment on a humanitarian operation while exercising his duty to inform,” she said in a tweet.

Colonna also spoke with Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, and requested an investigation from Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskyy. In addition to her tweets, the Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement demanding a transparent investigation.

The top brass of the French government offered their condolences to the family of Leclerc-Imhoff, who was on his second reporting trip to Ukraine since the start of the war on Feb. 24.

President Emmanuel Macron said Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to “show the reality of the war.”

“On board a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was fatally shot,” Macron tweeted.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne expressed “great sadness” at the journalist’s killing while exercising his profession.
According to the BFMTV, Leclerc-Imhoff was in an armored vehicle following a humanitarian convoy to the city of Lysychansk close to Severodonetsk city along with two colleagues and reporters Maxime Brandstaetter and their "fixer" Oksana Leuta.

The armored vehicle came under bombardment and shrapnel hit the windshield, shooting through Leclerc-Imhoff, said the channel’s journalist Patrick Sauce. Brandstaetter was slightly injured during the strike, while Leuta was not affected, the news broadcaster said.

Russian forces are bombing Lysychansk and Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region, which are still held by Ukrainian forces.

According to Reporters Without Borders, at least eight journalists have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the war./agencies

Supporters of the terrorist group PKK were allowed to organize an "ideological training camp" in southern France.

Images of PKK supporters holding an "ideological training camp" under the guise of a "festival/cultural event" in a green area near the city of Marseille appeared on social media.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkiye, the US, and EU, and also by France.

In the footage, dozens of PKK sympathizers dressed in clothes representing the terrorist group march in pairs, chanting slogans with symbols of the group and posters of terrorist PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Reached by Anadolu Agency, Marseille officials and police declined comment, and no official statement has been made yet regarding the images.

Turkiye's Ambassador to Paris Ali Onaner told Anadolu Agency that they contacted French authorities about the images to confirm that they were shot in France and also asked what measures were or will be taken regarding this activity by terrorist group sympathizers.

Onaner said they once again stressed that Ankara expects French authorities to put an end to PKK attacks on Turkish missions and pro-PKK activities that contain terrorist propaganda.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa