UN urged to add 11 to list of child rights violators

UN urged to add 11 to list of child rights violators

UNITED NATIONS

A network of organizations seeking to protect children in conflict urged U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday to add 11 parties to the blacklist of countries and armed groups responsible for grave violations against children.

The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict’s recommended additions included the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen, which was taken off last year’s list by then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the Saudis and their supporters threatened to stop funding many United Nations programs.

Watchlist also called for the adding of the Israel Defense Forces, which were kept off the 2015 list after lobbying by the United States and the Israeli government.

Iraqi forces push toward Mosul government complex

MOSUL, Iraq

An Iraqi commander says his troops are within 900 yards of the main government complex in the northern city of Mosul, the capture of which would mark a symbolic victory against the Islamic State group.

Maj. Gen Thamir al-Hussaini, of Iraq’s elite rapid response units, said his forces were advancing along the Tigris River after retaking one of the city’s five damaged bridges.

He said the capture of the bridge could shorten supply lines and allow civilians in western Mosul, where heavy fighting is underway, to flee to the government-controlled eastern half of the city.

‘Dreamer’ detained after she urged Trump to protect her

JACKSON, Miss.

A young woman in the process of renewing her permission as a “Dreamer” to remain in the United States legally was arrested Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after speaking at a press conference where she urged President Donald Trump to protect people like her. Now two Democratic senators want answers.

Daniela Vargas, 22, was detained by ICE agents who pulled over a friend’s car on a nearby freeway after she left a coalition of clergy members, civil-rights lawyers and other advocates for immigrants at Jackson City Hall, according to one of her lawyers, Nathan Elmore.

“A path for citizenship is necessary for DACA recipients but also for the other 11 million undocumented people with dreams,” she said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which President Barack Obama began and which Trump has suggested he’ll continue.

West Point cadets face courts-martial on drug charges

ALBANY, N.Y.

Two West Point cadets face courts-martial on charges of distributing cocaine and other drugs and another senior faces similar charges amid a months-long investigation, the U.S. Military Academy said Wednesday.

West Point first announced in November that six cadets faced charges that they conspired to distribute drugs.

Superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen on Feb. 14 referred two cadets to a general courts-martial. Christopher Monge of Coplay, Pa., and Tevin Long of Richmond, Texas, are on administrative leave and face arraignment before a military judge, according to the academy.

No trial date has been set.

Associated Press