The UN’s top human rights official has marked the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories by calling for its quick end, insisting that such an outcome would benefit both sides. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the Jordanian prince who heads the UN Human Rights Council, echoed the strong language of the UN secretary general, António Guterres, who earlier this week condemned the occupation’s “heavy humanitarian and development burden on the Palestinian people”, which he said had “fuelled recurring cycles of violence and retribution”.

The remarks follow a series of critical reports by humanitarian and rights organisations that reveal the impact of the 50-year occupation, and come as Israeli politicians celebrate the bicentenary of the 1967 six-day war, in which Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the Old City.

The focus of the Israeli celebrations has been what it calls the “reunification” of Jerusalem, a characterisation rejected by most of the international community, which does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the captured territories.(guardian)…[+]

Kuwait is trying to mediate in the Gulf crisis in which Arab countries have cut diplomatic ties to Qatar and moved to isolate the kingdom from the outside world, Qatar’s foreign minister said on Tuesday. The row is the biggest diplomatic crisis in the Persian Gulf since the 1991 US-led war against Iraq and has seen shoppers in Doha panic buying food and other supplies after Saudi Arabia imposed a de facto blockade.

Qatar – an energy-rich travel hub – shares its only land border with Saudi Arabia and relies heavily on importing food, much of it from Gulf countries.Queues up to 25 people deep formed in the Carrefour supermarket in Doha’s City Center mall, one of the busiest shopping areas in the Qatari capital, hours after five Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, cut diplomatic ties with the kingdom, accusing it of supporting extremism.(guardian)…[+]

Talks to reunify Cyprus are to resume after the resolution of an impasse at a meeting of the island’s Greek and Turkish leaders. Emerging from a four-hour meeting with Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akıncı in New York on Sunday night, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said negotiations would recommence later this month. The breakthrough was met with relief on the island, where many had feared the collapse of talks widely seen as a once-in-a generation chance of reconciliation.Flanked by island’s two leaders, Guterres said all three had “agreed on the need to reconvene the conference on Cyprus”. A special UN adviser, Espen Barth Eide, who terminated mediation efforts last month in exasperation after two years of shuttle diplomacy, would be tasked with the “preparation of common documents to guide discussions on security”, he said.“The chapter on security and guarantees is of vital importance,” Guterres continued, emphasising that both were essential to building trust between the two communities in an envisaged federation. “The leaders agreed [that] … all other outstanding issues, starting with territory, property and governance and power sharing … will be negotiated interdependently and that nothing is agreed till everything is agreed.”(guardian)…[+]

A possible terror incident has left two men dead and three police officers and a woman hostage injured in a Melbourne apartment building. Police shot the gunman dead after discovering the body of another man in the foyer in the serviced apartment in Brighton, 11km south-east of Melbourne’s central business district.

The Seven Network is reporting the gunman called the organisation saying “This is for I.S [Islamic State]. This is for al-Qaida.” Victoria police said it was investigating whether the incident was “terrorism related”. Channel Seven reporter Paul Dowsley reported that his newsroom was called by a man claiming to be linked to the incident. “My colleague could hear a woman screaming in the background,” he said.(guardian)…[+]