UN Photo/Evan Schneider Pakistan's top climate scientists warned on Sunday that one-third of the country could plunge under water before the deadly floods that have thus far killed over 1,000 people begin to recede. An estimated 33 million people - one in seven - have been affected by the flash floods, since monsoon season began in June. Almost 300,000 homes alongside critical infrastructure such as roads, crops, and bridges have been destroyed. Nearly 10 million people have been displaced as far-reaching electricity outages affect millions and countless roads have been obstructed. Pakistan's...
Pakistan's Police have charged the country's former Prime Minister, Imran Khan under anti-terror laws. A judgment was not immediately available, but officials from the former prime minister’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said he had been granted “interim bail” until September 1. Police announced the charges after the cricketer-turned-politician accused authorities of torturing his close aide, who is himself being detained under sedition charges. His court appearance is the latest twist in months of political wrangling that began when he was ousted from power in April by a confidence...
Prosecutors in Germany have indicted a Wehrmacht soldier who manned watchtowers in a prisoner of war camp in the Second World War in what could be the start of a new series of prosecutions for Nazi war crimes after the focus has previously been on concentration camps. The Berlin state prosecutor’s office has charged the 98-year-old Berlin man with alleged complicity in the murder of 809 Soviet prisoners at the “Stalag 365” POW camp in the city of Volodymyr-Volynskyy in what is now western Ukraine. The POWs were among the 3 million Soviets who died by execution, forced labour, starvation,...
A British Sikh is facing a possible death sentence after the UK intelligence services passed information about him to Indian authorities. Lawyers for Jagtar Singh Johal from Dumbarton, Scotland, say he was tortured, including being given electric shocks, after his unlawful arrest in Punjab in 2017 where he was travelling for his wedding. Successive British prime ministers have raised his case but India's government denies he was tortured or mistreated. Mr Johal is currently being held in a Delhi prison. He has alleged that, following his arrest, he was held incommunicado, was brutally...
Indonesian authorities should drop politically motivated treason charges and release Papuans detained for the peaceful exercise of their rights, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch, reported that in 2019 "racist security forces" and members of militant groups attacked students at a West Papuan University, firing tear gas into dormitories across the campus. They then arrested 43 indigenous Papuan students for allegedly failing to raise the Indonesian flag outside the dorm to celebrate Indonesian Independence day. Widespread protest ensured in at least 30 cities following the police...
China has sanctioned senior Taiwanese officials and staged a new round of military drills following a brief visit to the island by a delegation of US lawmakers. The bipartisan delegation visited after US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to the island. On Monday, Chnese state media announced seven individuals had been sanctioned for allegedly supporting Taiwan independence. This includes Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US, Hsiao Bi-khim, the head of Taiwan’s national security council, Wellington Koo, and Lin Fe-fan, the deputy secretary general of the governing Democratic...
Police in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown lifted a curfew imposed last Wednesday after anti-government protests left 16 civilians dead. The government imposed a nationwide curfew after protests erupted against the rising cost of living in the country. At least 16 civilians were killed and many more injured in the capital Freetown and the city of Makeni in central Sierra Leone. At least six police officers were killed, according to a statement released by Police inspector general. William Fayia Sellu. Demonstrators demanded the departure of President Julius Maada Bio, who was elected in 2018...
Paraguay Vice President Hugo Velázquez Moreno who was included on a U.S. corruption list for his alleged involvement in offering bribes to a public official has said he will resign next week. U.S. Ambassador Marc Ostfield, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken “received credible information” that showed how “at the request of Vice President Velázquez, Duarte, his close personal and professional partner, offered a bribe of more than $1 million to a public official.” This offering of a bribe was “consistent with an apparent pattern of corrupt activity” and in this case it was carried out to “...
Colombia President, Gustavo Petro has named commanders for the military and police, saying he chose the officials as they have not been accused of human rights violations or corruption. Petro, a critic of Colombia's military establishment has promised to change the security forces and instil officials who respect human rights. The criteria for selecting the new commanders was "zero corruption, zero violation of fundamental rights," Petro said during a news conference. "The concept of human security means that success lies not in the number of dead, but in substantially reducing deaths,...
India’s opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, has accused the government of forcing people entitled to free food at government ration shops to buy flags in return for provisions in the run-up to Independence Day celebrations on 15 August. India will celebrate 75 years of independence from the Raj on Tuesday, and the streets of cities across the country are full of flags for sale. But Gandhi claimed that in some cases patriotic fervour was being forced on people, referring to a widely circulated video showing a shopkeeper in Haryana state scolding a customer who came in for free grain and did not...