WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

In recent weeks Yemen’s Houthi armed group has shot down seven US Reaper drones worth over $200m. The drones destroyed between 31 March and 22 April mark Washington's most significant material loss.  Three of the drones were destroyed in the past week, suggesting an improvement in the Houthis’ ability to strike high-altitude US aircraft.  The drones were conducting surveillance or…

India locks down Kashmir following death of top separatist leader

Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in Kashmir following the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a prominent leader of Kashmir's movement for the right to self-determination. 

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani leaves the country as Taliban overruns Kabul

Following a series of military victories in which the Taliban seized one provincial capital after another in little over a week, the Islamist group entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul earlier today forcing the country’s Western-backed President Ashraf Ghani to flee.  

India looks to turn Kashmir into Hindu-majority

Writing in Foreign Policy magazine, Kaisar Andrabi and Zubair Amin warn against India’s attempts to manipulate the demographics and electoral strength of Kashmir, the only Muslim majority region in India.

Exiled Pakistani dissidents face threats in the UK

British security sources are reported to be concerned that Pakistan is preparing to target exiled dissents living in the UK.

100-year-old Nazi Guard to stand trial in Germany

A German court has set a trial date for a 100-year-old man who is charged with 3,518 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he served as a Nazi SS guard at a concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin during the second world war. 

UK Foreign office complicit in ‘British man’s Somalia torture’

Dominic Raab - British Foreign Secretary 

A British citizen has claimed he was tortured in Somalia and questioned by US intelligence officers, raising concerns about the continuation of controversial practices of the post-9/11 “war on terror” are still being used, the Guardian reports.

Pakistan’s leader falls silent on Uyghur genocide

During an Axios interview, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, fell silent on the Uyghur genocide, claiming that any issues Pakistan had with China would “always be behind closed doors”.

When confronted with concerns over the genocide and imprisonment of over a million Uyghur Muslims, Khan rebuked the claim maintaining that “this was not the picture coming from that side”.

Marking the centennial anniversary, President Xi warns foreign powers China will not be bullied

Marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, President Xi Jinping warned foreign powers that China “will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us”.

“Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people” he added.

751 unmarked graves found at residential school in Canada

751 unmarked graves were discovered at the site of a former residential school in Saskatchewan, just weeks after the remains of 215 children were found in British Columbia. 

The bodies were discovered at the Marieval Indian Residential School, with a search with ground-penetrating radar stating that there was 751 hits. Chief Cadmus Delorme of the Cowessess added that there were at least 600 bodies buried in the area. “We want to make sure when we tell our story that we’re not trying to make numbers sound bigger than they are. I like to say over 600, just to be assured.”

Liberian rebel convicted of war crimes atrocities in landmark Swiss trial

Alieu Kosiah, became the first Liberian to be convicted for war crimes committed during the country’s civil war, in a court hearing in Switzerland earlier this month.

The rebel commander was found guilty of murder, rape and cannibalism by the Swiss court in Bellinzona, and sentenced to 20 years in jail – the maximum permitted under Swiss law. Kosiah was arrested in 2014 and faced 25 charges, with the principle of “universal jurisdiction” used to convict him for all but four of the charges against him.