Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and hardline Hindu priest within the BJP, has defended the use of excessive force against protesters.

Protests against India’s Citizenship amendment have persisted across the country. In Uttar Pradesh, there have been the most deaths. Since the bill passed in May at least 23 people have been killed.

The citizenship provides a pathway to citizenship for refugees of three Muslim majority countries (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh) except for Muslim groups who are fleeing persecution.

Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth, has accused the UK of committing "crimes against humanity" for refusing to allow people to return to their former homes on the Chagos Islands.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Jugnauth said that he is considering bringing charges of crimes against humanity against individual British officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Indian government has approved plans for a census and population survey, despite continued protests in states across the country over a controversial citizenship law.

The cabinet-approved National Population Register (NPR) has been criticised amid fears it may be used to target Muslims in the country, though the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims the exercise will help to better formulate government policies.

The United States has recalled its ambassador to Zambia, after a diplomatic row following the imprisonment of a gay couple in the country.

Zambia’s president had effectively declared US ambassador Daniel Foote a persona non grata after the diplomat said he was “horrified” at the prosecution of the couple. Zambian authorities claimed the men had been seen having sex in 2017 and were subsequently handed a 15-year jail sentence.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed Russia and China this week after both governments vetoed a crucial United Nations Security Council vote on delivering aid from Turkey and Iraq to civilians trapped in Syria.

“The Russian federation’s and China’s veto yesterday of a security council resolution that allows for humanitarian aid to reach millions of Syrians is shameful,” Pompeo said in a statement.

The Taliban claimed to have killed a US soldier in Afghanistan and are confirmed to have conducted a deadly attack on another checkpoint in the country, as fighting continued this week.

Taliban media outlets published photographs of a US military identity card, after the soldier had died in the Kunduz province. Washington says the soldier was killed as he investigated a weapons cache that exploded. The group also claims to have wounded an “Afghan commando” in the blast.

A Scottish National Party (SNP) politician has called for a vote on whether an independent Scotland should be allowed to rejoin the European Union, as the British government gears towards Brexit next year.

SNP Member of European Parliament (MEP) Heather Anderson told The National that if an independence referendum was held next year or in 2021, then Scotland could be fully independent within two years of such a vote. Following a vote on European Union membership, the country could “be back in the EU before the end of this European parliamentary term,” she added.

The French military confirmed it had launched its first ever armed drone strike this week, claiming to have killed at least 7 militants in Mali.

French president Emmanuel Macron said operations in the Mopti region “neutralised” at least 33 fighters, with the French military later adding that a follow-up drone strike killed a further 7 fighters.

“This is the first operational strike by an armed drone,” confirmed the French in a statement. It went on to claim that French commandos had come under attack by “a group of terrorists on motorbikes” and had opened fire with support from a. Reaper drone.

As many as 80,000 people are fleeing the Idlib province in Syria, as government forces launched a renewed offensive on the region this week.

Al Jazeera reports that at least 8 people, including 5 children, were killed as missiles hit a school that was sheltering civilians, according to opposition activists. Idlib remains their last stronghold in the country, which has been devastated by years of armed conflict.