The Indian government announced it will begin plans for a third lunar mission this year, named “Chandrayaan-3”.

The head of India’s space agency K Sivan made the announcement on Wednesday, stating the project “may spill over” into 2021.

A Sudanese court has sentenced 29 intelligence officers to death by hanging for torturing and killing a teacher.

Ahmad al-Khair, 36, was arrested and kept in custody due to taking part in the protests against former president Omar al-Bashir in February this year. His family were told by security officials that Ahmed al-Khair died from food poisoning but a state investigation later revealed he had died due to injuries sustained through beating.

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Guam, which is a US territory, has filed an appeal against a court decision which denied the right of Guam to hold a vote on independence based on the principal of self-determination.

The court ruled that such a vote would violate the constitution as it is ‘race-based’ and contradicts the Fifteenth Amendment.

Human Rights Watch has reported that human rights activist and lawyer, Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANRHI), was attacked for the second time since October by what appears to be the Egyptian security force.

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.

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.

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.

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.