<p>Following the US withdrawal from the region, Turkey has launched airstrikes and fire artillery at Kurdish armed forces positioned around the border of Ras al Ain, in the Kurdish regions of northern&nbsp;Syria on Wednesday.</p> <p>Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, has defended his actions claiming he intended to eliminate “a “terror corridor” on Turkey’s southern border.</p> <p>The attacks were launched against the Kurdish YPG militia which Turkey has accused of being an off-shoot of the&nbsp; Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PPK), a Kurdish organisation&nbsp;fighting for autonomy.</p>

<p>The US has said it will impose visa restrictions on Chinese government and Communist Party officials,&nbsp;accused of involvement in the&nbsp;repression of Muslim minority groups in Xianjiang, China.</p> <p>In a statement, Secretary of State,&nbsp;Mike Pompeo said, "the Chinese government has instituted a highly repressive campaign against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other members of Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang."</p>

<p>Following the US call to withdraw troops from Northern Syria, President Donald Trump has faced a barrage of criticism and has responded by warning that if Turkey “does anything […] I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey”.</p> <p>The US withdrawal of troops from Northern Syria was granted after President Trump had a conversation with Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday. In return for the US withdrawal, Turkey would claim custody of all captured IS fighters.&nbsp;</p>

The US has consented to a withdrawal of troops from northern Syria to allow for a Turkish offensive in the Kurdish region, disregarding their long-held alliance with the Kurds.

This decision follows a phone conversation between US president, Donald Trump, and Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday. In return for the US withdrawal, Turkey would claim custody of all captured IS fighters. Shortly before 11 pm on Sunday, the White House issued a statement which read:

Justin Trudeau has come under fire as his government sought to appeal a court ruling that found Canada’s on-reserve child welfare system discriminated against Indigenous youth and mandated billions of dollars in reparations be paid.

Canada’s human rights tribunal ruled that Indigenous youth were “wilfully and recklessly” harmed by the government’s policies and called for compensation worth $40,000 CAD to each child removed from their home. The amount is the maximum compensation currently allowable under the country’s human rights act.

The US State Department said that diplomatic immunity is “rarely waived” after the wife of an American diplomat fled the UK following a car crash she was involved in killed a British teenager.

Though the wife of the diplomat, who has not yet been named, initially cooperated with British authorities and told police she had no plans to leave the country, it is understood she fled to the United States.

The US State Department said it could not comment on "private diplomatic conversation" with the British government, reports the BBC.

Thousands of anti-government protestors took to the streets of Hong Kong once more on Sunday, after the government invoked emergency powers to ban protesters from wearing face masks.

Large parts of the city’s metro system, banks and malls remained closed as protestors defied the government ban on masks and continued to voice anger at Hong Kong’s government.

Thousands of people attended a pro-independence rally in Edinburgh on Saturday,  as organisers claimed the appetite for an independent Scotland is growing in the face of a potential No Deal Brexit.

Similar marches have taken place in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Perth in recent months, with support from various organisations that back Scottish independence.

Though Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, did not join the event, she released a statement saying she was there “in spirit”.

As Kosovo heads into a snap election today, the issues of alleged war crimes, independence recognition and continued tensions with Serbia continue to dominate the political debate, reports the BBC.

Kosovo’s current prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, a former commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), announced in June that he was stepping down in order to face questioning at the Hague over alleged war crimes. Haradinaj has twice been acquitted by previous Hague tribunals over alleged war crimes committed in the 1990s, during the conflict with Serbian forces.

Almost 100 people have been killed after a week of anti-government protests in Iraq, where security forces accused of firing tear gas, alongside live rounds and sniper fire.

The UN’s top official in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said “this just stop”, after five days of violence.