Month: September 2020

On Wednesday, thousands of Bulgarians protested in front of the parliament in Sofia recording one of the biggest protests in the two months of demonstrations demanding the three-times Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov, to resign. Protesters threw over 100 small bombs and firecrackers at police. Whereas, the police brought a water cannon to disperse the crowd. The police also arrested around 60 people. Although protest leaders urged for a peaceful rally, protesters threw eggs, apples, and garbage at police. Protesters also shook police vehicles, and according to Sofia Police Chief Georgi Hadzhiev, nearly 100 police officers were affected by pepper spray aimed at them by protesters. Protest leaders said provocateurs attacked the police. Sofia Health officials reported around 45 p...

On Tuesday, police use lethal metal pellets to disperse off protests in Lebanon resulting in the injury of two protesters. This incident adds to the rising evidence of security forces previously using uncommon weapons that cause serious and potentially deadly injuries.  A French photographer, Floroient Zwein and an unidentified man sustained the metal pellet injuries in these protests. Richard Weir, a Beirut-based crisis and conflict researcher with Human Rights Watch, said pellets are most likely fired from shotguns, but could also be released from small explosive devices similar to a grenade. Weir said that it’s unacceptable to use metal pellet guns in situations like these and it shows the inherent indiscriminate force used and the decision by security forces to use these...

On Wednesday, Syria’s air defence struck a string of Israeli rockets which were projected in the direction of Tiyas airport in Homs governorate, according to the state news agency who cited a military source. According to the military sources, “Losses were limited to material losses.” Israeli military spokesperson refused to give any statement over this incident.

The United States (US) Department of Defense, also referred to as the Pentagon, on Tuesday, reported that China aims to nearly double its nuclear arsenals by the next 12 years and is reaching the ability to launch nuclear strikes by land, air, and sea, a capacity known as a triad. These reports are revealed amid rising tensions between China and the US and as the US urges China to join a nuclear arms treaty between the US and Russia. For the first time ever, the Pentagon's annual report to US Congress on China’s military disclosed China having nuclear warheads in the low 200s. According to The Federation of American Scientists' estimates, China has about 320 nuclear warheads. China's nuclear weapons growth projections were based on China having enough material to double its nucle...

On Tuesday, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Dr Yousef Al-Othaimeen reaffirmed the organization's support for Kashmir's right to self-determination in a meeting with Pakistan’s permanent representative to the OIC Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh. Pakistan’s mission reported that OIC Secretary-General, Othaimeen, reiterated the organizations “continuing and unstinted support on to the Kashmiri people toward realization of their inalienable right to self-determination, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.” According to Pakistan’s OIC mission's tweet, Ambassador Rizwan informed the secretary-general on worsening human rights violations in the Kashmir Valley.