INTERNATIONAL

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump, during a White House news conference, said that the number of US troop stationed in Iraq would be cut down to approximately 2,000 in a very short period of time. “Iraq will be down to about 2,000 soldiers in a very short period of time,” Trump stated. A US official last month stated that in the two to three months the US would remove about 3,500 troops from Iraq. Recently, US-led international coalition troops withdrew from Iraq's Taji military base, which had constantly been hit by Iran-backed militia rockets targeting US-led troops. After the US airstrike, led by the Trump administration, killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in 2019, Iraq’s parliament, this year, voted for the removal...

On Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry released a statement saying China is committed to “restoring peace and tranquillity” on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and maintaining communications with India through diplomatic and military channels. On the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation foreign ministers’ meeting in Moscow, Russia, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the “imperative is to immediately stop provocations such as firing and other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides”. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's words were directed toward Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar who was part of the meeting. Wang further stated that troops on the front lines from both countries “must quickly disengage” in or...

Amid escalating tensions between India and China at LAC in Ladakh, the editor of China’s mouthpiece Global Times on Thursday shared a video of Tibet military command’s live-fire drill practice saying that they were “all aimed at the China-India border.” "The PLA on Wed released a video of Tibet military command’s live-fire drill on the plateau. PLA also conducted a drill of airborne troops. Yes, these are all aimed at the situation on China-India border. The Indian army will either stop provoking or be prepared to be defeated,” Hu Xijin tweeted. Earlier, China claimed that Indian troops “illegally crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC)” and outrageously fired warning shots on armed forces personnel of China. However, the Indian army has refuted all the claims saying that India i...

On Wednesday, Palestinian leaders failed to convince the Arab League to condemn the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Israel deal of normalizing ties.   Although Saudi Arabi reaffirmed support for Palestinian statehood, the Arab League voted against the Palestinian leadership’s draft resolution of condemning the UAE-Israel accord, according to a Palestinian diplomatic source. Commenting on the three-hour meeting’s outcome, Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told reporters, "Discussions regarding this point were serious. It was comprehensive and took some time. But it did not lead in the end to agreement about the draft resolution that was proposed by the Palestinian side." Early Wednesday, Riyad al-Maliki, Palestinian Foreign Minister urged the Arab nations to reject t...

Amid the escalating tensions between China and India, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been mobilizing its Army from different parts of the country near the Line of Actual Control that divides India and China. Global Times reported that China has been reportedly mobilizing forces, including bombers, air defense troops, artillery, armored vehicles, paratroopers, special forces and infantry units, from different parts of the country to the bordering plateau region. H-6 bombers and Y-20 large transport aircraft attached to the PLA Central Theater Command Air Force have been deployed to the plateau region for training missions, the report read. The PLA is also conducting long-distance maneuvers, deployment exercises and live-fire drills in Northwest China's desert areas ...

A transgender activist named Gul Panra was shot dead in Pakistan’s of Peshawar and netizens are demanding justice. According to social media posts and local media reports, Panra was shot six times. She was rushed to a local hospital but she succumbed to her injuries on her way to it, as per local media reports. TransAction Pakistan, a group advocating trans rights in the country, told local media that Gul Panra was shot six times at point-blank range. She was rushed to Sherpao Hospital, but she succumbed to her wounds on the way. Reportedly, another trans woman, Chahat, was also targeted during the shooting, and she is in critical condition and has been moved to Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar. Police said they have started a probe into the case. As soon as the news br...

A Norwegian lawmaker has nominated the president of United States of America for the 2021 award for helping to broker the Israel-UAE peace deal, this not the first time Trump has been nominated for the prize. The nomination was submitted by Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the Norwegian Parliament saying that Donald trump helped broker a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in August. "For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees," Tybring-Gjedde, a four-term member of parliament who also serves as chairman of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, told Fox News. Tybring-Gjedde also submitted a nomination for Trump in 2018, following the US president's summit with No...

A Pakistani lawmaker urged the international community, including the UN, to swiftly act to stop the atrocities of Kashmiris by Indian Government forces. Addressing a seminar in the capital Islamabad, Shehryar Khan Afridi, chairman of parliament’s Kashmir committee, claimed New Delhi was using backdoor channels to resume talks to Pakistan, however Pakistan would not talk to India unless Kashmir issue was on the agenda, he said. Kashmir became a key issue in the global digital space and that Pakistan would not allow India to mislead the world on the ongoing “genocide” in Kashmir. “We are reaching out to all the global platforms to raise Kashmir issue. Sardar Masood Khan, president of Pakistani-administered Kashmir charged that extrajudicial killings have become a norm in Jammu K...

A Brazilian Supreme Court ruling could permit the municipality that oversees the reservation to legalize the residence of farmers already infiltrating on the indigenous land.   Parakana people, who have for over three decades been fighting to protect their land in the Apyterewa reservation, in the northern state of Pará, fear there will be more deforestations, environmental degradation and injustice, as well as a loss of their culture, livelihood, and rights over their land due to the court ruling.  The Parakana people have been protesting and fighting legally to protect their land from illegal miners, loggers, and farmers who clear large swathes of trees. Land rights activists state the court ruling which would make indigenous protected territories accessible for development, is 'uncon...

After two years of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, the court declared jail for the convicts between a period of seven to twenty years. Four months ago Jamal’s family had forgiven the killers and enabled death sentences to be set aside. Reports say that five people were handed 20 years of prison sentences, one person was sentenced 10-year imprisonment, and two were given seven-year sentences for the killing. U.N officials and Human Rights campaigners condemned and denounced the trial by stating that his killers are still free. Jamal was last seen with a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, where he had to get some impending documents for his wedding. According to the reports his body was butchered and dis...