INTERNATIONAL

The leaders of four southern German states, all home to American bases, have appealed to the US Congress to stop plans by the Trump administration to withdraw American forces from Germany. Last month, Trump said he would cut the number of US forces in Germany by 9,500, to 25,000, accusing Germany, fellow NATO member, for failing to reach the North Atlantic alliance's defense spending target and blaming it for taking advantage of the US on trade. Although Germany does not owe NATO money, like many members, it is not meeting the promise to spend 2 percent of its annual economic output on defense. The appeal from the four German leaders was addressed to 13 members of the US Congress. Leaders of Bavaria, Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg, and Rhineland-Palatinate wrote: "We, therefore, ask...

On Monday, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched its historic first mission to Mars. The first Arab mission to Mars is a part of the UAE's plan to advance its scientific and technological capabilities in order to decrease its dependency on oil. The Hope Probe took off from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center for a seven-month journey to Mars. The probe will orbit and send back data about the Martian atmosphere for the first time, studying daily and seasonal changes. The mission to Mars was initially planned to launch on July 14 but was delayed twice because of bad weather. The Emirates Mars Mission was first announced in 2014, after which UAE launched a National Space Programme in 2017 to evolve local expertise. To establish and construct the Hope Probe, Emiratis and Dubai...

On Sunday, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland’s ruling party (PiS) leader said they will propose rules limiting the concentration of foreign-owned media outlets in Poland before the party finishes their term in power. On Polish public radio, Kaczynski said that he hopes the reforms will be carried out soon. “We will manage to do this much faster (than before the end of our term), at least on the legislative level, but this process’ success is tied to many changes that we have to bring about in our country as well as international relationships,” Kaczynski stated. Law and Justice (PiS) party, has long claimed that foreign-owned media outlets have meddled in Poland’s affairs and that Polish-owned media should have a stronger place. The talks about limiting foreign media outlets increased...

Death toll reaches at least 189 in India’s northeastern state of Assam and neighboring Nepal due to heavy flooding from monsoon rains, government officials said on Sunday. Nearly four million people have been displaced in India’s Assam and neighboring Nepal regions, Reuters reported. The floods emerged from the overflowing Brahmaputra River, which flows through China’s Tibet, India, and Bangladesh. India Since late May, Assam has recorded over 2.75 million people displaced by three waves of floods. These floods resulted in 79 fatalities after two more deaths were reported overnight, a state government official said. Keshab Mahanta, Assam water resources Minister, told Reuters, “The flood situation remains critical with most of the rivers flowing menacingly above the dange...

Sri Lanka has recently found fresh interest in Ravana, as per mythology, Ravana, the villain of Hindu epic Ramayana, was the ruler of Sri Lanka during Hindu Lord, Rama's time. He is surely a demon for the Hindus in India, but is certainly an enigma, a great king and a pioneering aviator for many Sri Lankans. CNN IBN reported that, The Sri Lankan government has claimed that it is Ravana who fly the first aviator in the world nearly 5,000 years ago, the country's Civil Aviation Authority has now launched an initiative to understand the methods used by him to fly in ancient times. Speaking to News 18 over telephone from Colombo, Civil Aviation Authority former vice-chairman Shashi Danatunge said they had irrefutable facts to prove that Ravana was the pioneer and the first to fly usin...

On Saturday, for the first time, France, Germany, and Italy threatened sanctions against countries that continued to breach a United Nations arms embargo on Libya. The threat of sanctions was mentioned in a joint statement issued by the French presidency after a meeting in Brussels, Germany. In the joint statement, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called on "all foreign actors to end their increasing interference and to fully respect the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council". "We are ready to consider the possible use of sanctions if the breaches of the embargo at sea, on land or in the air continue, and look forward to the proposals that the High Representative of the European U...

In the second week of protests, on Saturday at least 10,000 protesters marched in the Russian far eastern city of Khabarovsk, calling for the release of a popular regional governor arrested last week on suspicion of murder, reported Reuters. In 2018, after defeating a rival from the ruling United Russia party, that backs President Vladimir Putin, Sergei Furgal, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party came to power as the regional governor of the Khabarovsk region. Furgal is currently under pre-trial detention in Moscow after being charged with involvement in planning the murder of several businessmen 15 years ago. If found guilty, Furgal, could be sentenced with a lifetime in prison. Furgal has denied the charges. Protesters filled the city on Saturday afternoon while carry...

The Prime Minister, Imran Khan has said that Pakistan is committed to the people of Kashmir as Kashmiris living on either side of the Line of Control (LoC). Pertinently, July 19 is observed every year in the renewal of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan. “Today we commemorate the historic occasion of Youm-i-Ilhaq-e-Pakistan, when Kashmiris passed a resolution for accession to Pakistan,” the prime minister of Pakistan tweeted. He observed that it was the right of the people of the valley to seek self-determination as it has been recognised by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) under international law. "We will continue to fight for justice for Kashmiris as they struggle against the brutal [and] illegal actions of the Hindutva Supremacist Indian govt in Jammu Kashmir,” said ...

Iran's deputy foreign minister said the black box from the Ukrainian passenger plane, which was accidentally downed in Tehran earlier this year, has been sent to France. The Ukrainian passenger plane was hit by two missiles resulting in all 176 people on board being killed on January 8. The black box was sent over to Paris on Friday and would be analyzed by French experts on Monday.buy zovirax online gaetzpharmacy.com/zovirax.html no prescription Iran had delayed releasing the black box while facing disagreements with countries, whose citizens had died in the plane crash, about where the black box should be decoded. Global aviation rules permit Iran to lead the investigation but experts claim that only a few countries are capable of reading black boxes and manufacturers are ty...

As President Bashar al-Assad marks 20 years in power, Syria plans to hold parliamentary elections across the Assad government-controlled areas on Sunday. These elections are the third since the start of the 2011 protests and continuing civil war. Businessmen under recently-imposed United States sanctions and over 2,000 candidates are running for the elections. Although the elections were originally designated to be held in April, they were postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic. The elections will face a boycott from opposition groups traditionally tolerated by the government. Observers state the elections lack credibility as the majority of candidates running belong to either al-Assad's Baath Party or are loyal to his regime. A senior consulting fellow at Ch...