INTERNATIONAL

The US President Donald Trump gave a July 4th speech in the White House lawn, about defeating the "radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters". The crowd the president addressed to included US soldiers and frontline medical staff fighting COVID-19. July 4th marks America’s 243rd Independence day. Donald Trump in his speech mentioned the recent anti-racism protests, where the protesters toppled monuments of US leaders, by saying that the protester's goal is “demolition”. Trump further spoke about how China- where the coronavirus originated- must be “held fully accountable”. The President in his speech mentioned the US’s ‘progress’ in battling COVID-19, despite the recent nationwide surge in cases. Trump also praised the US’s "scientific brilliance,...

After continuous lobbying and campaigning by Algerian historians and intellectuals, the skulls of 24 Algerian resistance fighters have returned to Algeria. The remains of the Algerian resistance fighters will be buried in a special funeral falling on the 58th anniversary of Algeria's independence from France’s colonial occupation which was achieved after a long war. The skulls of approximately 40 Algerian fighters were taken by the French colonial empire as trophies in the 19th Century. These skulls were then put on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. These resistance fighters fought French colonial forces in an 1849 revolt, After a seven-year war, Algeria gained independence from France in 1962. Algeria’s liberation ended more than a century of a coloni...

China’s new national security law for Hong Kong brings in massive consequences for the city’s political freedoms. This law criminalizes "acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security." Beijing passed this law via closed-door meetings which did not even include Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam. Marking 23 years of Chinese rule and less than 24 hours under the new security law, thousands of Hong Konger’s took to the streets while defying a police ban. Although the protests were not as huge as the size of Hong Kong’s previous continuous protests, there were disruptions in at least four districts causing a clash between thousands of police officers and protestors. According to police ...

Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, during his speech in Pakistan’s National Assembly, accused India of carrying the terror attack on Pakistan’s Stock Exchange. The terror attack on Pakistan’s Stock Exchange on Monday claimed lives of four people as terrorists armed with weapons and explosives launched a grenade attack and fired indiscriminately. Imran Khan’s statement comes in a day after a banned separatist organization called the Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. Balochistan’s leaders have long accused the Pakistani federal government of neglecting and depriving the resource-rich province. Khan said, “India made a huge plan to de-stabilise Pakistan, they came with a huge arsenal. They planned to enter the Pakistan stock exchange and keep ...

For the second time this year, the United States (US) federal authorities seized a shipment of products believed to made from human hair of Muslims in labour camps in China’s western Xinjiang province. 13 tons of weaves and other hair products worth approximately $ 800,000 were present in the shipment, according to US Customs and Border Protection officials. The first shipment made in May and today’s shipment were both made from exporters in China’s western Xinjiang region, where, over the past four years, the government has detained an estimated 1 million or more ethnic Turkic minorities. The Turkic minorities, Uighurs, are held as detainees in internment camps and prisons where they undergo ideological discipline; forcing them to denounce Islam, their language and be subjected t...

The United Nations (UN) on Thursday stated that more than 800 people were killed or wounded in “deliberate attacks” targeting Afghani civilians in just the first half of 2020. The UN raised concerns about the increase in violence being aimed at derailing peace talks. Although in February, the violence had dropped amid the signing of a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban, immediately after the three-day ceasefire in May- attacks had risen across the country. UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the Taliban were responsible for half of the reported casualties. The Taliban has continuously denied responsibility for many attacks but they do acknowledge involvement in attacks against government forces in different provinces. The UNAMA stated, "There ...

After a popular musician, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was shot in what the Ethiopian police referred to as “targeted killing”, protests erupted in Ethiopia's capital city and other areas surrounding the Oromia region. These protests led to military deployment as Ethiopian armed gangs roamed neighbourhoods where more than 80 lives were claimed. Bedassa Merdasa, the Oromia police chief, said, "So far 81 people have been killed, including three Oromia special police force members.” The killing of Haacaaluu, from the country's largest ethnic group ‘Oromo’, invoked a sense of political marginalisation between ethnicities in Ethiopia. This hinders the country's planned democratic transition. Oromo, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, have long complained of being excluded from power. Ethiopia has bec...

Those who were responsible for the killing of a civilian in Kashmir have to be made to account for it, according to the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Asked about the incident at his daily briefing on Wednesday, Stephane Dujarric said, “We will look into it. Obviously people who were responsible need to be brought to account. But let me look further into it.” The family of the slain civilian accused the Government Forces of killing the civilian, Bashir Ahmed from HMT area in Srinagar, while the CRPF accused the Militants of carrying out the killings. In answer to another question about the protests following the killings, Dujaric said, “As anywhere, we encourage people to be, authorities to allow people to demonstrate freely and that they can express their ri...

Not only Palestinians but a large part of the international community has spoken against Israel’s unilateral annexation of the ‘occupied’ West Bank, reported Aljazeera. The “Middle East Plan”, Israel set in line with the US President Donald Trump, aims to settle illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank- including the Jordan Valley. This action would result in one-third of the West Bank being under illegal settlements. This comes as a result of The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, being recognized as occupied territory under international law. Therefore, making all Jewish settlements there along with the planned annexation - illegal. Palestinian officials have responded to the annexation plans by threatening to abolish bilateral agreements with Israel. This would...

On Wednesday, Russian voters went to polls to cast ballots in a nationwide referendum on constitutional amendments, the amendments pave the way for current President Putin, who has governed Russia for two decades, to remain president until 2036. According to the preliminary results, President Vladimir Putin has overwhelmingly won his bid to stay in power until the middle of next decade. The Campaign slogan for Putin’s constitution reform’s was "Our country, our constitution, our decision", indicating its design to appeal to conservative voters as a return to old-fashioned family values of Russia. The key point of the reform was to reset the time on Putin’s term limits, allowing the president to stay in power for two more six-year terms when his presidency ends in 2024. After pr...