INTERNATIONAL

A shocking report has revealed that the Indian government-owned companies and private firms have supplied Rs 421 crore ($51 million) worth of arms, dual-use items, and raw materials to the military junta in Myanmar since generals staged their coup in February 2021. The report released by the UN-appointed independent expert monitoring and investigating human rights abuses in the country states that some UN Member States are enabling this trade through a combination of outright complicity, lax enforcement of existing bans, and easily circumvented sanctions, according to a news release from the UN rights office OHCHR. Tom Andrews, the country's UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, claimed that the junta and government-approved arms dealers had brought in $1 billion (8256 INR) worth of...

Days after China, in a joint statement with Pakistan, raked up the Kashmir issue, it has now said it will not attend the planned G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Jammu Kashmir next week. China's foreign ministry in a statement said it is "firmly opposed" to holding such meetings in the "disputed territory", news agency PTI reported. “China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meetings on disputed territory," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing in response to a question. “We will not attend such meetings,” he added. India will host the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu Kashmir, from May 22 to May 24. India has countered the objection by saying it is free to hold meetings on its own t...

Human rights violations have increased drastically in Jammu Kashmir post the abrogation of special status of Jammu Kashmir on August 05, 2019, the UN special rapporteur has said in a statement issued ahead of G 20 summit. The rapporteur claimed that hundreds of Hindus are moving into Jammu Kashmir to overwhelm native Kashmiris in their own land. The G20 is unwittingly providing a veneer of support to a facade of normalcy at a time when massive human rights violations, illegal and arbitrary arrests, political persecutions, restrictions and even suppression of free media and human rights defenders continue to escalate, the Rapporteur said in the statement. Full text of the press statement  "Human rights violations have risen dramatically in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir s...

Despite emerging as the top candidate, Tayyep Erdogan will have to go through another round of elections to win the presidential elections. The elections were closed in Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s share of the vote fell below 50 percent after early results, reported Anadolu Agency. The third candidate Sinan Ogan of the right-wing ATA Alliance performed more strongly than expected. If no candidate secures more than half the votes in the first round of voting, a May 28 runoff will be held.

Turks have started voting in one of the most consequential elections in modern Turkey’s 100-year history – an election that could unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after 20 years in power, reported The Guardian. Opinion polls give Erdoğan’s main challenger, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who heads an alliance of six opposition parties, a slight lead, but if either of them fails to get more than 50% of the vote there will be a runoff election on 28 May. The election takes place three months after earthquakes in southeast Turkey killed more than 50,000 people. Many in the affected provinces have expressed anger over the slow initial government response but there is little evidence that the issue has changed how people will vote. Polls opened at 8am local time and will close at 5pm. Under T...

A special bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday granted bail to former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan for two weeks in a corruption case. A division bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz heard the Al-Qadir trust corruption case, a day after the Supreme Court termed Khan’s arrest from the IHC premises on Tuesday as “invalid and unlawful”. Khan, 70, arrived at the court shortly after 11:30 am local time amid tight security and underwent the biometric identification process and other formalities. The hearing was delayed for nearly two hours due to security reasons. Earlier, the two judges left the courtroom amid pro-Khan slogan shouting by a lawyer. The upset judges later announced that the hearing will resume after Friday...

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered the immediate release of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan while calling his detention illegal. Imran Khan was arrested by Rangers on May 09 when he was in the Court for a hearing. Massive protests hit the country post the arrest of Imran Khan. During the protests dozens of people lost their lives while many more were injured. Pakistan Government also snapped internet and blocked access to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter while thousands were arrested in the country. Details rushing in.

At least 21 Palestinians were killed and 64 were injured in the continuing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, said the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. Ashraf Al-Qedra, the ministry’s spokesman in Gaza, said in a press statement sent to reporters on Wednesday that 21 Palestinians were killed, including 12 civilians and 64 others were injured by the shrapnel of the Israeli missiles, Xinhua news agency reported. The Gaza-based joint chamber of military operations of Palestinian factions claimed firing a barrage of rockets to southern and central Israel on Wednesday, in response to the surprising Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday predawn, which killed three senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement’s armed wing in the Gaza Strip and their wives and children. “...

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to present Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan by 4:30 pm, Pakistan media reported. The directives come after Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial termed the PTI leader's arrest from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC) as a mighty disgrace to the country's judicial establishment. The CJP passed the remark while heading a three-member bench hearing PTI's petition challenging the arrest of party chief Imran Khan. Apart from the CJP, the bench also includes Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar. At the outset of the hearing, former premier's lawyer Hamid Khan informed the court that Imran Khan had come to IHC in order to secure an extension in his interim ba...

Pakistan’s Punjab police have booked former prime minister Imran Khan and 1,500 of his party workers for attacking and setting on fire a top army officer’s house in Lahore. Enraged over the arrest of their leader in a corruption case on Tuesday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief’s supporters on Wednesday stormed the General Headquarters of the Army. They set residence of the Lahore Corps Commander on fire while attacking military vehicles and installations. The PTI chairman, his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi and others have been named under murder, terrorism and 20 other heinous offences for attacking the Corps Commander House known as ‘Jinnah House’ in Lahore Cantonment on Tuesday. Khan and others have also been charged with looting valuables worth over 150 million rupees from t...