France’s local elections this week yielded the highest level of abstention ever recorded. The abstention rate for the first round of voting, which took place this Sunday, is projected around 66%, although some polls suggest an abstention rate of closer to 68%. These local and departmental elections, seen as an
The horrific abduction of 94 children and eight staff members from a school in the Nigerian state of Kebbi on June 17th has reportedly cost the lives of three Nigerian children. The school principal broke the news on June 20th that the lucrative ransom business has cost the lives of
Russia has given official notice that it will leave the Treaty on Open Skies in six months, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday 18 June. The decision follows the U.S. withdrawal last year, reaffirmed by President Biden upon taking office, which Moscow claims “significantly upset the balance of interests”
In Burnin Yauri, Kebbi State Northwest Nigeria, an armed attack leading to a mass abduction has taken place in a school. On Thursday 17th June 2021, at the Federal Government College, a Policeman has been killed, and more than 80 students and 5 teachers have been abducted by armed attackers.
As foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan, several security officials working for NATO have approached Qatar requesting a base to train Afghan special forces. According to Reuters, over the last 20 years, 36 different countries have been part of NATO’s Resolute Support mission for Afghanistan off and on. These 36 separate
According to Reuters, Saudi Arabian air defenses intercepted and destroyed an armed drone launched by Ansar Allah, more commonly known as the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. State television cited the Saudi-led military coalition Monday, June 14, stating the drone was headed toward the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait.
On June 3rd, Denmark marked the latest policy development in its increasingly hostile stance towards refugees. Passed by an overwhelming majority, the Danish Parliament amended the Danish Aliens Act to allow asylum seekers to be relocated outside of Europe while their claims are being processed. The move has prompted intense
Earlier this week, China and Taiwan exchanged accusations of using COVID-19 vaccines as political tools. According to Reuters, China and Taiwan have had disagreements throughout the pandemic, going back to March 2020 ranging from China’s transparency about the virus’ spread and Taiwan’s lack of access to the World Health Organization.
Researchers from social media-research firm Graphika and nonprofit organization Advance Democracy Inc. have recently published a report that provides evidence of an active group of Russian users continuing to troll internet websites that tend to those on the far-right political spectrum. The group, which Graphika has linked to multiple interference
European officials arrived at last week’s NATO summit anxious to hear from President Biden, who announced in April that the United States would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan unconditionally by September 11th. Prior to the summit, several officials expressed their frustration with Biden’s failure to properly consult NATO allies before the
Turkey has harshly denounced an attack on a hospital in northern Syria’s Afrin – which killed at least 13 civilians and injured 27 as of June 13th, 2021 – by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian affiliate of the PKK terrorist group. Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
According to Reuters, on June 7th, 2021, Dmitry Rogozin, the Director-General of Roscosmos (Russia’s space agency), proposed that Moscow withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025. However, this maintains conditional on Washington lifting sanctions on the space sector that were preventing Russian satellite launches. Dmitry Rogozin was addressing
On 6 June 2021, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that experiments are currently being conducted at Novaya Zemlya, the nuclear weapons test site in the Arctic Ocean. Major-General Igor Kolensikov, Head of the Defence Ministry’s 12th General Directorate, told the TV channel Zvezda that the tests are ‘non-nuclear’ – also
The United Nations (UN) advised that urgent measures are needed to avoid famine in Ethiopia’s northernmost region Tigray. Mark Lowcock, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator informed AFP News agency about a “a serious risk of famine if assistance is not scaled up in the next two
On 6 June, four innocent lives were lost to a senseless act of terrorism in London, Ontario. 20 year-old Nathaniel Veltman mounted a curb and deliberately rammed his pickup truck into a Pakistani Canadian family. Two women aged 74 and 44, a 46-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl were killed
