A tractor parade that went awry on 26 January – India’s Republic Day, marking the 72nd-anniversary of the country adopting its constitution – has prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first public comments on the long-standing protests led by farmers. Over 100,000 farmers across 20 states and 10,000 tractors had reportedly
On 28 December 2020, 37-year-old Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in prison for reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan earlier this year. The trial, which lasted less than three hours, was described by Zhang’s lawyer, Zhang Keke (not related), as being “hollow.” Speaking to
As Malaysia faces its third wave of the novel coronavirus, news of its largest and most active cluster to date – the ‘Top Glove’ or ‘Teratai’ cluster – broke on 7 November. As of 26 November, the cluster, which stemmed from Top Glove Corporation Bhd’s workers dormitories in Meru, Klang,
Earlier this week, it was revealed that 18 women were forced to undergo invasive physical examinations of the cervix at Doha’s Hamad International Airport after five paramedics recovered an abandoned newborn from a toilet stall within the vicinity. The news, referred to as the 2 October incident, sparked international outrage
On Tuesday, September 29th, a Dalit woman passed away at a Delhi hospital from serious injuries sustained after she was brutally attacked and gang-raped by four upper-caste men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district. The attack occurred two weeks prior. The woman was allegedly pulled into a field where the men
Upon this past week’s release of all remaining Taliban prisoners, it was announced that five Afghan women are preparing to face the hardline group in upcoming September peace talks. Among these women stand high-profile women’s rights campaigner Fawzia Koofi, expert in Islamic law Fatima Gailani, lawyer Shahla Fareed, local politician
In an evening press conference yesterday, 31 July, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the postponement of the upcoming Legislative Council election by a year. With an expected three million-person voter turnout, Lam voiced health concerns amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases. The New York Times quoted the
On Thursday, June 25, Indonesian fishermen pulled 94 Rohingyas, including 30 children, to shore with the aid of maritime officials from Sumatra Island. Local authorities in the Indonesian province of Aceh had initially refused to take in those who were floating out at sea for five months, citing fears that
The release of China, the E.U., and the United States’ COVID-19 recovery packages last week demands a closer look at the intersection between the economy and the environment during a pandemic. Although China has permitted the construction of new coal plants, it has, according to the NYT, refrained from setting
The month of April has witnessed escalations in the South China Sea territorial dispute between China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This has occurred despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, China has named and effectively claimed 80 geographical features along one of the world’s
On Friday, 27 March 2020, Blue and White leader and recently elected Speaker of the Knesset (parliament), Benny Gantz, appeared to enter unity talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This comes after Gantz was appointed by President Reuven Rivlin as leader of the next government to be established amidst the
Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that countries should be “in a phase of preparedness,” highlighting that it was still too early to call the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Head of WHO’s health emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, added that now is the time to “do everything you
As the number of coronavirus cases has risen to a staggering 79,000 worldwide, China has enforced a partial or total lockdown on 780 million of its residents. Called the “people’s war” against the spread of Covid-19, quarantine measures include travel restrictions, the banning of non-essential vehicles on local roadways, and
The passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019 by the Indian parliament has resulted in an influx of people-smuggling along the India-Bangladesh border. The CAA grants Indian citizenship to minorities from three neighbouring Muslim-majority countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. As a result of the Act, 1.9 million
Amidst renewed airstrikes by Russia-backed Syrian government forces on Idlib, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu agreed on Monday, 27th January 2020, that a peace deal over the northwestern province be observed. That same day, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, Deputy
The assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC’s) Quds Force, by a U.S. air raid was met by yet another retaliation this Sunday, 22 January 2020, as the U.S. Embassy, located in Baghdad’s Green Zone, became a target for rocket fire. An initial military
Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, had, on 19 January 2020, defied the travel ban imposed on him by Nicolás Maduro and crossed into Colombia where he attended a counter-terrorism conference in the capital, Bogotá, alongside foreign ministers from several Latin American nations. Guaidó, who is recognised by over 50 countries
In a Jewish cemetery in Namestovo, Slovakia, at least 59 gravestones and monuments were vandalised on the 16th of December 2019. With 22 gravestones vandalised in the northern Slovakian town of Rajec in mid-December, this is the second such incident to occur within the country. Its perpetrators unknown, local police
Last Monday, 13 January 2020, three male teachers were killed in a suspected Al-Shabaab attack on the Kamuthe primary school in Garissa County, as announced by the National Kenya Police Service. The incident, which occurred at 2 a.m. local time, saw the gunmen attack the Kamuthe Resource Centre where female
On January 6th 2020, Ugandan singer-turned-presidential hopeful Bobi Wine was arrested alongside two other opposition members of parliament and journalists covering the events in his constituency of Kampala, preventing him from holding his first public meeting with supporters. The authorities were deployed before dawn to the site, inciting protests by
