On Saturday the 17th of July, Afghan politicians and Taliban representatives met in Qatar once more in efforts to end fighting in Afghanistan. With the ongoing withdrawal of foreign fighters in recent weeks, Taliban forces have been able to amass serious gains in a short period. Recent estimates find that
On Sunday the 11th of July, the leaders of North Korea and China exchanged messages vowing to strengthen cooperation between their two nations. These messages came on the 60th anniversary of a treaty of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance between the two nations, and at a time when both may
As of 2 July, American military forces officially left Afghanistan’s Bagram airbase, located 30 miles north of Kabul. Control was transferred to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in a ceremony on the third, ending 20 continuous years of its occupation by the United States. This withdrawal of American
On Saturday, 12 June, the Group of Seven (G7) nations revealed plans for a major infrastructure program for lower-income countries. This program, dubbed the “Build Back Better World” (B3W) initiative, is clearly intended as a Western-aligned alternative to Beijing’s ‘Belt and Road’ (BRI) infrastructure initiative, which some commentators believe to
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is set to meet with American President Joe Biden on Friday the 25th of June following a surge of violence in Afghanistan. The meeting between Biden and Ghani, joined by Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of Aghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, will be the first face-to-face
On May 28, Germany formally apologized for the genocide of the Herero and Nama people of Namibia during the nation’s colonial period. As part of this apology, the German government offered to fund 1.1 billion euros worth of reconstruction and development projects in Namibia over 30 years. While this offer
On Saturday the 15th of May, Israel launched further airstrikes against the Gaza Strip, a major escalation of ongoing violence that killed a family of 10 in a refugee camp, bombed the home of a senior Hamas leader, and destroyed a high-rise building containing The Associated Press and other media
On Saturday the 6th of March, Pope Francis held an historic meeting with Iraq’s Shia leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. This marked the first time a pope and a grand ayatollah had ever met. In this meeting, Francis thanked al-Sistani for his defence of Iraq’s weakest and most persecuted in
With the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden as the 46th President of the United States, many observed that this appeared a new era in American foreign policy. Biden made it clear during his campaign and his inauguration that the United States needed to turn away from the isolationist attitude of
On the 22nd of January, the Biden Administration announced its intention to review the February 2020 peace agreement reached with the Taliban under the Trump Administration. This comes amidst a retooling of American foreign policy under the Biden administration, with President Biden seeking to re-establish America’s credibility on the world
On Saturday the 12th of December, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on world leaders to declare states of ‘climate emergency’ in their nations, in the hopes that this would spur greater action to avoid climate change. Guterres’ comments came during his opening statement to the Climate Ambition Summit,
On the 27th of November, one of Iran’s top nuclear scientists was assassinated in eastern Tehran. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a high-ranking nuclear physicist, was often named by Western intelligence as the leader of Iran’s military nuclear program until its disbanding in the early 2000s. No group has yet claimed responsibility for
On Thursday the 19th of November, Australia released a long-awaited report into alleged war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan. This report, the result of an inquiry launched in 2016, found evidence that Australian special forces responsible for 39 unlawful killings during deployment in Afghanistan. General Angus Campbell, chief
On October 23rd 2020, Libya’s warring groups signed a permanent ceasefire agreement, potentially bringing an end to the civil war that has plagued the nation for 6 years. The agreement between the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), sees both groups agreeing
On Saturday 10 October, North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Workers’ Party with a major pre-dawn military parade. As usual, this parade functioned as a demonstration of North Korean military might, with tanks, jet planes, and soldiers featuring prominently. However, it was the presence of a new, previously-unknown
On the 14th of September, Venezuela announced charges of terrorism, weapons trafficking, and conspiracy against an alleged American spy who was detained in the nation last week. The man, identified by Venezuelan officials as Matthew John Heath, is alleged to have CIA tires and been sent to Venezuela in an
On the 28th of August, 2020, thousands of Americans gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, speaking about racial equality, criminal justice reform, and the renewed struggle for civil rights. The date is one of great significance in the civil rights movement. 57 years prior, Americans had gathered at the same location
In an announcement in late July, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced that Iraq would hold its next parliamentary elections a year earlier than the one planned in June 2021. This announcement comes after months of anti-government protest late last year, which saw hundreds of protesters killed and injured by
On Saturday the 18th of July, it was widely reported that Libya’s internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) had moved fighters closer to the city of Sirte, currently occupied by the Libyan National Army (LNA). GNA military commanders and witnesses have said that a column of approximately 200 vehicles has
On Monday the 6th of July, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on a number of individuals accused of human rights abuses, including 25 Russian and 20 Saudi nationals. This is the first time that the United Kingdom has been able to impose asset freezes and visa bans independently – previously,
