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,
Tensions between the United States and Iran have consistently escalated over the past few years, culminating in the American assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in January this year. However, a report from Al Jazeera on Saturday June 20th reveals that behind-the-scenes, Iran and the United States can cooperate
On the 5th of June, France announced a major success in its anti-terror campaign in northern Africa. French forces, working with local partners, successfully launched an operation which killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), as well as a number of the members of his
On the 30th of May, a joint statement was released by France, Britain, and Germany which condemned the United States’ decision to end three of four Iranian sanctions waivers. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that ongoing nuclear proliferation efforts by Iran provided justification for the American decision. The
On Saturday the 16th of May, Nour news agency, which is linked closely to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned of repercussions should the United States attempt to prevent an Iranian fuel shipment to Venezuela. The agency said that “If the United States, just like pirates, intends to create
On Saturday, 9 May, the Ethiopian armed forces admitted that they were responsible for the downing of a privately-owned Kenyan plane in Somalia earlier in the week. The Kenyan plane was shot down on Monday over the town of Bardale in southwest Somalia as it attempted to land. All six
The ongoing rivalry between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates flared up once more this week as the two sides engaged in a war of words over the ongoing crisis in Libya. On Thursday 30 April, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed concern over Turkish interference
Late on Monday the 20th of April, South Korea-based website Daily NK reported that Kim Jong Un was recovering from a cardiovascular operation. Since then, rumours have been swirling about his condition. Various media organisations throughout the world have reported a multitude of possibilities, with some sources even claiming that
