Three years ago, on the 24th of April 2013, over a thousand garment workers in a Bangladesh died after the Rana Plaza building collapsed. The horrifying event showed the failures of global brands to regulate and audit their supplier factories. In many ways it proved to be a turning point
On Thursday this week the two-day summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was hosted by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. Over 30 national leaders from the Muslim world were invited to the summit, which aimed at overcoming differences on issues of migration, terrorism, and Palestine.
On Tuesday, it became clear that Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned, after immense pressure from protesters following his involvement in the Panama Papers investigation. The following day, the British Prime Minister David Cameron told British ITV television that he was benefiting from an offshore fund his late father set up. It
On March 28, the Malaysian opposition coalition organized its first public rally in Kuala Lumpur against Prime Minister, Najib Razak after being accused of corruption and financial mismanagement. The 700 million dollar corruption scandal has made many Malaysian elites. including former PM Mahathir Mohamad, demanding Najib’s resignation. It was in July of
Gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum are all minerals that can be found in most modern electronic devices, including your phone, computer, gaming system and portable music player. Another thing they have in common is that there are all ‘conflict minerals’. Most of us are aware of the miserable conditions
The end of Russian military presence in Syria will soon be over, according to local media. The commander of Russian air force, Victor Bondarev, stated yesterday that the withdrawal would be conducted in a matter of days. Based on the timeframe given by President Vladimir Putin and the defence minister,
Last week, Japan marked the fifth year anniversary of the country’s largest recorded earthquake. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake ruptured 130 kilometres off of the Japanese Northeast coast and subsequently set off a tsunami, which would take the life of more than 18,000 people. When the tsunami hit the Honshu
Last Saturday, the Taliban announced that they refuse to negotiate peace deals with the Afghan government, as long as their conditions remain unattended. According to the Taliban, all occupation of foreign troops needs to stop, merely “talks will yield no results”, Al Jazeera reports. They also mentioned in the statement that the
One of the deadliest disasters during the 20th century occurred in Ethiopia between 1983 and 1985, when the nation suffered severe famine. Due to the limited rainfall in 1983, crop failed resulting in an increase of 300% in grain prices nation wide, causing severe food shortages in 1984. But
Since the start of the year, several Indonesian ministers have made discriminating comments over the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members. Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education, Muhammad Nasir, suggested banning the existence of LGBT student groups on university campuses. Furthermore, he pushed for the removal
Last Thursday the European Parliament declared in Strasbourg that the Islamic State are perpetrating genocide against Yazidis, Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East. The Parliament Assembly Council of Europe passed the genocide resolution, a council that works closely with the European Union on human
Talks on ending the Syrian civil war officially started in Geneva on Monday, February 1. Staffan de Mistura, a Swedish-Italian diplomat and UN Syria envoy, told Reuters that he expected the discussions to be “complicated and difficult”. The main priority is for the talks to continue with everyone on
In the European Union Sweden, which is home to 9.8 million inhabitants, is the country that has taken on most refugees in relation to its population. In 2015 Sweden received a record high number of 163,000 asylum applications, but the authorities suspect that about 45 percent of those will be
On the 22nd of January, the former South Sudan Vice President, Riek Machar and current President Salva Kiir failed to establish a transitional government. The decision for unitary government was finalized during the peace talks in August last year, which ended the two-year civil war between the government and rebel
On January 8th, the Human Rights Watch reported about the serious consequences facing Syrian civilians living in communities under siege. According to the United Nations humanitarian affairs agency, an estimated 4.5 million people are currently living in areas that are hard to reach, 400,000 of those in besieged areas
In 2015, Saudi Arabia conducted the highest number of executions in 20 years- 150 killings. The beginning of the New Year confirmed the trend when a Shiite cleric and members of al Qaeda were executed based on terrorist charges in Saudi Arabia between 2003 and 2006. These latest actions have
