Category: WORLD NEWS

Myanmar’s handling of its Rohingya Muslims, 700,000 of whom have fled to Bangladesh amid a brutal counterinsurgency campaign, could have been handled better, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday.Myanmar is facing international pressure over atrocities allegedly committed by its military in the crackdown that followed August 2017 attacks by Rohingya militants on security forces. The army is accused of committing mass rape, killings and setting fire to thousands of homes. A report issued two weeks ago by a specially appointed U.N. human rights team recommended…

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Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday voiced support for the rapprochement between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, a Japanese diplomat said, as Washington considers the possibility of a new summit with North Korea’s leader.In a meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon on the sidelines of an economic forum in Russia, Abe reiterated his support for “the agreement between President Trump and Chairman Kim, in particular, the commitment of the North Korean leader towards the full denuclearization of the Korean Penninsula,” said a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman.”Our…

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After four decades of conflict and insecurity, and with elections to be held in the coming months against a backdrop of growing humanitarian need, Afghanistan needs more support than ever to tackle its challenges, the UN humanitarian and refugee chiefs said on Monday after a joint two-day visit to the war-torn country.”The world needs to pay a bit more attention again to Afghanistan to help them through this challenging period. It’s possible that a year from now they could be back on a positive trajectory if they get the right…

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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s newly elected government plans to renegotiate the agreements reached under China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as it “unfairly benefits Chinese companies”, according to a media report.The projects concerned are part of the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan – the most ambitious part of the BRI, which seeks to connect Asia and Europe along the ancient silk road, The Financial Times reported.The ministers and the advisors of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government said the agreement “unfairly benefits Chinese companies,” the paper reported. The CPEC,…

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Clashes between Kurdish forces and regime fighters in the divided northeastern city of Qamishli killed 18 combatants Saturday, the Kurdish forces and a war monitor said. The rare flare-up in the Kurdish-majority city near the Turkish border saw 11 regime fighters and seven Kurds killed, the Kurdish security forces known as Asayesh said in a statement.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported the same death toll for the fighting near a Kurdish checkpoint in the city. The Asayesh said a regime “patrol opened fire on our…

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In an unusual move, Pakistan Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa has batted for democracy and the need for strengthening of institutions in the coup-prone country, as he shared the dias with Prime Minister Imran Khan. Addressing the Defence and Martyrs Day ceremony organised by the Army at its headquarters in Rawalpindi on Thursday, Bajwa said that continuation of democracy was must for development and progress of the country. His significant comments came two days after visiting US Secretary of State gave a pep talk to Bajwa on the importance…

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Pakistan’s focus for decades has been to undermine India’s territorial integrity through the “explicit use of terrorism” as a state policy, New Delhi said in a stern response after Islamabad raked up the Kashmir issue at the UN. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi yet again raised the issue of Kashmir while addressing the High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace in the UN General Assembly Wednesday.She said “foreign occupation and the denial of fundamental rights including the right to self-determination exacerbate the sense of injustice among the…

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India buying a missile defence system from Russia and oil from Iran would be part of the 2+2 dialogue, but not the talks’ primary focus, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said. Pompeo and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis are headed to India for the talks tomorrow with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This is the inaugural 2+2 dialogue between the two countries.“They are (missile system purchase from Russia and oil from Iran) part of the conversation. They are part of the relationship. “They will certainly…

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to press Pakistan to target all terror groups on its soil and play a positive role in war-torn Afghanistan when he meets the country’s new leadership here tomorrow in a bid to reset the strained bilateral ties, according to media reports. Pompeo is arriving in Islamabad along with General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, days after the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Pakistan as it was not doing enough against terrorist groups inside…

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The Ukrainian city of Lviv, once a major center of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, is commemorating the 75th anniversary of the annihilation of the city’s Jewish population by Nazi Germany and honoring those working today to preserve what they can of that vanished world.City authorities honored recipients during a ceremony Sunday with 75 sculptured glass keys modeled by an American artist on an old metal synagogue key that she found at a Lviv market. The commemorations, including a concert amid the ruins of synagogues, come amid a larger attempt…

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