Category Archives: World News

Kashmir tensions high after deaths of men ‘used as human shields’

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Indian police say four men killed in shootout were militants but families say gunfight was staged and they were innocent civilians

Tensions in the Indian state of Kashmir remain on a knife edge after a shootout by the Indian authorities this week left four people dead, with families alleging the gunfight was staged and that police used innocent civilians as a “human shield”.

Police initially described the incident, which took place on Monday when officers raided a shopping complex, as a counter-insurgency operation in which two militants and their associates had been killed in a shootout.

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Rotterdam police open fire as Covid protest turns into ‘orgy of violence’

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Three people treated in hospital with serious injuries after clashes in Dutch city over reintroduction of Covid restrictions

Three people were being treated in hospital in Rotterdam on Saturday after they were seriously injured when police fired shots during a demonstration against Covid-19 restrictions.

In what the Dutch city’s mayor described as an “orgy of violence”, crowds of several hundred rioters torched cars, set off fireworks and threw rocks at police during the protests on Friday evening. Police responded with warning shots and water cannon.

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Colombian president condemns police academy’s Nazi costume event

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Iván Duque says ‘any apology for Nazism is unacceptable’ after photos of cultural exchange ceremony posted on Twitter

Colombia’s president, Iván Duque, has issued a rebuke after cadets at a police academy caused outrage by dressing up as Nazis for a cultural exchange event in honour of Germany.

Photos of the ceremony were shared on an official police Twitter account on Thursday.

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Hong Kong authorises Sinovac Covid vaccine for children aged 3 to 17

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Benefits of approving age extension outweigh the risks, says secretary for food and health

Hong Kong has approved lowering the age limit for the Covid-19 vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech to three, down from 18 years of age.

Hong Kong’s secretary for food and health, Sophia Chan, said in a statement published on Saturday: “Adolescents aged 12 to 17 will be accorded priority to receive the CoronaVac vaccine, with a view to extending to children of a younger age group at a later stage.”.

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Iran says it has seized foreign ship smuggling diesel

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Spokesman says ship’s 11 crew were detained for interrogation after ship was seized in Gulf

Iranian Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign ship in Gulf waters for allegedly smuggling diesel, a Guards commander said.

“A foreign ship carrying smuggled diesel was seized,” Iran’s state broadcaster quoted Col Ahmad Hajian, commander of the Naval Type 412 Zulfaqar, as saying.

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Migrant caravan and Qatar’s tarnished World Cup: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

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A roundup of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Pakistan to Poland

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‘The testing ground’: how Republican state parties grow Trumpism 2.0

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In Oklahoma, Idaho, Wyoming and California, the next generation of GOP extremists are passing laws, picking their own voters … and preparing for power

The website of the Oklahoma Republican party has a running countdown to the 2024 presidential election measured in “Maga days”, “Maga hours”, “Maga minutes” and “Maga seconds” – Maga being shorthand for Donald Trump’s timeworn slogan, “Make America great again”.

The state party chairman, John Bennett, a veteran of three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has described Islam as a “cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out” and posted a yellow Star of David on Facebook to liken coronavirus vaccine mandates to the persecution of Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

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Omar Souleyman: singer held by Turkey over alleged militant links is freed

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Syrian questioned by police after reports he has ties to banned Kurdish People’s Protection Units

Celebrated Syrian singer Omar Souleyman, who has performed at festivals around the world, has been released after being detained over alleged links to Kurdish militants.

Souleyman was freed at 10.30pm (19.30 GMT) after a confusing day during which he was released in the morning before being taken back to a detention centre.

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‘I thought I was a goner’: survivors detail harrowing stories of Canada mudslides

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Emergency crews continue search for victims after flash floods tear through region

Emergency crews in western Canada continued searching on Friday for victims of flash floods and mudslides which tore through the region this week, as survivors described harrowing escapes from the disaster.

British Columbia declared its third state of emergency in a year on Wednesday after a month’s worth of rain fell in two days, swamping towns and cities, blocking major highways and leaving much of the province under water.

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Kenosha shooting: jury finds Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty – video

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A jury on Friday found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on charges related to his shooting dead two people at an anti-racism protest and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year, after a tumultuous trial that gripped the US

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Oxford University identifies 145 artefacts looted in Benin raid

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Plundered items likely to be returned to Nigeria include plaques, bronze figures and musical instruments

The University of Oxford is holding 145 objects looted by British troops during an assault on the city of Benin in 1897 that are likely to be repatriated to Nigeria, a report has said.

More than two-thirds of the plundered items are owned by the university’s Pitt Rivers Museum, and 45 are on loan. They include brass plaques, bronze figures, carved ivory tusks, musical instruments, weaving equipment, jewellery, and ceramic and coral objects dating to the 13th century.

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Work on ‘Chinese military base’ in UAE abandoned after US intervenes – report

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Satellite images reportedly detected construction of secret facility at Khalifa port amid growing US-China rivalry

US intelligence agencies found evidence this year of construction work on what they believed was a secret Chinese military facility in the United Arab Emirates, which was stopped after Washington’s intervention, according to a report on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that satellite imagery of the port of Khalifa had revealed suspicious construction work inside a container terminal built and operated by a Chinese shipping corporation, Cosco.

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Croatia violated rights of Afghan girl who was killed by train, court rules

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Madina Hussiny, 6, died after police refused to let her family apply for asylum and made them walk back to Serbia

After four years of legal struggle, the European court of human rights (ECHR) has ruled that Croatian police were responsible for the death of a six-year-old Afghan girl when they forced her family to return to Serbia via train tracks without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum.

The little girl, named Madina Hussiny, was struck and killed by a train after being pushed back with her family by the Croatian authorities in 2017.

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Lukashenko says Belarusian troops may have helped refugees reach Europe

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Leader acknowledges it was ‘absolutely possible’ his army had a part in creating migrant crisis at Polish border

The Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has acknowledged that his troops probably helped Middle Eastern asylum seekers cross into Europe, in the clearest admission yet that he engineered the new migrant crisis on the border with the EU.

In an interview with the BBC at his presidential palace in Minsk, he said it was “absolutely possible” that his troops helped migrants across the frontier into Poland.

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WTA’s hardline approach to Peng Shuai presents China with new problem

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Analysis: Up to now sports associations have rapidly backed down from rows with Beijing

It is perhaps no coincidence that Chinese state media published an email purportedly written by the missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai shortly after reports emerged that the Biden administration was considering a “diplomatic boycott” of February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.

China says the Games are apolitical and – in the words of its embassy in Washington – “a grand gathering for countries and a fair stage for athletes from all over the world to compete”.

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Abducted Afghan psychiatrist found dead weeks after disappearance

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Family say the body of Dr Nader Alemi, who was taken by armed men in September, showed signs of torture

One of Afghanistan’s most prominent psychiatrists, who was abducted by armed men in September, has been found dead, his family has confirmed.

Dr Nader Alemi’s daughter, Manizheh Abreen, said that her father had been tortured before he died.

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Modi repeals controversial laws in surprise victory for Indian farmers – video report

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Narendra Modi has announced he will repeal three contentious farm laws that prompted a year of protests and unrest in India, in one of the most significant concessions made by his government and a huge victory for India’s farmers. They had fought hard for the repeal of what the farmers called the 'black laws' that put their livelihoods at risk and gave private corporations control over the pricing of their crops

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‘It was mind-boggling’: Richard Gere on the rescue boat at the heart of Salvini trial

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Exclusive: the Hollywood actor, who lawyers have listed as a key witness, describes scenes of desperation on the Open Arms vessel

The Hollywood actor Richard Gere has revealed for the first time the full story behind his mercy mission to the NGO rescue boat Open Arms as he prepares to testify as a witness against Italy’s former interior minister and far-right leader, Matteo Salvini, who is on trial for attempting to block the 147 people onboard from landing in Italy.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Gere, 72, who lawyers have listed as a key witness to the situation aboard the NGO rescue boat Open Arms, described the scenes of desperation he saw when he arrived on the vessel being held off the Italian island of Lampedusa in the summer of 2019 with conditions rapidly deteriorating.

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‘We are more powerful than Modi’: Indian farmers celebrate U-turn on laws

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Camp outside Delhi cheers after PM announced revoking of farm laws following a year of protests

The scent of victory was in the air. As tractors rolled through the protest camp on the outskirts of Delhi set up by farmers almost exactly a year ago, rousing cries of “long live the revolution” and “we defeated Modi” rang out. Old men with trailing silver beards and rainbow turbans danced on tractor roofs and flag-waving children were held up high.

“For one year we have been at war,” said Ranjeet Singh, 32. “We have suffered, people have died. But today farmers won the war.”

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As millions face famine #CongoIsStarving is calling on Joe Biden to help | Vava Tampa

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Only a UN tribunal, sponsored by the US president, can end the culture of impunity fuelling violence and poverty in the DRC

The numbers are difficult to absorb. According to a new IPC report, a record 27 million Congolese – roughly a quarter of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC’s) population – are facing hunger, with 860,000 children under five acutely malnourished. The DRC is home to more starving people than any other country in the world. This could have been prevented.

Without faith that their own president Félix Tshisekedi will act, people are turning to the US president, hoping that lobbying using the hashtag #CongoIsStarving on Twitter will urge Joe Biden to back the creation of an international criminal tribunal for the DRC to end the impunity fuelling violence and famine risk. Shockingly, it could be that simple to bring an end to this suffering; we are asking for solidarity, not charity, to save lives and end this nightmarish crisis.

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