The UK has agreed to open negotiations with Mauritius over the future handover of the Chagos Island, in a major reversal of policy following years of resistance and legal defeats in international courts but will continue to maint control over it's military base in Diego Garcia. The proposed agreement will allow for the return of former inhabitants of the Chagos archipelago who were forcibly displaced by the British government in the 1960s and 1970s. When Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1968, London severed the Chagos Islands from the rest of the country so it could lease the...
Ethiopia’s government and the TPLF have agreed to facilitate immediate humanitarian access to “all in need” in war-ravaged Tigray and neighbouring regions. The agreement comes after talks in Nairobi, Kenya this week after the signed peace agreement between the two warring sides brought an end to the two year conflict in Northern Ethiopia. “The parties have agreed to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access to all in need of assistance in Tigray and neighbouring regions,” according to a joint statement read out at a Nairobi press conference on Saturday. The agreement was signed by field...
The Brazilian Defence Ministry's report concluded that no discrepancies were found in the recent election, which saw right-wing president Bolsonaro unseated by a narrow margin. It is Brazil's method of casting votes that has drawn scrutiny and criticism. Brazil is the only country in the world that has fully transitioned to a paperless, electronic voting system. Some have criticised the involvement of the military in the election investigation. Paulo Calmon , a political science professor at the University of Brasilia, claims, "the idea to formally involve the armed forces in electoral...
Dressed in full army uniform, President Xi called on military personnel to “focus all its energy on fighting” according to reports from a Chinese Communist party mouthpiece. President Xi made these comments when addressing the People’s Liberation Army during a recent visit to a command centre. “Focus all [your] energy on fighting, work hard on fighting and improve [your] capability to win,” the instructed army officials. He is said to have gone on to urge the cohort to “resolutely defend national sovereignty and national security”, referring to China’s security situation as “unstable and...
The Iranian leadership is resisting growing demands from clerics and some reformist politicians to stage a new referendum on Iran’s constitution. A current power struggle between the the country's rulers has left the government sending out mixed messages on how to deal with the ongoing protests. Hardline parliamentarians have called for violent protestors to be executed whilst some other senior members of Iran's administration have gone to university campuses, in an attempt to open dialogue with protestors. However, the security forces have gone ahead with a severe crackdown and arrested...
The Spanish government is facing growing pressure to explain how at least 23 people died in June at the fortified border of Melila, Spain's enclave in North-Africa. About 2,000 people attempted to cross the heavily fortified border between the Moroccan region of Nador and the Spanish enclave last week. The Moroccan authorities say 23 people died and 140 police were injured during the attempt, while several NGOs say the number of dead is at least 37.
A petrol bomb attack on an immigration center in Dover, UK is said to have been motivated by extreme right-wing ideology according to British police. The incident took place on 30 October. Nobody was seriously injured as a result of the attack. 66-year-old Andrew Leak was found dead at a nearby service station, Leak was said to have acted alone. Leak threw homemade bombs at the immigration centre, leaving two staff with minor injuries. According to a statement put out by the Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE), there has been evidence which “indicates the attack at [the] immigration...
Major international banks, including Australia’s ANZ, have continued to do business with a bank owned by Myanmar’s military administration despite its violent crackdown on anti-government protestors, according to an advocacy group and leaked documents. ANZ, one of Australia’s “big four” banks, was used by Hong Kong-based insurer AIA to transfer funds to accounts operated by Innwa Bank, which is owned by military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), in August and September 2021, Justice for Myanmar said, citing leaked bank documents. Singapore’s UOB, one of Southeast Asia’s biggest...
Senior UK Parliamentarians will investigate the state of human rights within Kazakhstan. The former director of public prosecutions Lord MacDonald will lead an independent investigation into the detention and treatment of Zhanbolat Mamai, the leader of the unregistered opposition Democratic party in Kazakhstan. Mamai has been detained since February 2022 over his role in nationwide protests over steep rises in fuel prices that were seen as the most serious dissent in the central Asian republic since Kazakhstan was granted independence from Russia 30 years ago. A crackdown after the protests...
Iran has announced that it will hold public trials for as many as 1,000 people detained during recent protests in Tehran alone – and more than a thousand others outside the capital. The judiciary made the announcement as protests continued following the death of 22 year-old Kurdish Mahsa Amini. The latest signs of external support for the Iranian protests led by women and students came as sit-ins continued in universities and more than 500 civilian journalists put their names to an internal petition demanding that reporters who helped break the story of Mahsa Amini be released from detention...