• German police raid charities with alleged links to Hamas

    German police carried out raids of NGOs and charities across the country alleged to have links to Hamas.

    Around 90 properties in ten states were searched, targeted for allegations of providing “financial and propaganda” to the Palestinian organisation which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States.

  • Sudanese security forces crackdown on anti-Bashir protesters
    <p>Armed militias loyal to Sudan’s president, Omar al- Bashir, have launched attacks on protesters taking part in a mass sit in outside the defence ministry in the capital, Khartoum.</p> <p>Witnesses said that the security forces have used gunfire and teargas to disperse demonstrators.</p> <p>The total number of people killed since Saturday is 22, including five soldiers who were killed while defending the protesters.</p>
  • 5 men investigated by UK police over Rwanda genocide

    Five men are being investigated by UK police over allegations of involvement in the Rwandan genocide, The Guardian reports. 

  • Trump designates Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as foreign terrorist organisation
    <p>Donald Trump has designated Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organisation, marking the first time the United States has formally labelled another country’s military a "terrorist group".</p> <p>In a statement, Trump said that “Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.”</p>
  • BJP pledges to repeal special status from Jammu and Kashmir

    India’s ruling BJP party has announced in their manifesto plans to repeal Article 370 and 35A which grants special rights to residents of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

    Article 370 was initially intended as a temporary provision and grants Jammu and Kashmir a special autonomous status. Article 35A enables the J&K legislature to define who were “permanent residents” as well as special rights and privileges. This includes the right to purchase property which non-residents have been barred from.

  • Sinn Fein refuses to vote against no-deal Brexit

    Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army, continues its abstentionist policy despite holding enough seats to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

    On Monday, the proposal to keep the United Kingdom in the European Union’s customs union was narrowly defeated by three votes. Sinn Fein holds seven seats in West Minster since the 2017 general election refused to vote on the matter which could have avoided a no-deal Brexit which they view as devastating for Irish interests.

    Speaking to reporters Mary Lou McDonald, the party’s president, said:

  • US Congress votes to end military assistance to Saudi Arabia
    <p>US Congress has given final approval on a resolution to end American military assistance to Saudi Arabia in its war against Yemen. The House voted 247-175 to send the resolution to Trump's desk, where it is likely to be met with a veto.&nbsp;</p> <p>The vote marks the first time the US Congress has invoked the 1973 War Powers Act, a law which curtails the president's power to take the country into a conflict without congressional approval.&nbsp;</p>
  • Algeria’s longest serving president resigns
    <p>Algerian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has resigned with immediate effect after weeks of mass protests against his 20-year rule.</p> <p>The 82-year-old announced his resignation in a letter to the president of the Constitutional Council on Tuesday.</p>
  • Three Pakistan soldiers killed in Kashmir
    <p>Pakistan’s military has reported&nbsp;three soldiers were killed by Indian forces in the Rawalakot area of&nbsp;Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.</p> <p>In a statement, Pakistan's military said they had responded to an Indian mortar attack on its positions at the border town Rakhchakri. Indian officials&nbsp;have not responded to the initial reports.</p>
  • China threatens UN ambassadors - HRW

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports Chinese officials sent a letter to UN ambassadors warning them “in the interest of bilateral relations and continued multilateral cooperation,” they should not “co-sponsor, participate in or be present at” a panel event critical of China’s human rights record in Xinjiang.

    Delegates from the global South further reported to HRW, Chinese diplomats had personally approached them and advised them not to attend the panel event on 13 March.

  • UN condemns Brunei’s draconian penal code

    The United Nations has condemned Brunei’s new penal code which imposes death by stoning for gay sex, adultery and other offences.

    In a statement, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet said, “I appeal to the government to stop the entry into force of this draconian new penal code, which would mark a serious setback for human rights protection for the people of Brunei if implemented.”

  • Concerns over partisan distribution of aid in Zimbabwe

    Following the deadly tropical cyclone, Idaihas, which has killed at least 700 people in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised concerns over the “partisan distribution of emergency aid”.

    Local media in Zimbabwe has reported seeing supporters of the ruling Zimbabwe African Nationalist Union-Patriotic Front denying aid, including food, to some cyclone survivors because they were believed to have supported to the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

  • Guatemala considers amnesty for war criminals

    Guatemala’s congress is set to vote on a reform to the national reconciliation law which would give absolute impunity to those accused of crimes against humanity including genocide, rape and forced disappearance.

    The current national law exempts those accused of political crimes and has been praised for enabling reconciliation in the aftermath of the 36-year war which left 200,000 people dead or disappeared. The law was enacted alongside the 1996 peace accords but the proposed reforms to the bill have caused international outcry.

  • Guaidó calls for supporters to protest the blackouts in Venezuela

    Juan Guaidó, Venezuela's opposition leader, has called on his supporters to take to the streets on Saturday in protest of nationwide power cuts. 

  • Algerian army chief calls for Bouteflika to be declared unfit to rule

    Lt Gen Ahmed Gaid Salah, Algeria’s army chief, has demanded that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika be declared unfit to rule in a televised broadcast.

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