Horizons
Human rights abuses persist in Burundi despite new gov't: UN
Human rights abuses including rape, murder and targeting of the country's youth persist in Burundi despite a change of government, a new United Nations report has revealed. The report, released on Thursday, looks at the period preceding and following the May election of retired general Evari
Biden or Trump, no guarantee of a post-Brexit U.S.-UK trade deal
U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden’s recent warning that Britain must honor Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace agreement to secure a U.S. trade deal adds new complexity to already tough trade talks between the United States and the U.K. “We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreem
The Bahraini normalization with Israel is an insecure gamble, the consequences ... so why did the king take it?
Bahrain’s decision to normalize relations with Israel, following the United Arad Emirates, normally would not have created much of a ripple on the international scene. Major regional and international decisions by the country’s Al Khalifa regime traditionally have hued the line of its
Analyst: Pakistan could normalise ties with Israel
A British-Pakistani analyst said he expects Pakistan to follow Gulf Arab countries and normalise ties with Israel, Israel Hayom reported on Monday. Noor Dahri, founder and executive director of Islamic Theology of Counter-Terrorism, a UK-based think tank, told Israel Hayom tha
IOM: At least 24 people drowned off Libya coast
The UN migration agency has said that at least 24 people have drowned or are dead in the sea off the coast of Libya. A boat carrying refugees on their way to Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea today leaving its passengers missing and presumed dead. Yesterday, Libya’s coast guard inte
Trial of British-Iranian aid worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe postponed, UK lawmaker says
A trial of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe scheduled for Sunday in Iran has been postponed, a British lawmaker said on Sunday, citing a conversation with Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, Reuters has reported. Member of parliament Tulip Siddiq said in a tweet she h
Migrants rescued by Danish tanker, land in Italy after 40 days at sea
A group of migrants who had been blocked aboard a tanker in the Mediterranean for more than a month were allowed to land in Sicily on Saturday after Italy agreed to take them in, NGO Mediterranea said, Reuters reports. The 25 people still at sea disembarked late on Saturday in the port
Expect US election to have consequences for troops overseas
President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden both say they want to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan. But their approaches differ, and the outcome of the Nov. 3 election will have long-term consequences not only for U.S. troops, but for the wider region. During his election ca
Once an American foe, now a friend: OPEC turns 60
In 1973, Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries brought the U.S. economy to its knees. Now, the cartel created 60 years ago is more likely to do Washington's bidding. Since Saudi Arabia and other Arab OPEC members imposed their famous oil embargo as retribution for U.S.
Husband of Detained UK-Iranian Urges Govt. Help after New Charges
The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman detained in Tehran for sedition, on Wednesday called on the UK government to do "everything to protect her" after Iran announced she faces fresh charges. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 41, has spent more than four years in jail or under house
More than 1 billion people face displacement by 2050: report
Rapid population growth, lack of access to food and water and increased exposure to natural disasters mean more than 1 billion people face being displaced by 2050, according to a new analysis of global ecological threats. Compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a think-tank t
British-Iranian aid worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces new charge
British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned by an Iranian Revolutionary Court on Tuesday and informed about a new charge, state television reported. “Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court summoned Nazanin Zaghari and her designated lawyer this morning and inform
Hundreds of Belarus protesters say they were beaten by police, demand justice
Artur Khomenko, an entrepreneur from Minsk, said police officers began beating him with their fists and truncheons after they detained him on the fourth night of huge protests that have weakened Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s grip on power. Then they pulled down his underwear
Iranian Lawyer Putting 'Life on Line' in Prison Hunger Strike
A prize-winning Iranian lawyer is over three weeks into a hunger strike to draw attention to the plight of political prisoners in the country during the Covid-19 pandemic, as international concern grows over the state of her health. Nasrin Sotoudeh, co-laureate of the European Parliament's presti
Will the political solution to the Libyan conflict come from Morocco again, or does Haftar have another opinion?
Once again, Morocco has returned to the fore in the Libyan conflict file, hosting national dialogue sessions between representatives of the government and the Parliament of East Tobruk, which supports Khalifa Haftar and the militias of eastern Libya, amid welcome from all parties except for Haftar
3 Migrants Rescued Near Malta after Jumping Off Tanker
Three migrants were rescued off the coast of Malta on Sunday after they jumped overboard from a tanker that has been denied entry by several countries since a rescue operation a month ago. The captain of the Maersk Etienne chemical tanker had warned last week that, while the migrants had no criti
UN report accuses Russia of supporting Wagner Group in Libya
A United Nations report revealed that Russia has reinforced its logistical support for private military firm the Wagner Group in Libya with some 338 cargo flights from Syria in the nine months to 31 July. The report, seen by Reuters, stated that this move aims at helping the group support the for
Israel to withhold bodies of all Palestinian militants
Israel decided Wednesday to withhold the bodies of all slain Palestinian militants in a bid to deter attacks, a move slammed by rights groups as "barbaric". Prior to the decision, approved by the government's security cabinet, Israel retained the bodies of militants only from Hamas, the Islamist
