Is the turmoil in Niger leading to a power shift in West Africa?
Tensions in West Africa are boiling over in response to an unconstitutional power grab in the landlocked country of Niger after members of the presidential guard deposed its democratically elected pro-West president on July 26. The swift reaction from the international community and regional leaders has pitted African nations against other African nations. But a July 30 communique that included strong...
In Brazil, UN deputy chief urges greater ambition for Global Goals
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed on August 1 called for urgent efforts to boost climate action, protect biodiversity, promote sustainable food systems, and ensure decent jobs and social protection. In Brasília, Ms. Mohammed said that Brazil—as the next chair of the G20—can inspire collective global action towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “Action like advocating for an SDG Stimulus to provide immediate...
Iran, Oman explore ways to promote multilateral cooperation: Official
An Iranian official says President Ebrahim Raeisi has discussed with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said ways to promote multilateral cooperation. In a August post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president’s deputy chief of staff for political affairs, said Sultan Hiatham and Raeisi had a telephone conversation, during which the latter appreciated Oman’s goodwill...
India’s top court hearing petitions challenging government’s removal of Kashmir’s special status
NEW DELHI—India’s top court Aug. 2, began hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the legislation passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 that stripped disputed Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, scrapped its separate constitution and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. The five-judge constitutional bench that includes the Supreme Court’s chief justice is simultaneously hearing...
British Muslims ‘disproportionately’ targeted by UK banks, campaigners warn
A leading Muslim organization in the UK has warned of the government’s discriminatory policies, insisting that British banks target Muslims in the country, denying them access to financial services. The UK is discriminating against British Muslims by “disproportionately” denying them banking services and closing their accounts “without adequate transparency and recourse,” the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) Secretary General Zara Mohammed complained...
Former childcare worker faces 1,623 child-abuse charges in Australia, overseas
A former childcare worker in Australia has been charged with more than 1,600 child abuse offenses, including rape, against 91 young girls across the country and abroad over a 15-year period. Australian Federal Police (AFP) authorities say they became aware of the 45-year-old Gold Coast childcare worker’s alleged offenses after recently identifying video discovered on the dark web in 2014, the...
Economic woes, sexual violence increasing as civilians in Sudan caught in middle of warring factions
Three months and counting of ongoing conflict in Sudan continues across the capital city Khartoum and the cities of Bahri and Omdurman, while fighting intensifies in Darfur and in the Kordofan State. There is no end in sight to this ever-increasing conflict pitting the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his deputy of sovereign council-turned-foe Mohamed...
U.S. nuclear test’s fallout reached as far as Canada and Mexico, study finds
A recent study has exposed the widespread devastation caused by the U.S. military’s secretive detonation of its first nuclear bomb in New Mexico with radioactive particles reaching as far as Canada and Mexico. The study, released in late July ahead of submission to a scientific journal for peer review, shows that the cloud and its fallout went farther than anyone in the...
Homelessness rates in UK hit five-year high, as cost-of-living crisis deepens
The homelessness rate across England is at its highest since 2018 due to government policies, which have forced a record number of families to live in temporary accommodations, according to official figures. According to official government data for January to March, published on July 25, around 79,840 households were owed help from local authorities to address homelessness or the risk...
EU watchdog opens probe in role of bloc’s border agency in Mediterranean shipwreck tragedy
BRUSSELS—The European Union’s official watchdog said July 26 it has opened a probe in the role of the bloc’s Frontex border agency in the shipwreck off Greece in June that is feared to have killed hundreds of people in the Mediterranean Sea. Migrant crossings in unseaworthy boats organized by human traffickers from Northern Africa have spiked this year, with massive...