Conflicts

Dhaka, Sept 16 – Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has continued with his shrill pitch on Kashmir saying that a nuclear war with India is a possibility after New Delhi revoked the special status for Jammu and Kashmir. Read More »

Dubai, Sep 15 (AP/UNB) — A leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels says they were able to “exploit vulnerabilities” in Saudi Arabia’s air defense system to stage the attack previous day on the kingdom’s vital oil installations. Read More »

Dubai, Sep 14 (AP/UNB) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched drone attacks on the world’s largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and a major oil field Saturday, sparking huge fires at a vulnerable chokepoint for global energy supplies. Read More »

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for Saturday’s drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities. He dismissed a claim by Yemeni Houthi rebels that they had attacked the two facilities, run by state-owned company Aramco. Read More »

Six Emirati troops have been killed in a “collision,” the United Arab Emirates said Friday, without elaborating or offering a location or time for the incident that comes after the federation of sheikhdoms began pulling out of a Saudi-led war in Yemen. Read More »

Drone attacks have set alight two major oil facilities run by the state-owned company Aramco in Saudi Arabia, state media say. Read More »

By Abdullah Yusuf Sep 9 2019 (IPS) – August is immensely important in the history of the Asian subcontinent, marking the month that India and Pakistan gained independence from the British in 1947. Now, in 2019, it has once again proved momentous, when, ten days before India’s Independence day celebrations, prime minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the autonomy of Indian-administered ... Read More »

Gaza City, Sep 7 (AP/UNB) — The Israeli military says it has launched an airstrike hitting Palestinian militants behind an earlier drone attack from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military says Saturday the drone dropped “what seems to be an explosive device” and damaged an army vehicle near the perimeter fence separating Gaza from Israel. There were no reports of ... Read More »

Hong Kong, Sept 7 (AP/UNB) — Hong Kong authorities were limiting airport transport services and controlling access to terminals Saturday as they braced for a second weekend of disruption following overnight demonstrations that turned violent. Express train service will run from the station in downtown Hong Kong direct to the airport, skipping all stations in-between and only those with flight ... Read More »

By Saber Azam Geneva, Sep 5 2019 (IPS) – Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on American soil, the United States and their allies went to Afghanistan to “smoke out” Osama bin Laden and his Taliban protectors. The most fundamental primary mistake was to let all terrorists flee to Pakistan instead of sealing the border and capturing their main ... Read More »

Dhaka, Sep 4 (UNB) – Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has urged countries including Bangladesh not to bow to what he termed ‘economic terrorism’ by the United States government, and encouraged them to avail a number of alternative trading mechanisms that circumvent the US financial system to carry on trading with Iran – without falling foul of Washington’s sanctions regime. ... Read More »

Huawei has accused the US government of “using every tool at its disposal” to disrupt its business. In a press release on Tuesday, the Chinese tech giant said the US had launched cyber-attacks to infiltrate its networks and was threatening its employees. The firm, which was put on a US trade blacklist this year, did not offer evidence for the ... Read More »

Jerusalem, Sept 4 (AP/UNB) — The Israeli military said Tuesday the militant group Hezbollah and Iran have built a precision-missile factory in neighbouring Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Read More »

Government Should Let Parliamentarians Have Their Say on a ‘No-Deal’ Brexit Benjamin Ward Parliament shuttered for five weeks. Threats by senior ministers to ignore the rule of law. And a government seemingly determined to leave the European Union on October 31 without any deal in place, bringing with it disastrous consequences for the rights of people in the UK and ... Read More »

An Afghan official says the death toll from a Taliban suicide attack in Kabul late Monday night has risen to 16 civilians, with another 119 people wounded. Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi on Tuesday says some 400 foreigners were rescued after the attack targeted the Green Village compound, which houses several international organizations and guesthouses. Smoke rose on Tuesday morning ... Read More »

Afghanistan, Sept 02 (AP/UNB) — The Taliban attacked a second Afghan city in as many days on Sunday, killing several civilians and security forces, officials said, even as Washington’s peace envoy said the U.S. and the militant group are “at the threshold of an agreement” to end America’s longest war. The attack on the capital of Baghlan province came hours ... Read More »

By Thalif Deen UN, Aug 29 2019 (IPS) – When two-time Wimbledon tennis champion Boris Becker, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, refused to make a commitment not to play in South Africa, a country blacklisted for its apartheid policies, the UN children’s agency stripped him of the prestigious title, back in October 1987. Read More »

New Delhi, Aug 31 (AP/UNB) — India on Saturday published the final citizenship list in the state of Assam that excluded nearly 2 million people amid fears they could be rendered stateless. The list, known as the National Register of Citizens, intends to identify legal residents and weed out illegal immigrants from the state. A total of 31.1 million people ... Read More »

By Sameer HashmiBBC News, Kashmir Security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir have been accused of carrying out beatings and torture in the wake of the government’s decision to strip the region of its autonomy. The BBC heard from several villagers who said they were beaten with sticks and cables and given electric shocks. Read More »

Sylhet, Aug 30 (UNB) – Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday warned of legal steps against those instigating Rohingyas not to go back to their homeland in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. “We’ve learned that various NGOs are inciting [Rohingyas]. We’re scrutinising them,” he said at a Dua Mahfil on the occasion of 44th death anniversary of Father of the ... Read More »

Hong Kong, Aug 30 (UNB/AP) — A pro-democracy group in Hong Kong said one of its leaders, well-known activist Joshua Wong, was arrested Friday morning. Wong was pushed into a private car as he was heading to a subway station around 7:30 a.m. and has been taken to police headquarters, the Demosisto group said on its social media accounts. It ... Read More »

Shutdown Infringes Basic Freedoms, Affects Essential Services, Harms Economy New York – The Indian government’s lengthy shutdown of the internet and telephones in Jammu and Kashmir inflicts disproportionate harm on the population and should be immediately lifted, Human Rights Watch said today. The disruption to services since August 5, 2019, has exacerbated an information blackout, stopped families from communicating, prevented ... Read More »

Pakistan on Wednesday closed three aviation routes of Karachi airspace till August 31, which had promoted speculation about the possible missile testing. Islamabad: Pakistan has successfully test-fired surface-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Ghaznavi’, capable of delivering multiple warheads up to 290 kms, the Army said on Thursday, amid fresh Indo-Pak tensions after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. Read More »

Dhaka – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the legacy of nuclear testing is nothing but destruction. Read More »

United Nations, Aug 28 (AP/UNB) — Three important US allies on Tuesday condemned the “repeated provocative launches” of ballistic missiles by North Korea, saying they violate UN Security Council resolutions banning any such activity. Read More »

Srinagar (AP/UNB) — Without weapons, riot gear or even clean uniforms, a group of police officers sat on the sidewalk outside a shopfront in Srinagar, the main city in the Himalayan region of Indian-administered Kashmir, weighing their allegiances. Thirty Kashmiri police officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity fearing retribution from their superiors told The Associated Press that they ... Read More »

Baghdad, Aug 23 (AP/UNB) — The Latest on the situation in Iraq, after U.S. officials confirmed Israel last month bombed a weapons depot belonging to Iran-backed Shiite militias (all times local): Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is warning of a “strong response” if it is proven that Israel was behind recent airstrikes in Iraq. In statements issued by his ... Read More »

Cox’s Bazar, Aug 22 (UNB) – Despite all the preparations, no Rohingya turned up on Thursday to avail of the “voluntary” repatriation offer given to them to go back to their place of origin in Rakhine State of Myanmar prompting the authorities to suspend the repatriation process for the day. While briefing reporters, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Abul ... Read More »

India, Aug 21 (AP/UNB) — At least 2,300 people, mostly young men, have been detained in Indian-administered Kashmir during a security lockdown and communications blackout imposed to curtail unrest after New Delhi stripped the disputed region of statehood, according to top Kashmir police and arrest statistics reviewed by The Associated Press. Those arrested include anti-India protesters as well as pro-India ... Read More »

Dhaka, Aug 19 (UNB)- Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-3) arrested four suspected members of a militant group named ‘Allar Dal’ from Hatirjheel area in the city Sunday night. The arrestees are Ibrahim Ahmed Hero, 64 and Md Shafiqul Islam Suruj, 38 of Pabna, Abdul Aziz, 50 of Gaibandha and Md Rashidul Islam, 28 of Kurigram. On secret information, the ... Read More »