Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan civil war reached a brutal conclusion on May 18, 2009, ending a 25-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist rebel group. Rooted in longstanding grievances, including discriminatory policies against Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the conflict saw the [...]
Search Results for: 2017-06-21
UN deploys peacekeepers to northwest Central African Republic following massacre
The United Nations (UN) deployed peacekeepers to the northwest of the Central African Republic (CAR) after a deadly attack last week that killed 23 civilians. According to a Wednesday report from the UN, the 3R rebel group was allegedly responsible for the attack which occurred in the Nzakoundou village. The peacekeepers were sent to “strengthen [...]
US government to settle class-action lawsuit against Trump-era family separation policy
The US government announced on Monday that it will settle a 2018 class-action lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration’s family separation practice at the US-Mexico border. The parties filed a joint petition asking the court to approve the settlement. The proposed settlement would create a process to reunify families who were separated. Additionally, the government [...]
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of powerful Russian mercenary group Wagner, died in a plane crash on Wednesday, alongside the group’s alleged founder Dmitry Utkin. “The Wagner leadership has confirmed the deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin,” according to the Wagner Group Telegram channel, which for several hours prior had urged the public to “not panic” as rumors [...]
Ethiopia lifts five month ban on social networks and messaging services
The Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), an organization that tracks online censorship, found Wednesday that access to social networks and messaging services had been restored to Ethiopia after five months of restriction. An Agence France Presse (AFP) journalist in Addis Ababa confirmed the block was removed, accessing Facebook, Instagram and TikTok without a Virtual [...]
The Battle for Inclusion: Pakistan's Transgender Community Faces Setbacks with Shariat Court Verdict
Pakistan’s transgender community finds itself embroiled in an ongoing struggle for inclusion, facing a recent setback with a verdict from the Federal Shariat Court (FSC). Transgender activists in Pakistan have appealed the judgement of the Federal Shariat Court (“FSC”), which adjudicates based on the tenets of Islam, to the Supreme Court (“SC”). As many as [...]
While animal rights organizations like PETA are advocating an unparalleled realm of animal protection by prompting people to convert to veganism and altogether avoiding animals in food, clothing, and drug-testing, India is still stuck in a conservative era where animals are cruelly treated in the name of upholding the “tradition and culture” of a community. [...]
Hunter Biden charged with failure to pay taxes and unlawful possession of a firearm
The US Attorney for the District of Delaware charged Hunter Biden, US President Joe Biden’s son, on Tuesday with tax and firearm offenses. Biden faces two tax-related charges. Those charges include two violations of 26 U.S.C. § 7203 which criminalizes willfully failing to file a tax return, supply tax information or pay taxes. The first [...]
India Needs to End Discriminatory Ban on LGBTQ+ Blood Donations
The act of donating blood is often lauded as a benevolent and altruistic act with the potential to save countless lives. However, members of the LGBTQ+ community are routinely excluded from participation in this philanthropic endeavour. Recently, the Indian government, citing scientific data, defended its decision to forbid LGBTQ+ individuals from donating blood. This issue [...]
The Organization of American States’ (OAS) was presented with a crucial opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to democracy last month, as its Permanent Council turned its attention towards Haiti. The nation’s current crisis is one that is directly connected to the actions taken by members of its ruling Tèt Kale party (PHTK), which for the [...]