Dutch police arrest suspected al-Nusra Front commander
Dutch police have arrested a 47-year-old Syrian suspected of being a commander for the al-Nusra Front, formerly al-Qaeda’s wing in Syria, prosecutors said on Tuesday. The man, identified by his nom-de-guerre Abu Khuder, is accused of committing war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria, where he allegedly commanded a battalion known as Ghuraba’a Mohassan, or Strangers of…
Kashmir rights groups seek UN probe into hundreds of cases of torture by Indian Army
Click:block making machine Human rights groups have called for a UN investigation into the more than 400 cases of torture allegedly carried out by the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990. A report published by the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) said at…
Syrian government ‘harassing and detaining’ former rebels
Bashar al-Assad’s government is routinely arresting people in rebel-held areas of Syria that have surrendered, according to a report by Human Rights Watch which highlights the dangers many still face as the war winds down. Former opposition fighters, media activists and aid workers are being arbitrarily detained despite having agreed to so-called “reconciliation” deals with…
North Korea blasts Joe Biden as a ‘fool of low IQ’ for criticising leader Kim Jong-un
North Korean state media slammed former US vice president Joe Biden for criticising leader Kim Jong-un, calling him "bereft of elementary quality as a human being". The criticism contrasts with North Korea’s repeated references to the good relationship between Kim and US President Donald Trump. Kim said in April his personal relationship with Mr Trump was still good despite the collapse of…
Modi mocked for meditating in Himalayan cave…with room service
India’s prime minister attracted ire and bemusement yesterday after donning saffron robes to meditate in a Himalayan cave, as the country votes in that final stage of its election. In pictures released by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the PM is seen wearing the orange garments synonymous with Hindu priests and sitting cross-legged in…
Indonesian president Joko Widodo re-elected in clear victory, but opposition claims cheating
Click:Bubble Chandeliers Joko Widodo, the incumbent Indonesian President, won last month’s election by a comfortable ten percent margin over his rival, retired General Prabowo Subianto, the country’s election commission announced early on Tuesday. The official result of 55.5% for Mr Widodo, 57, and 44.5% for his challenger confirmed unofficial counts by pollsters of the April…
British men avoid prison after conviction for coercing missing Marbella waitress
Two British men have been found guilty of coercion after they forced a waitress who was never seen again into their car outside a Costa del Sol nightclub. A Malaga court on Monday sentenced Westley Capper, the 41-year-old son of a British millionaire property developer, to two years for bundling Agnese Klavina into his Mercedes.…
Oppressed, enslaved and brutalised: The women trafficked from North Korea into China’s sex trade
Thousands of North Korean women and girls are being subjected to forced marriage, prostitution and sadistic abuse by trafficking gangs running a multi-million dollar illicit sex industry in China. A report by the Korea Future Initiative (KFI), which will be presented in the House of Commons on Monday, forensically details how vulnerable women and girls…
Donald Trump: ‘If Iran wants to fight, that will be the end of Iran’
The US is "afraid" of war with Iran, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said as tensions between Tehran and Washington intensified over the weekend. Major General Hossein Salami told the Iranian state news agency, IRNA, that the country does not want war. "The difference between us and them is that they are afraid of…
Islamic State prison riot in Tajikistan leaves 32 dead
Tajikistan’s government blamed the Islamic State (Isil) for a riot in a prison on Sunday that killed 32 people, the second time in six months it has accused the extremist group of stoking prison violence. Supporters of Isil armed with knives killed five inmates and three guards at the prison in Vakhdat, near the capital…