World

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday warned the international community that its silence on the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Kashmir would lead to severe repercussions and reactions in the Muslim world.

The prime minister in a post on Twitter said, “In IoK, 12 days of curfew, presence of extra troops in an already heavily militarized occupied territory, sending in of RSS goons, complete communication blackout; with the example of Modi's earlier ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Gujarat.”

Will the world silently witness another Srebrenica-type massacre and ethnic cleansing of Muslims in IoK?, PM Imran asked.

The prime minister added, “I want to warn international community if it allows this to happen, it will have severe repercussions and reactions in the Muslim world setting off radicalisation and cycles of violence.”

The prime minister's tweets come as the curfew and communication blackout entered its 12th day in the occupied valley.

The Indian authorities have been maintaining a strict clampdown in the valley since August 5, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Hindu nationalist government abolished the Indian constitution's Article 370, which granted special status to occupied Kashmir.

The tensions mounted in the disputed valley with unprecedented numbers of Indian troops deployed in the region. Television, telephone and internet links have been suspended and the occupied territory remains cut off from the external world due to the communication blackout.

(Geo-TV)

Boris Johnson - the former UK foreign minister and former mayor of London with a reputation for brashness, bombast, and bending the truth — has won the Conservative leadership contest, setting him up to be Britain’s new prime minister.

Which means the onetime face of Brexit will soon have the responsibility of steering the United Kingdom through its messy divorce with the European Union.

Johnson cruised through the Conservative leadership contest that began last month, his victory over his opponent, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, never really in doubt. Johnson entered the race as the clear frontrunner and easily got the backing of Conservative members of Parliament and the approximately 160,000 party voters — the 0.25 percent of Brits who ultimately got to choose the country’s next leader.

“We know the mantra of the campaign that has just gone by, in case you’ve forgotten it — you probably have. It is: deliver Brexit, unite the country, and defeat [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn,” Johnson said during his victory speech on Tuesday. “And that is what we’re going to do.”

But winning might have been the easy part. Johnson is expected to takes over as the prime minister on July 24 with the latest Brexit deadline just about three months away, on October 31. And besides a change in leadership — Theresa May out, Johnson in — not much else has shifted. The UK is still divided over how, or whether, to break up with the EU, and May’s original, unpopular deal is still the only one on offer from Brussels.

Johnson, a vocal proponent of Brexit, has said he will renegotiate May’s Brexit deal. The problem is that the EU has said it will not renegotiate, and Johnson’s plan to break the impasse primarily relies on ideas the EU has already rejected and the power of positive thinking.

Johnson has vowed that the UK will leave the European Union on October 31, though, with or without a deal. Time will tell whether that’s mostly campaign bluster or a real strategy, but Johnson has been much more willing to publicly stake out that position.

This hardline stance is at least part of the reason Johnson succeeded in his bid to become prime minister. The tortured EU-UK divorce has polarized the discourse around Brexit, hardening support among Brexit supporters to just break free from the EU at any cost. Parliament, however, remains largely opposed to leaving without a deal, and their objections could make governing as difficult — or more so — for Johnson as it was for May.

And one of the longstanding critiques of Johnson, the former mayor of London, is that he has a habit of making politically expedient promises. He’s said Britain’s political parties face “extinction” if they fail to deliver Brexit. How serious he is about delivering Brexit on October 31 will profoundly shape the future of Britain, and the entire European continent.

Who is Boris Johnson?

Johnson is a 55-year-old Conservative member of Parliament, former foreign minister, and former mayor of London. He’s a polarizing figure within British politics. His supporters embrace his bluntness and wit, controversial statements and all. His critics see him as an calculated self-aggrandizer with malleable political convictions.

Then-London Mayor Boris Johnson got stuck on a zipline during BT London Live in Victoria Park on August 1, 2012. Getty Images

Johnson is among the most popular Conservative politicians in a party that isn’t too popular right now. He’s seen as gaffe-prone, from harmless flubs to more controversial racist, sexist, Islamophobic comments.

He was also one of the main figures who advocated for the UK to leave the EU during the 2016 referendum. Johnson remains an ardent Brexiteer, and he’s been a loud (if inconsistent) critic of May’s Brexit deal.

Johnson began his career as a journalist, the highlights of which include getting fired from the Times of London in 1988 for fabricating a quote and working as the Brussels correspondent, where his skeptical coverage of the EU helped fuel some of the EU backlash that would arrive in force during that 2016 referendum.

Johnson became a Conservative member of Parliament in 2001. In 2008, he mounted a bid to become the mayor of London, won in a stunning upset, and ultimately served two terms where he showed his love of publicity stunts and branding exercises.

(AFP) - The death toll from Typhoon Lekima rose to 49 on Tuesday and 21 were still missing after the monster storm wreaked havoc on China's eastern coast, causing huge damage with strong gales and torrential rain.

Lekima hit the three Chinese provinces of Zhejiang, Shandong and Anhui over the weekend and forced more than a million residents to flee.

China's official news agency Xinhua said late Monday that at least 49 people are dead with dozens still missing.

Footage on state broadcaster CCTV showed flooded fields and streets, submerged vehicles, scattered debris and trees blown over as strong winds and rain pounded cities along the seaboard.

Lekima, China's ninth typhoon of this year, made landfall early on Saturday in the eastern province of Zhejiang / Reuters.

Lekima made landfall in Zhejiang province on Saturday, which bore the brunt of the damage after the storm hit with winds of nearly 190 kilometres per hour (120 miles per hour) and pounded the coast with waves several metres in height.

Xinhua said the rainfall recorded this weekend in Shandong province was the largest since records began in 1952.

The natural disaster has inflicted economic losses of at least 26 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion), authorities said.

Rescue workers were shown on CCTV using boats and rope pulleys to carry out stranded residents over the weekend.

Thousands of flights were cancelled and train routes disrupted due to the typhoon, the state broadcaster reported, as Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities grounded planes.

Hundreds of tourist sites along the coast, including Shanghai Disneyland, were closed ahead of the storm.

India will relaunch a mission to land a rover on the moon, in what would be a first for a nation that is trying to become a space superpower.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-2 moon mission will launch at 5:13 a.m. EDT (0913 GMT) on Monday from the agency's Satish Dhawan Space Center on the island of Sriharikota about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Chennai. The local time at liftoff will be 2:43 p.m. IST.

India initially tried to launch the Chandrayaan-2 mission Sunday (July 14) using its powerful Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III-M1 rocket, but they called off the attempt due to a "technical snag" an hour before liftoff. The glitch was reportedly related to a helium pressurization system on the rocket's cryogenic stage, according to Spaceflight Now.

The Chandrayaan-2, which weighs 3.8 tons and carries 13 payloads, has three elements -- lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft (bottom) and its Vikram lander (top) are prepared to be encapsulated by a payload fairing before being loaded on their Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III-M1 rocket for a July 2019 launch.
(Image credit: India Space Research Organisation)

It will travel for two months, before positioning itself in a circular orbit 62 miles (100km) above the moon's surface. From there, the lander -- named Vikram after the pioneer of the Indian space program Vikram Sarabhai -- will separate from the main vessel and gently land on the moon's surface near its South Pole.

A robotic rover named 'Pragyan' (meaning "wisdom") will then deploy and spend one lunar day, or 14 Earth days, collecting mineral and chemical samples from the moon's surface for remote scientific analysis.

Sushma Swaraj, one of India's best known politicians, has died.

Ms Swaraj, who served as foreign minister for five years, suffered a cardiac arrest on Tuesday, the Press Trust of India said.

She was a popular minister in Narendra Modi's first term as prime minister, but did not contest parliamentary elections earlier this year.

She became known for helping Indians stuck abroad by responding to them on Twitter.

Ms Swaraj, 67, had been suffering from poor health and had a kidney transplant in 2016.

She was cremated with full state honours in the capital Delhi. Senior leaders across political parties and BJP lawmakers, including Prime Minster Narendra Modi, attended the funeral.

The news of her death prompted an outpouring of grief and condolences both from fellow politicians and from Indians across the globe.

"A glorious chapter in Indian politics comes to an end," Mr Modi said on Twitter.

"India grieves the demise of a remarkable leader who devoted her life to public service and bettering lives of the poor. Sushma Swaraj Ji was one of her kind, who was a source of inspiration," he said.

"Shocked & saddened to hear of the passing away of Sushma Ji," Sri Lanka's Minister of Finance and former Foreign Minister Mr. Mangala Samaraweera said.

"India has lost a great leader & SriLanka a dear friend," he added.

Police, environmental authorities, wildlife and forestry agencies, border patrols, and customs agents in 109 countries last month banded together for Operation Thunderball, the world’s largest-ever anti-wildlife trafficking endeavor. And their joint efforts were enormously successful.

On July 10, the World Customs Organization (WCO) announced that the joint operation, conducted with the international police agency Interpol throughout June, “resulted in the seizure of large quantities of protected flora and fauna across every continent.” Based out of Interpol in Singapore, the agencies coordinated seizures of illegally-trafficked plant and animals around the globe, arresting nearly 580 suspects. They have plans to arrest many more, WCO secretary general Kunio Mikuriya said in a statement.

Slender billed parakeets siezed by Police in Chile/PIC: INTERPOL

Interpol and WCO have worked together before, but had never previously cooperated on a mission with such a comprehensive scale involving so many authorities from different agencies around the globe. And they say they will do it again. “As clearly illustrated by the results of Operation Thunderball, close cooperation at international and national levels to combat wildlife crime must never be under-estimated,” Mikuriya said. “Such initiatives will be replicated to raise awareness within the global law enforcement community on the gravity of global wildlife crime and to better coordinate cross-agency efforts, including the engagement of civil society groups to detect and deter wildlife criminal networks.”

The bust resulted in nearly 1,830 seizures of growing things and creatures, found both dead and alive, whole and in parts. Authorities from around the world captured 23 live primates, 30 big cats, 440 elephant tusk pieces and 1200 additional pounds of ivory, five rhino horns, more than 4,300 birds, almost 1,500 reptiles and nearly 10,000 turtles and tortoises, about 7,700 wildlife parts from a range of species, 74 truckloads of timber, 2,600 plants, and almost 10,000 “marine wildlife items.”

Wildlife traffickers were caught both in the act of smuggling and while engaging in online sales. For example, the WCO said it seized seven packages of pangolin parts in Nigeria. The parts were headed for Asia. Meanwhile, in Uruguay, three suspects were caught while smuggling more than 400 protected wildlife species. In Spain, illegal online trade led to 21 arrests, and in Italy 1,850 birds were seized based on online investigations.

Ivory seizures by Kenyan wildlife patrols/ PIC: INTERPOL

Wildlife traffickers were caught both in the act of smuggling and while engaging in online sales. For example, the WCO said it seized seven packages of pangolin parts in Nigeria. The parts were headed for Asia. Meanwhile, in Uruguay, three suspects were caught while smuggling more than 400 protected wildlife species. In Spain, illegal online trade led to 21 arrests, and in Italy 1,850 birds were seized based on online investigations.

Six explosions, one near a famous skyscraper, have hit Bangkok as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended a regional security summit. Unconfirmed reports suggest that other devices were found across the city.

At least four people were injured on Friday when several small bombs went off in the Thai capital, Bangkok, during the morning rush hour, police said.

The explosions sounded as the city hosted a regional security meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), along with representatives from the United States, China and Russia.

Two men were reported arrested, though it is unclear what their connection to the bombings may be.

The men were detained after wires and ball bearings were found in an inactive device outside police headquarters. Thai authorities confirmed the discovery was linked to the attacks. However, later information available to DW showed the men had no discernable connection to the attack.

Police head Jakthip Chaijinda said the men originated from the Muslim-majority region bordering Malaysia which is in the midst of a 15 year insurgency that has resulted in nearly 7000 deaths.

However, the superintendent said it was "too early" to establish a distinct connection to the rebellion.

Pingpong bombs

The Thai government has told the public not to panic following six small explosions in Bangkok

One blast hit the city's Suanluang district, a short distance from the international airport.

"Three people received slight injuries from shrapnel," local official Renu Suesattaya told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

Suesattaya, director of the Suanluang region, said: "I received a report that they are pingpong bombs hidden in bushes by the road."

"Pingpong bombs" are called as such due to their size.

 Government and business districts hit

At least three other bombs detonated in the area around a government complex hosting several ministries on the northern side of the city.

Thai media reported two further blasts near a Skytrain station in the city's Silom business district, including one close to a famous downtown skyscraper.

Eyewitnesses said a security guard was hurt close to the 77-story King Power Mahanakhon building. Police cordoned off nearby streets and conducted a full search of the area.

There were unconfirmed reports of several other devices being found across the city. Police said one small explosive was recovered before it blew up.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-chaimmediately ordered an investigation into the blasts.

"I would like to condemn those causing a situation which destroys peace and damages the country's image. I have instructed officials to take care of public safety and those affected promptly," he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts. Thailand has a long history of political violence linked to mass protests, coups and short-lived governments.

Bangkok was hit by a series of small bomb blasts in 2017 in opposition to Thailand's then-military junta. One man was jailed for planting a bomb that wounded 21 people at a hospital.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and China's top diplomat Wang Yi are in the Thai capital on Friday to attend the regional security meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Geneva (AFP) - The world faces "a climate apartheid" where the wealthy are better able to adjust to a hotter planet while the poor suffer the worst from climate change, a UN expert said Monday.

In a new report, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, warned that "climate change threatens to undo the last 50 years of progress... in poverty reduction."

Alston's report, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next week, cited previous research that climate change could leave 140 million across the developing world homeless by 2050.

"Perversely, while people in poverty are responsible for just a fraction of global emissions, they will bear the brunt of climate change, and have the least capacity to protect themselves," Alston said in a statement.

"We risk a 'climate apartheid' scenario where the wealthy pay to escape overheating, hunger and conflict while the rest of the world is left to suffer."

The expert noted that despite global alarm bells ringing over the threat of climate change, the issue remains a "marginal concern" within the human rights community.

He specifically criticised the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for not devoting enough attention and resources to the issue.

"As a full-blown crisis that threatens the human rights of vast numbers of people bears down, the usual piecemeal, issue-by-issue human rights methodology is woefully insufficient," he said.

All special rapporteurs are independent experts who do not speak for the UN but report their finding to the world body.

The estranged wife of the ruler of Dubai has asked an English court for a forced marriage protection order relating to their children and a non-molestation order after the breakdown of the marriage.

Princess Haya of Jordan, 45, appeared in the family court division of the high court, central London, on Tuesday, for a preliminary hearing.

A forced marriage protection order aims to protect a person who has been or is being forced into marriage. Non-molestation orders can protect against violence or harassment by a partner, ex-partner or family member.

Princess Haya, the daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, married Sheikh Mohammed in 2004. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who did not appear at the hearing, is arguing in the same proceedings for the return of the couple’s two children to Dubai. Princess Haya has applied for wardship of the children.

The case is being heard by Andrew McFarlane, the president of the high court’s family division.

The bare facts of the applications sought by the disputing parties can be reported after the Guardian, with the support of other media organisations, challenged restrictions imposed on the case.

This month in a highly unusual move after extensive international publicity, the couple issued a statement saying the proceedings were “concerned with the welfare of the two children of their marriage and do not concern divorce or finances”.

Before the breakdown of their marriage, Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya had been described as a perfect couple and often appeared together at international social events. Princess Haya, the daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, is close to the British royal family and owns an £85m house near Kensington Palace. She married Sheikh Mohammed in 2004 and is his sixth wife.

Sheikh Mohammed, 70, is vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates as well as ruler of Dubai. The billionaire sheikh is also the founder of the successful Godolphin horse racing stable and last month received a trophy from the Queen after one of his horses won a race at Royal Ascot.

The princess was educated at private schools in the UK and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University. She has served on the International Olympic Committee and has been a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations world food programme.

The Emirati royal family has already been subjected to unwelcome publicity over the case of Princess Latifa, Sheikh Mohammed’s daughter. She allegedly escaped Dubai and was seized by commandos off the coast of India and returned to her home.

Emirati authorities rubbished allegations over Princess Latifa’s treatment and abduction as fiction, saying she was “vulnerable to exploitation” and had been kidnapped.

Princess Haya’s legal team includes Fiona Shackleton, who represented Prince Charles during his divorce from Princess Diana.

The sheikh’s team includes Helen Ward QC, of Stewarts Law, who has previously represented Andrew Lloyd Webber, Paloma Picasso, Guy Ritchie and Bernie Ecclestone.

(The Guardian)

A missile fired by Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels hit a Saudi airport on Wednesday, wounding 26 people and ratcheting up regional tensions just as international efforts to avert escalation get underway.

The projectile hit the arrival section at Abha International airport in the southwest of the country, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Yemen’s Houthis said earlier in the day that they had used a cruise missile to target the airport, a claim that couldn’t be independently verified.

The rebels have launched dozens of missile attacks on Saudi targets over the past four years. But the unusually-high casualty toll is the latest signal that the group’s attacks on the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

A drone strike hit a Saudi Aramco facility hundreds of kilometers away from the Yemeni border last month, prompting the oil company to temporarily shut one of its key pipelines.

Saudi officials said that attack was ordered by Iran, but didn’t provide evidence to back their claims. The U.S. has also blamed Iran for sabotaging tankers near the Persian Gulf using naval mines, a claim Tehran denies.

“The Houthi capabilities are getting better,” said Elisabeth Kendall, a senior research fellow at Oxford University. “This is one sign of how the war has backfired on Saudi Arabia. It was intended to reduce Iranian influence but instead it has increased it.”

The prospects of a showdown between the U.S., its Arab allies on one hand, and Iran on the other, have spiked since the Trump administration stopped granting waivers to buyers of Iranian oil early in May. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. last year from a landmark 2015 agreement meant to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear weapon.

Bahrain, a member of the Saudi-led alliance fighting in Yemen, described Wednesday’s incident as a “dangerous escalation carried out by Iranian weapons,” Foreign Minister Khalid al-Khalifa said on Twitter.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark Tadawul All Share Index trimmed gains after the kingdom’s authorities acknowledged the attack. It was trading 0.4 percent higher at 1:18 p.m. local time. The civil aviation authority said the airport was operating normally, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported around midday.

More than 100 people, including 26 children, have died in air strikes on hospitals, schools, markets and bakeries in north-west Syria in the past 10 days, a top UN official says.

Human rights chief Michelle Bachelet blamed the attacks in rebel-held areas on the government and its allies.

But the attacks were met with "apparent international indifference", she said.

Syria and its ally Russia have both denied targeting civilians in air strikes in the Idlib region.

Speaking to reporters, Ms Bachelet criticised the "failure of leadership by the world's most powerful nations".

The rising death toll in Idlib had been met with a "collective shrug" and the conflict had fallen off the international radar, while the UN Security Council was paralysed, she said.

She said the civilian targets were unlikely to have been accidental and warned that those carrying out the attacks could be charged with war crimes.

"Intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes, and those who have ordered them or carried them out are criminally responsible for their actions," Ms Bachelet said. What is happening in Syria?

Idlib province, along with the north of Hama province and western Aleppo province, is one of the last opposition strongholds in Syria after eight years of civil war.

It is supposedly covered by a truce brokered in September by Russia and opposition-backer Turkey that spared the 2.7 million civilians living there from a major government offensive.

Last week, the UN said more than 350 civilians had been killed and 330,000 forced to flee their homes since fighting escalated on 29 April.

But that figure has now been revised, adding 103 extra deaths in the past 10 days alone. The estimate for the number displaced stands at more than 400,000.

The government - which is backed by the Russian air force - said the increase in attacks was due to repeated truce violations by jihadists linked to al-Qaeda who dominate the opposition stronghold.

Russia has denied reports earlier this week that it carried out airstrikes on a market and residential areas which left at least 31 civilians dead.

(BBC)

Donald Trump’s trade wars with China, Mexico and Europe have sent global investment tumbling, according to a World Bank report that forecasts worldwide growth this year will slip back to levels not seen since 2016.

The Washington-based lender to developing world countries said in its half-yearly global health check that spiralling political uncertainty was to blame for a slowdown in trade and a collapse in investment spending that will push down GDP growth to 2.6% this year “before inching up to 2.7% in 2020”.

The decision by the Trump administration to impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports and prolonged Brexit uncertainty were among a string of events to increase the World Bank’s policy uncertainty index to a record high.

The report’s gloomy findings were echoed in a speech on Tuesday by the US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, who pledged to take “appropriate” measures to protect the US economy from the impact of trade wars.

In what was widely seen as a hint that the Fed could cut interest rates in the coming months if the US economy cools, Powell told a monetary policy conference in Chicago that the central bank was “closely monitoring the implications” of ongoing trade disputes.

He said: “We don’t know how or when these issues will be resolved. As always, we will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion.”

Stock markets tumbled last month as traders began to fear an escalation in Washington’s tit-for-tat with Beijing over import tariffs. Oil prices have tumbled and investors have piled into safe haven assets such as gold – with prices up 4% on Tuesday – and German sovereign bonds.

Trump warned Mexico last week that it could face higher tariffs on all its exports to the US if it failed to reduce migration. Washington said a 5% tariff on all goods would be imposed as early as next week and rise to 25% by October.

Manufacturing output across the world has been especially hard hit, with surveys showing a sharp decline in growth across most regions. In the UK, a major survey found manufacturing contracted last month. The picture was gloomier still across Ireland and continental Europe, where output slowed at an even faster pace.

The World Bank said emerging economies in Asia, South America and Africa were constrained by sluggish investment “and risks are tilted to the downside”.

It said in the report, Global Economic Prospects: Heightened Tensions, Subdued Investment, that rising trade barriers increased the financial stress on trade-dependent economies, such as Turkey, and created sharper-than-expected slowdowns in major economies, especially in Europe.

Developing-world governments have reacted to the fall in private sector investment by borrowing to fill the gap, increasing the risk of financial instability should global growth slow further.

David Malpass, the World Bank group president, said: “Stronger economic growth is essential to reducing poverty and improving living standards. Current economic momentum remains weak, while heightened debt levels and subdued investment growth in developing economies are holding countries back from achieving their potential.”

Malpass, who was appointed earlier this year to succeed previous president Jim Yong Kim, added that developing-world countries should hold back on borrowing further funds unless it was for growth and investment.

“It’s urgent that countries make significant structural reforms that improve the business climate and attract investment. They also need to make debt management and transparency a high priority so that new debt adds to growth and investment.”

Some countries expected by the World Bank to see an improvement in GDP growth this year have already started to go backwards, according to recent figures.

South Africa’s economy suffered its worst quarter since the financial crisis. The economy shrank at an annual rate of 3.2% in the first three months of 2019, knocking it off course from the 1.1% growth expected by the World Bank this year.

South Africa’s manufacturing, mining and agricultural sectors all shrank, in a blow to the newly re-elected president Cyril Ramaphosa. Agriculture contracted by 13%, mining fell 11%, while manufacturing decreased by 8.8% year-on-year.

Australia’s economy has also slowed, forcing the central bank to reduce interest rates to a record low of 1.25%.