WORLD

23-March-2024 India has brought 35 captured Somali pirates to Mumbai to stand trial, days after its navy recaptured a hijacked bulk carrier and rescued several hostages. The destroyer INS Kolkata, which led the rescue operation, docked in India’s financial capital early on Saturday, a navy statement said Captured Somali pirates arrive in India to face trial over ship hijacking, The 35 men are to be prosecuted for the hijacking of cargo vessel MV Ruen in December when they took the crew hostage. The hijacking of the Maltese-flagged MV Ruen in December, east of Socotra in the northern Arabian Sea, was the first time since 2017 that any cargo vessel had been successfully boarded by Somali pirates. Indian naval commandos took control of the vessel on March 17, some...

March 22, 2024 Global water crisis fuelling more conflicts, UN report warns Water resources under stress as economies and populations grow with 2.2 billion people lacking clean drinking water Increasing global water scarcity is fuelling more conflicts and contributing to instability, the United Nations warns in a new report, which says access to clean water is critical to promoting peace. The UN World Water Development Report 2024, released on Friday, said 2.2 billion people worldwide have no access to clean drinking water and 3.5 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation Girls and women are the first victims of a lack of water, said the report, published by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), especially in rural areas where t...

22- March-2024 Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has promoted his son as head of the army, raising concerns that he is grooming his eldest child for the presidency. The Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs announced late on Thursday that General Muhoozi Kainerugaba had been appointed the chief of defence forces, capping his rapid ascent through the Ugandan army ranks since the late 1990s The veteran leader’s move led to speculation that he is preparing his son, 49, to succeed him as president. In a now-deleted post on X last year, Kainerugaba said he intended to run for the presidency in the 2026 elections, although he has reportedly also denied claims he is eyeing the top job. Recently, the president’s son has been holding rallies around the country, violatin...

13-March-2024 The United States House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that could eventually ban the social media platform TikTok in the country, in its latest salvo against both China and big tech. The bill received resoundingly bipartisan support, with vote of 352 to 65 in favour. It now heads to the 100-member Senate, where its prospects are less clear. For his part, President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill into law if it reached his desk If that happened, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance would be given about six months to divest from its US assets or see its video-sharing app banned in the US. The legislation stems from concerns that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government. Government officials have expressed fea...

13-March-2024 UK plans to pay asylum seekers to move to Rwanda. Plans are separate from the ‘Rwanda bill’, a stalled plan to forcibly deport most asylum seekers to the African country. The United Kingdom’s government is considering plans to pay asylum seekers whose applications have failed up to 3,000 British pounds ($3,840) to move to Rwanda. The proposed scheme, part of a deal struck with Rwanda, was drawn up by ministers with the aim of clearing a backlog of tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have been refused the right to stay, but cannot be returned to countries deemed unsafe The plan is separate from the controversial “Rwanda bill“, an earlier plan to forcibly deport most asylum seekers to Rwanda. Instead, it extends an existing policy in which people are o...

11 Mar 2024 Ramadan is a time of self-reflection, family and joy for more than 1.8 billion Muslims around the world犀利士 . But with Israel’s war on Gaza dragging on, killing more than 31,000 Palestinians and plunging the tiny coastal enclave deeper into a humanitarian crisis, this year’s Islamic holy month – which began on Sunday night – has a different feeling In Canada, the Muslim community’s pain over the situation in Gaza – and a widely held belief that Canadian politicians are not doing enough to stem the crisis – has spurred an unprecedented campaign this Ramadan. “We’re seeing our brothers and sisters in Palestine die every single day. We’re seeing a number of horrific images flooding in,” said Fatema Abdalla, advocacy officer with the National Council of Canadia...

10-- March-2024 Following the sighting of the crescent by the moon-sighting committee, Saudi Arabia has announced that the first day of fasting will be Monday, March 11. There are about 1.9 billion Muslims around the world, approximately 25 percent of the world population. Indonesia has the world’s highest Muslim population, with some 240 million Muslims living in the country. Pakistan is second with about 225 million Muslims, followed by India (211 million), Bangladesh (155 million), and Nigeria (111 million) Many Muslims around the world are preparing for a month of fasting and the festivities that come with it. During the month, Muslims who observe the fast wake up before sunrise to have a pre-fasting meal, or suhoor, and break their fast at sunset with ...