Nearly 1,000 killed as fighting rages for 2nd day

October 8, 2023

Israel battered Gaza on Sunday, a day after suffering its bloodiest attack in decades when Hamas fighters rampaged through Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting an unknown number of others, threatening a major new war in the Middle East, global news agencies report. In a sign the conflict could spread beyond Gaza, Israel and Lebanon’s […]Continue Reading

How the Hamas attack on Israel unfolded

October 7, 2023

A surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, which combined gunmen breaching security barriers with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza, was launched at dawn today during the Jewish high holiday of Simchat Torah, AFP reports. The attack came 50 years and a day after Egyptian and Syrian forces launched an assault during the Jewish […]Continue Reading

Hamas deals big blow to Saudi-Israel normalisation of ties

October 7, 2023

With its surprise attack against Israel, Hamas has violently shifted the world’s eyes back to the Palestinians and dealt a severe blow to momentum to secure a landmark US-brokered deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, AFP reports. The Iranian-backed Islamist militants who run the impoverished, blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday fired thousands of rockets and […]Continue Reading

Hamas-Israel ‘war’: 250 killed in Israel; 232 in Gaza

October 7, 2023

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took Israel by surprise today (Oct 7) with the biggest attack for decades, a sudden assault by gunmen who crossed into Israeli villages, killed dozens of people and brought hostages back into the Gaza Strip, global news agencies report. Israel responded with massive air strikes deep inside the coastal enclave, killing […]Continue Reading

Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins Nobel Peace Prize

October 6, 2023

Imprisoned Iranian women’s rights advocate Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a rebuke to Tehran’s theocratic leaders and boost for anti-government protesters, prompting the Islamic Republic’s condemnation, Reuters reports. The award-making committee said the prize honoured those behind recent unprecedented demonstrations in Iran and Continue Reading

Myanmar’s cash-strapped junta hikes taxes, utilities despite surging inflation

October 2, 2023

Myanmar’s cash-starved military regime is again preying on householders and businesses in a desperate bid to prop up its coffers, The Irrawaddy reports. In its latest moves, the regime has increased utility bills while announcing that license fees for jade and gems dealers will be hiked sixfold next year. The state-owned Myanmar Gems Enterprise issued […]Continue Reading

Arakan Army searches Western Myanmar for Muslim ‘criminal gangs’

September 30, 2023

The ethnic Rakhine armed group, the Arakan Army (AA), has been searching Muslim villages near the Bangladesh border in Rakhine State, searching for Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) alleged criminals, The Irrawaddy reports. Large numbers of AA troops have been searching at least nine Muslim villages in northern Buthidaung Township since last week, said residents. […]Continue Reading

UK, Canada, Taiwan criticise Myanmar as generals unleash ‘corrective purge’

September 30, 2023

The United Kingdom and Canada have joined the United States in condemning plans by Myanmar’s coup leaders to hold tightly controlled elections, as Taiwan voiced strong criticism of the regime’s atrocities and crackdown on its opponents, Al Jazeera reports. Their condemnation is an indication of the hardening divisions between China and Russia on one side, […]Continue Reading

UN: Myanmar military ups airstrikes, mass killings to subjugate population

September 26, 2023

NEWS DESK Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, is calling for international action to bring an end to the increasingly brutal, repressive regime of Myanmar’s military, which toppled the country’s democratically elected government February 1, 2021, VOA reports. In a report submitted Tuesday to the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. rights […]Continue Reading

Myanmar junta massacres Sagaing resistance fighters

September 24, 2023

Myanmar’s junta killed 24 Sagaing Region resistance fighters and two civilian administrators on Friday evening, according to rebel groups, The Irrawaddy reports. Troops stationed at the entrance of Myaung Township reportedly surrounded resistance fighters from the Chay Yar Taw People’s Defense Force (PDF) and other PDFs under the civilian National Unity Government. “They Continue Reading