International Issues

Former President of the Maldives and exiled leader Mohamed Nasheed on Wednesday said he intends to return to the troubled island nation soon, “come what may”. Regarded a “fugitive” by the outgoing President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, Mr. Nasheed has been living in exile the last couple of years, largely in …

Multiculturalism is robbing Britain of its communities, wrote Shaun Bailey The Conservative Party found itself mired in a controversy after it emerged that its candidate for London Mayor Shaun Bailey had written a pamphlet warning that multiculturalism was robbing Britain of its communities, pointing to the celebration of Hindu and …

Nations must ensure deportees’ safety: Bangladesh Speaker As India prepares to deport seven Rohingya “illegals” to Myanmar on Thursday, two UN agencies urged the government to refrain from doing anything that would endanger the lives of those it plans to deport. “UN High Commissioner for Refugees has expressed its view …

Describing India as a ‘pillar of multilateralism’, UN Secretary-General urges it to play a bigger role in responding to the situation India must support Bangladesh in dealing with the Rohingya crisis and put pressure on Myanmar for their return, Antonio Guterres, on his first official visit to India as the …

‘Microstars’ is a show that mixes sport, circus and collective catharsis in what Mexicans call “fights” He is just 90 centimetres (less than three feet) tall, but he packs muscles, power and swagger in a little frame: meet Microman, the smallest star in Mexican professional wrestling. Mexico’s “lucha libre,” a …

Sri Lanka does not want any foreign power exerting influence, President Maithripala Sirisena has said, while appealing to the international community for “room to resolve” the country’s problems. Mr. Sirisena made the remarks while addressing the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “As an independent …

India and other Group-4 (G-4) countries reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism and called for the early reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday. Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump pilloried multilateralism in this address to the UN General Assembly, Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Japan and Germany — Aloysio …

Barely 48 hours after outgoing Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen conceded poll defeat, the Opposition coalition that dislodged him has raised alarm over his alleged attempts to hold on to power. Its members on Wednesday accused Mr. Yameen of preparing to move the Supreme Court, seeking annulment of Sunday’s presidential election, …

The European Union (EU) said on Monday that its members would set up a payment system to allow oil companies and businesses to continue trading with Iran in a bid to evade U.S. sanctions. Iran and the European Union (EU) announced their defiance towards U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration after …

China on Tuesday signalled its expectation that the newly elected government in the Maldives will continue to back the Beijing-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as well as the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) reached with the outgoing administration of Abdulla Yameen. “China and the Maldives enjoy traditional friendship and in …

The Brexit spokesman of Britain’s main Opposition Labour Party on Tuesday raised the possibility of staying in the European Union (EU), more than two years after Britons voted to leave. Keir Starmer told the conference that another vote on Britain’s relationship with the EU should still be an option, in …

The new government in the Maldives will make resolving all recent issues with India a priority, and the problems of Indian job-holders awaiting work-visas will be a “key issue”, says a senior leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party and member of former President Mohammad Nasheed’s cabinet. While a decision is …

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe spoke to outgoing Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen and said he was always welcome in Colombo, official sources said on Tuesday. Mr. Wickremesinghe also met former President Mohamed Nasheed for lunch on Monday — after Ibrahim Mohamed Solih dislodged Mr. Yameen in the election — …

Trump not satisfied with talks: official China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it would strike back at the U.S. if Washington moved forward with new tariffs on $200 billion of its exports. “If the U.S. launches any new tariff measures, China will have to take countermeasures to firmly ensure …

For seven years, Kim Jong-un has pursued an in-your-face strategy for building his nuclear arsenal: detonating blasts underground and firing missiles into the sky, all to send the message that his country’s nuclear build-up is irreversible. Now, he appears to be changing his approach, current and former U.S. intelligence officials …

Ex-independent Mayor of NY says he now believes only a major-party nominee can win White House Michael Bloomberg is actively considering a campaign for President as a Democrat in 2020, concluding that it would be his only path to the White House even as he voices stark disagreements with progressives …

China will restrict the number of video games and take steps to curb playing time by minors to address growing rates of childhood visual impairment as the government steps up its crackdown on the world’s biggest online gaming market. A statement posted on the Education Ministry website late on Thursday …

In another era, White colonisers had landed on Africa’s coast in search of resources and slaves. The traumatic epoch of slave trade and European colonisation, with its horrific human consequences, formally ended in the 1960s and 1970s. But arguably, the basic equation of Africa’s resource-rich periphery serving the metropolitan industrial …

The State of Washington announced last month that seven fast food chains would end the practice of ‘no-poaching’ clauses in contracts with their franchisees across the U.S. ‘No-poaching’ agreements are typically between two companies that agree not to hire each other’s employees; in this case, they stipulate that franchises of …

Sorat Alam, a Rohingya leader, yearns for home, but the trauma of being brutalised in Myanmar deters him from going back to the Rakhine State. Mr. Alam and his parents fled to safety in Bangladesh after Myanmar’s Army launched widespread assaults on the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, in August …