Personnel at Belarus’ diplomatic mission to NATO will have their access restricted at the alliance’s headquarters, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, following the forced landing of a passenger plane by Minsk. Belarus is not a member of NATO but has had ties with the military alliance since 1992 following the fall of the Soviet… Read More NATO restricts Belarusian access to alliance headquarters
The widely-monitored national security case of 47 Hong Kong opposition figures charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, most of whom have been in custody for the past three months, will resume on July 8, a judge ruled on Monday. Defendants will receive evidence against them before June 28 and they can make a plea at… Read More Hong Kong democracy activists trial to resume on July 8
At least 55 people were killed overnight in two attacks on villages in eastern Congo, the United Nations said on Monday, in potentially the worst night of violence the area has seen in at least four years. The army and a local civil rights group blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist armed group,… Read More Dozens dead following attacks on villages in eastern Congo
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appeared in court on Monday in his defamation suit against a Malaysian writer, over an article he has said contained false statements about the home of his late father, the city-state’s first premier. Lee filed a lawsuit against Rubaashini Shunmuganathan for her story on a Singapore news site in… Read More Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong appears in court over defamation case against news writer
Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region held its first parliamentary election for 16 years on Monday, in what politicians there describe as evidence of its comparative stability. The region, which broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for its independence, has been largely peaceful while the rest of Somalia has suffered… Read More Somaliland holds first parliamentary election in sixteen years
Egypt’s intelligence chief met Hamas leaders in Gaza on Monday in an effort to bolster a ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group and Israel and to discuss reconstruction plans following the recent hostilities, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said. The visit was the first by an Egyptian intelligence chief to the enclave since the early 2000s.… Read More Egypt’s intelligence chief meets with Hamas leaders for Gaza truce talks
Married Chinese couples may have up to three children, China announced on Monday, in a major shift from the existing limit of two after recent data showed a dramatic decline in births in the world’s most populous country. Beijing scrapped its decades-old one-child policy in 2016, replacing it with a two-child limit to try and… Read More China increases births limit to three in major policy shift
Russia will defend Belarus and help it if the European Union imposes economic sanctions on Minsk over the grounding of a plane and arrest of a dissident blogger, the RIA news agency cited a Russian foreign ministry official as saying. Many European nations have imposed flight bans on Belarusian aviation over the forced landing of… Read More Russia vows to support Belarus in event of EU sanctions
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