Author: Disha Mishra
Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish militant leader jailed by Turkey who called on Thursday for his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to dissolve and all groups to lay down arms, is an influential figure among the main Kurdish groups in northeastern Syria. Turkey hopes the statement will pave the way for Ocalan’s outlawed PKK to disarm, potentially ending the insurgency it has been waging against the Turkish state since 1984 and in which 40,000 people have been killed. Here’s a primer on Syria’s main Kurdish groups and their PKK ties. BORN IN CIVIL WAR After the start of Syria’s civil war in…
China’s defence ministry said on Thursday that drills which had alarmed Taiwan off its coast were “routine” and the island should stop complaining, as Taipei reported a surge in Chinese military activity, although no live-fire exercises. Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, said on Wednesday the Chinese military had set up a zone for “shooting” drills in the southwestern part of the Taiwan Strait, off the key areas of Kaohsiung and Pingtung. Taiwan condemned the move as dangerous, provocative and a threat to commercial flights and shipping, adding that it was given no prior notice. At…
A delegation of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party visited jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan on Thursday in his island prison, where he was expected to give them a statement that Ankara hopes will pave the way for his outlawed group to disarm. Broadcaster CNN Turk said it had learned that Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was expected to give a one-page statement saying that laying down arms was a necessity and calling for a democratic struggle on a political level. Turkey’s Justice and Interior Ministries said they could not verify the authenticity of the statement published by CNN…
Militant group Hamas said on Thursday it was ready to begin talks on the second phase of a ceasefire in Gaza after several hundred Palestinians were released from Israeli jails overnight in return for the bodies of four Israeli hostages. It was the final exchange of the six-week first phase of a ceasefire in Gaza that came into effect on January 19. Israel said on Thursday morning that three of the hostages whose bodies it had received overnight had been murdered in captivity and the fourth had been killed on the day of the October 2023 Hamas raid into Israel…
More than 1,000 Syrians died in detention at a military airport on the outskirts of Damascus, killed by execution, torture or maltreatment at a site that was widely feared, according to a report to be published Thursday tracing the deaths to seven suspected grave sites. In the report, shared exclusively with Reuters, the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre said it identified the grave sites by using a combination of witness testimony, satellite imagery and documents photographed at the military airport in the Damascus suburb of Mezzeh after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December. Some sites were on the…
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach will resign as member of the Olympic body after handing over to his presidential successor in June, the IOC said on Wednesday. Bach, an Olympic fencing champion in 1976, steps down from his post this year after 12 years in charge. He will hand over on June 23 to the new president to be elected on March 20. “The IOC Executive Board today agreed to accept the resignation of IOC President Thomas Bach as an IOC Member, effective after 23 June 2025,” it said in a statement. Bach, 71, could have stayed on as…
A dishwasher-sized NASA satellite was launched into space from Florida on Wednesday to identify where water – a precious resource for lunar missions – resides on the moon’s surface in places such as the permanently shadowed craters at its poles. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral carrying NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiter. The Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin’s (LMT.N), opens new tab space division. The satellite was a secondary payload onboard the rocket, with the primary payload being a lunar lander mission led by Intuitive Machines(LUNR.O). The lunar surface…
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump declined to comment in answer to a question about whether the U.S. would ever permit China to take charge of Taiwan by force, as per Reuters report. “I never comment on that,” Trump said at the White House. “I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.” Trump spoke during a Cabinet meeting in response to a reporter’s question about whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president. He said he intended to have good relations with China, including cross-border investment, despite his imposition…
(Forelines) – Rachin Ravindra remarkable his Champions Trophy debut with a century in New Zealand’s win over Bangladesh on Monday but it was the 25-year-old’s ability to handle the pressure while batting in an unknown position that impressed teammate Tom Latham, as per Reuters report. Rachin Ravindra was rested for New Zealand’s opening victory over Pakistan following taking a blow to his forehead in a tri-series match in Lahore prior this month but returned in place of the unwell Daryl Mitchell in Rawalpindi. Batting at number four for the first time in a one-day international with the Black Caps 15-2…
On Sunday Hamas condemned Israel’s decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners and arrestees, stating its claim that the hostages’ handover ceremonies are “humiliating” was wrong and a pretext to flee Israel’s obligations under the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s decision reflects a deliberate attempt to disrupt the agreement, represents a clear violation of its terms, and shows the occupation’s lack of reliability in implementing its obligations,” according to a statement by Ezzat El Rashq, a member of the Hamas political bureau. Israel stated prior it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it…