https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/18/five-americans-land-in-doha-after-release-in-us-iran-prisoner-swap Iran and the United States have just completed a prisoner swap. Iran is returning 5 prisoners who were arrested on charges of espionage. The United States is returning 5 prisoners accused of being Iranian agents, along with $6 billion in assets that the US had sanctions on. 2 of the prisoners the United States released have returned to Iran,… Read more »
https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-elections-sharif-khan-kashmir-afghanistan-a81c125c0abe3bc963294733a15ef7b0 Pakistan is undergoing a new parliamentary election in January 2024. However, there are some worries that the military is going to manipulate the results to ensure that the recently incarcerated Imran Khan’s political party does not win. Khan is a former Pakistani premier who was arrested on corruption charges and sentenced to 3 years in prison. Pakistan’s interim Prime… Read more »
Although not terribly recent India has been having problems for a long time with the Punjab region in Northwestern India and its large Sikh and Muslim communities. Recently many Sikhs have called for an independent region of India called Khalistan and to declare a war for independence if they are unallowed to break free. The leader of this movement, Amritpal… Read more »
In New York on September 18, 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with foreign ministers of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Following the meeting, the US and GCC issued a joint statement against Iran. Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani has come out to call these accusations “empty” and saying they only benefit “ill-wishers.” The statement being… Read more »
Link to article: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/hardeep-singh-nijjar-gambit-backfires-on-justin-trudeau/articleshow/103844041.cms Among the Khalistan movement, a Canadian citizen and pro-Khalistan Sikh separatist leader was murdered. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered in British Columbia and his murder remains unsolved. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India and New Delhi of helping in the assassination of the separatist. India’s media has taken offense to this and claims this… Read more »
Link to article: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-india-and-saudi-arabias-strategic-partnership-matters-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-al-saud-prime-minister-narendra-modi/articleshow/103573680.cms There was a meeting in New Delhi on Monday September 11th, 2023 between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. They talked about their current positive relationship and how they would like to continue that, as well as, their trade agreements. The trade between India and Saudi Arabia was $52.75 billion… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/where-iran-stands-taliban-takeover-afghanistan The Taliban is an Islamic terrorist group. They threaten the citizens’ political and civil rights. This creates chaos in the country because citizens never have a say and never feel fully safe. In 2021, the U.S military departed from Afghanistan leaving them to fight the Taliban on their own. The Afghanistan President, Ashraf Ghani, fled as… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.afghanistantimes.af/russia-ready-to-expand-transport-routes-through-afghanistan-to-south-asia/ Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin recently stated that Russia is prepared to work on the expansion of Eurasian transport routes, down to Afghanistan and South Asia. Following a meeting with Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, Mishutin spoke on the expansion saying, “its implementation will boost trade and economic cooperation between all project participants.” Mishutin has continued… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/15/key-afghanistan-pakistan-border-crossing-reopens-after-nine-days The Torkham crossing, the gateway between Afghanistan and Pakistan, was closed on September 6th, 2023. This crossing allows a great amount of vehicle and pedestrian traffic to pass through. Pakistan decided to close the crossing after shots were fired between the Pakistani and Afghan border forces. The forces had a dispute about the construction of a… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/13/taliban-gives-a-warm-welcome-to-chinas-new-ambassador-to-afghanistan Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, the new government has been searching to expand it’s relationship with other countries. This goal took a major step when the new Chinese ambassador, Zhao Sheng, came to Kubal to meet with the Taliban. The ambassador came to visit at the Presidential Palace and discussed the possibility… Read more »
