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Hassan bin Attash, Guantanamo Bay’s youngest detainee, has been cleared for release. This marks the latest departure from the controversial prison camp that every US president has promised to close since it was opened two decades ago. The Yemeni national, who grew up in Saudi Arabia, has been held since 2002, when he was captured in a raid in Pakistan. He and his brother Walid have been at Guantanamo since 2006. He has been accused of conspiring to commit the 9/11 attacks, though he has never been formally charged. The main stipulation for his release is finding a country where he can be “reha… Continue reading “Youngest Guantanamo inmate approved for release”

JAKARTA: Indonesia began imposing a complete ban on palm oil exports Thursday, as the world’s largest producer of the commodity risked destabilising a global vegetable oil market already hitting peak prices. The archipelago nation is facing a shortage of domestic supplies of cooking oil and soaring prices, with consumers in several cities having to wait for hours in front of distribution centres to buy the essential commodity at subsidised rates. Authorities in Southeast Asia’s most populous country fear the scarcity and rising costs could provoke social tensions and have moved to secure suppl… Continue reading “Indonesia suspends all exports of palm oil”

Afghanistan’s Taliban movement said it would not accept an ‘invasion’ from Pakistan following a series of attacks along the border of the two countries. The movement, which now controls Afghanistan, claims that Islamabad was responsible for a series of airstrikes on 16 April that reportedly killed at least 40 people in the Kunar and Khost provinces on the Afghan-Pakistani border. Pakistan has not confirmed its involvement in the airstrikes. This is the much-celebrated strategic depth of Pakistan state. “We can’t tolerate the invasion. We have tolerated that attack. We tolerated that because of… Continue reading “Taliban warns Pakistan against Afghanistan ‘invasion’”

If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English starts with an epigram from an Instagram caption posted by Egyptian photographer Hana Gamal in 2016: “I am not what you think I am. You are what you think I am.” The statement connects identity and the existential sense of self with the reality of our external environment, which is usually beyond our control, and in author, Noor Naga’s chosen epigram, who we are is related specifically to the perception – and often judgment – of the person gazing back at us: the confusion and resentment of seeing a face that is both familiar and foreign. “As is often true in… Continue reading “Powerful and powerless: If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English”

KARACHI (Reuters) – A woman suicide bomber who killed three Chinese teachers in Pakistan was a teacher who had enrolled for a master’s degree months before her attack, carried out on behalf of separatist insurgents, a Pakistani official said on Wednesday. The blast detonated by the 30-year-old woman on Tuesday blew up a minivan outside Karachi University’s Confucius Institute, a Chinese language and cultural centre, killing her, the three Chinese teachers and a Pakistani driver. It was the first major attack this year against nationals of long-time ally China working in Pakistan, and it drew B… Continue reading “Woman graduate student behind suicide attack at Pakistani university”

By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Climate change could see 4% of global annual economic output lost by 2050 and hit many poorer parts of the world disproportionately hard, a new study of 135 countries has estimated. Ratings firm S&P Global, which gives countries credit scores based on the health of their economies, published a report on Tuesday looking at the likely impact of rising sea levels, and more regular heat waves, droughts and storms. In a baseline scenario where governments largely shy away from major new climate change policies – known as ‘RCP 4.5’ by scientists – lower- and lower-mi… Continue reading “Climate change putting 4% of global GDP at risk, new study estimates”

By Akhtar Soomro and Asif Shahzad KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suspected female suicide bomber killed three Chinese teachers in Karachi on Tuesday, police and officials said, in the first major attack this year against nationals of long-time ally China working in Pakistan. The three were among passengers on a minibus returning to Karachi university after a lunch break when the bomb exploded at the entrance to the university’s Confucius Institute, killing the Chinese teachers and a Pakistani national, police and officials said. A separatist group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) based in so… Continue reading “Female suicide bomber kills three Chinese teachers and Pakistani at Karachi university”

By Bernadette Christina and Rajendra Jadhav JAKARTA/MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indonesia’s ban on palm oil exports is unlikely to last more than a month as Jakarta has limited infrastructure to store the surplus oil and the country faces mounting pressure from buyers to resume shipments, industry officials said. The world’s top palm oil exporter announced plans to ban exports on Friday, in a shock move that lifted prices of all edible oils and sowed confusion and alarm among palm oil exporters and consumers alike. Market panic subsided on Monday after officials told palm oil executives the ban will on… Continue reading “Indonesia’s palm oil export ban seen short-lived on limited storage”