India has published the final National Register of Citizens (NRC), a list of bonafide citizens in the state of Assam, excluding nearly two million people amid fears they could be rendered stateless. 1.9 million people were excluded from a total of 3.1 million. The government says it carried out the mammoth exercise to detect and deport undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh.
A mysterious explosion at a Russian weapons testing site earlier this month released various radioactive isotopes, creating a cloud of radioactive gases that swept across a nearby town. A Norwegian nuclear expert said that the isotopes – of strontium, barium, and lanthanum – were caused by a “nuclear chain reaction,” saying it was evidence that it “was a nuclear reactor that exploded.”
US President Donald Trump said that Pakistan and India could handle the issue of Kashmir on their own. The US president had previously offered to mediate between the two neighbouring coutries, but while speaking during a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump said, “Pakistan and India can handle the issue on their own, but I am here.”
Thousands of people have attended the funerals of five Russian nuclear engineers killed by an explosion as Russia tested a new rocket engine, a tragedy that caused a large increase of radiation and raised questions about a secretive weapons programme. According to Russian government, radiation levels around the site in Severodvinsk were estimated up to 16 times higher than the norm.
Court in India has acquitted six men accused of killing a 55-year-old Muslim dairy farmer. The court citied lack of evidence, raising questions over prosecution’s failure to make its case despite videos of a crowd beating Pehlu Khan. Videos shot on mobile phones showed Khan begging for mercy as mob of cow vigilantes stopped his truck and set upon him.
65-year-old, retired Pakistani Air Force officer, Mohammad Rafiq, managed to overpower a gunman in a terror attack at a mosque in Norway. In a spectacular display of bravery during the attempted terror attack, in which shots were fired but no one was hit, Rafiq was the first to tackle the shooter and pin him down while police arrived.
Indian authorities have decided to ease restrictions in Indian occupied Kashmir ahead of the Eidul Azha by making ATMs functional and opening bank branches. People have been allowed to withdraw money, according to a Tweet by development commissioner Shahid Choudhry. However, there has been no confirmation elsewhere of the leniency in curfew and no reports of people heading to shopping areas for Eid.
In comments reported by the Emirati newspaper Gulf News, on Tuesday – the Abu Dhabi’s ambassador to New Delhi, Ahmad Al Banna, said the issue was an “internal matter” but that the revocation of the treaty would lead to peace. He further stated that the changes would improve social justice and security and confidence of the people in the local governance.
The United Nations Human Rights spokesperson has expressed “great concern” over the information blackout in occupied Kashmir after India’s decision to repeal its special status. In a statement shared via a video on Twitter, the spokesperson said that what had already been observed to be a pattern, was taken to a “new level” with the latest restrictions placed by India.
Senior US diplomat Alice Wells has rubbished news claiming Washington was well aware of New Delhi’s move to strip Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) of its special status. In a Tweet, Wells clarified that ‘India did not consult or inform’ US government. Sources inside Indian government had told ThePrint that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had apprised Mike Pompeo of India’s plan.