Photo source: Washington Post By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront In September 2018, Russia and Turkey reached what became known as the Sochi Agreement, a deal that temporarily prevented a full‑scale assault on Idlib province, home to nearly three million people. As Al Jazeera reported, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the creation of a demilitarised buffer zone, 15–20 kilometres deep, to be established by 15 October 2018, with rebel fighters expected to withdraw heavy weapons while Russian and Turkish patrols, supported by drones, would monitor the area. The Arab Center Washington DC, in analysis by Joe Macaron, stressed that the deal was always fragile, testing Russian–Turkish relations and hinging on the willingness of radical factions to comply. The Guardian’s Martin Chulov added that the agreement was seen by many Syrians as a temporary reprieve rather than a durable peace. On the ground, the truce offered temporary relief. Farmers began buying ...

Photo Source: New York Times By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront Australian politics has seen a turbulent decade. Three Prime Ministers have led the country since 2007, but no one has served a full term. Before 2007, John Howard assumed the PM office for 11 years. Since then, Australian democracy has been in shambles. What does it notify? Incredibility of democracy or leadership failures? As per Associated Press, ‘revolving prime ministers’ are hated by the Australians. In fact, Australia is now called as the ‘coup capital of the Pacific’. Aussies complain that their leaders insist upon ‘Game of Thrones’ like political institutions than actual governance. First, Kevin Rudd was replaced by his deputy, Julia Gillard, back then, in 2010. When she lost a general election, after losing popularity in the public, Tony Abbot replaced her, in 2013. But Abbot lasted only until 2015 before Malcolm Turnbull succeeded him. When Turnbull assumed charge, he was accused of leading...

Photo source: VOA News By Naveed Qazi, | Editor, Globe Upfront An unmarked mass grave has been found in the region of Veracruz in Mexico in September 2018. It is believed that the site could possibly contain remains of around 500 victims, according to an advocacy group, Solecito. Other investigators believe that the figure could be up to 174. It is one of the largest mass graves found in the country. According to local inputs, there have been around 32 burial pits in the site, and the bodies may have been buried at the site, two years ago, since 2018. The site is on a narrow isthmus between the Gulf of Mexico and the Alvarado Lagoon, about an hour southeast of Veracruz. Arbolillo, a small fishing village, is the nearest inhabited point. A criminal group had sent a map to Solecito, where they indicated that the current mass burial site contained remains of more than 500 bodies. It has marked a national crisis, as many families rushed to a morgue, for clues, that could help th...

Photo Source: Outlook India By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront Over four million people have been stripped off their citizenship in July 2018 by the Indian State of Assam by India’s National Register of Citizens. This exercise had been in the making for the last three years and was monitored by the Supreme Court of India.  Around 400,000 data entry operators and government officials have been involved in this exercise. Many bogus and fake submissions have been detected by India’s National Register of Citizens. Thousands of troops were deployed before the first draft was made public. The idea to update the register was to mainly identify illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. This has happened first time since 1951. From 1985 to February 2018, a total of 29,738 foreigners have been expelled. This exercise had been a psychological despair to thousands of people when they were suddenly declared as illegal immigrants.  Hundreds of thousands of people fro...