^{(Photograph Andrew Parsons/ i-Images)}

After gaining a landmark majority of in the UK general election, the Conservative government is to introduce an anti-BDS (Boycott Divest and Sanction) bill which would make it illegal for any public body to work with organisations that boycott, divest or sanction Israel in any way.

UK Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues, Erik Pickles, announced the bill whilst speaking in Jerusalem on Sunday. He further claimed that “BDS is antisemitic and should be treated as such”. This measure would prevent local Labour party councils from supporting groups which boycott Israel.

This news follows an executive order in the US which redefined Judaism as a nationality instead of a religion. Under this bill antisemitism is to include any “targeting of the state of Israel”.

Both the US and UK bill were introduced with the stated intention of curbing anti-semitism but have been criticised for playing into anti-Semitic tropes by conflating Jewish and Israeli identity.

 The US progressive Jewish group “If Not Now” maintained that the US executive order was “not about keeping Jews safe. It's just more antisemitism”. They further stated; 

"The order defines Judaism as a 'nationality,' promoting the classically bigoted idea that American Jews are not, well, American."

"Conflating criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism is actually antisemitic because it implies that all Jews agree with, and are responsible for, Israel's actions".

The UK Conservative party previously attempted to pass an anti-BSD bill three years ago but was blocked by the High Court which viewed the measure as unlawful and outside of the powers of the government.

The UK Conservative party is also facing criticism for two newly elected MPs, Sally-Ann Hart and Lee Anderson, who shared anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about the Jewish philanthropist George Soros who was accused of controlling the EU.

Read the New York Times reporting here and the Jeurseulm Post's reporting here.

The United States will implement visa restrictions against South Sudan leaders who “undermine or impede the peace process” in the country, the Secretary of State has said.

The restrictions would apply to individuals and family members of individuals deemed to be: violating a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities agreement; violating the UN arms embargo; engaging in corruption that fuels the conflict; suppressing freedoms of expression, association, peaceful assembly, or other abuses or violations; or failing to abide by signed peace agreements.

“The people of South Sudan have suffered enough while their leaders delay the implementation of a sustainable peace,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Thousands of civilians have been killed, often because of their ethnicity or perceived political alliances in South Sudan’s ongoing conflict, which started in December 2013. Fighting has reduced in most parts of the country due to the revitalized peace deal of September 2018, but conflict and related abuses continue in parts of the country, according to Human Rights Watch's current country analysis:

Large parts of key towns and essential civilian infrastructure such as clinics, hospitals, and schools, have been looted, destroyed, and abandoned. More than 4 million people have been forced to flee their homes, two hundred thousand of whom are sheltering in United Nations compounds and hundreds of thousands as refugees in neighboring countries. Warring parties continue to restrict access for the UN and humanitarian groups to conflict affected areas. The government has become increasingly intolerant and repressive, arbitrarily detaining critics, members of civil society, journalists and politicians often holding them for extended periods, sometimes years without trial. In July the UN imposed an arms embargo. Eight leaders and commanders are subject to individual sanctions. Leaders on all sides have failed to reduce abuses by their forces and hold them to account. Impunity continues to fuel abuses in the conflict.

The performance of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Britain’s General Election has sent a "clear message" on a second independence referendum, said leader Nicola Sturgeon, after the party made wide gains across Scotland.

The SNP won 48 seats with 45% of the vote, thirteen seats more than it did in 2017. Amongst the key victories was the unseating of Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson in East Dunbartonshire.

Sturgeon said the results were a "clear endorsement Scotland should get to decide our future and not have it decided for us".

"The results across the rest of the UK are grim but underlines the importance of Scotland having a choice,” she added.

“I don’t pretend that every single person who voted SNP yesterday will necessarily support independence, but there has been a strong endorsement in this election of Scotland having a choice over our future; of not having to put up with a Conservative government we didn’t vote for and not having to accept life as a nation outside the EU.”

“I have just won an election on the strength of the argument that it’s Scotland’s right to choose,” she added. “It’s up to the Tories to decide what their plan B is when my plan A has just been given a ringing endorsement.”

Speaking on Brexit, the SNP leader also said "Scotland has sent a very clear message - we don't want a Boris Johnson government, we don't want to leave the EU”.

"Boris Johnson has a mandate to take England out of the EU but he must accept that I have a mandate to give Scotland a choice for an alternative future."

See more from The Guardian here and the BBC here.

As voting closed in the United Kingdom today, exit polls predict a Conservative Party majority in the 2019 General Election. 

Votes are currently being counted across Britain with results being declared throughout the night. The Scottish National Party is also expected to gain several seats, having campaigned for a second independence referendum. 

All of the country’s major parties have campaigned for British Tamil votes this election, with Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson releasing a video message praising the Tamil community in the early hours of the morning. “I want to thank the Tamil community for everything they do for our country,” he said.

Read more here: British prime minister thanks Tamils and hopes for accountability in Sri Lanka

His message to the Tamil community comes after the Conservative Party manifesto last month emphasised its continued backing for “international initiatives” for reconciliation, stability and justice “across the world” and in “former and current conflict zones”, singling out the situations of divided states in Cyprus, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.

Read more here: Conservative Party manifesto includes Sri Lanka for international action on divided states

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote in the Tamil Guardian on November 27th, speaking on his work with British Tamils and his party's commitment to human rights and justice.

Read more: I will never back down on Labour manifesto pledge - Jeremy Corbyn

The Labour Party’s Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, also said earlier in the campaign that the brutal oppression in Sri Lanka “should be recognised as an attempt at genocide against the Tamils”.

Read more here: ‘Oppression of Tamils should be recognised as attempt at genocide’ - John McDonnell

The party also pledged to work for the “protection of human rights for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil and Muslim populations” in its manifesto for the upcoming British elections.

Read more here: Labour Party manifesto pledges to protect human rights of Tamils

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson also wrote in the Tamil Guardian on November 27th, speaking on genocide recognition, justice for mass atrocities and her party’s commitment towards supporting British Tamils.

Read more: Liberal Democrats are committed to supporting British Tamils - Jo Swinson

The Upper House of the Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha) approved the Citizenship Amendment Bill on Wednesday with 125 votes in favour and 105 against.

This contentious bill, which had already cleared the lower house on Monday, will grant citizenship to persecuted immigrants of six non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955, and will allow non-Muslims from the three countries, who entered India before December 31, 2014, to apply for Indian citizenship.

Protests erupted across the country with the religiously polarising bill set to be signed into law. People resisted curfews imposed in Guwahati on Thursday Morning to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), with police opening fire to disperse the sheer volume of protesters. Army personnel were deployed at various north-eastern states including Tripura and Assam, where the situation remains very tense, to contain the turmoil caused by the passing of the CAB. Amid growing protests and hostility, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi quickly reassured the people of the state that the new law is not divisive by sending a series of tweets on Thursday.

He tweeted, “The Central Government and I are totally committed to constitutionally safeguard the political, linguistic, cultural and land rights of the Assamese people as per the spirit of Clause 6.”

“I want to assure my brothers and sisters of Assam that they have nothing to worry after the passing of #CAB. I want to assure them- no one can take away your rights, unique identity and beautiful culture. It will continue to flourish and grow,” he added.

Critics of the legislation have described the bill as deeply divisive and one that breaks India’s long-standing commitment to a secular democracy. Besides the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the votes of Tamil Nadu’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) which were crucial in securing the legislation.

AIADMK had previously voiced their support for the refuge for Tamils from Sri Lanka and the move to support the CAB seems to be a U-turn for the party under their new leadership.

Actor Siddharth went on Twitter to express his frustration on the new leadership of the AIADMK. “Deeply ashamed that Edapadi Palanisamy represents my state and our people. Supporting the #CAB shows his true colours, his lack of integrity and his desperate need to remain powerful at any cost. You will all be held accountable. Enjoy your temp power till then. #IndiaRejectsCAB,” he tweeted.

Opponents of the bill have expressed major concerns that the bill will elevate Hindu nationalism across India whilst simultaneously ostracising minorities.

See more from Al Jazeera, BBC, and The Hindu.

Two alleged leaders of a mostly Christian militia operating in the Central African Republic will face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity against the nation’s Muslim community.

The individuals who will face trial are senior officials of an anti-Balaka militia, Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and Alfred Yekatom. These individuals are accused of crimes against civilians including “murder, rape, forcible displacement, pillaging, cruel treatment, torture and persecution”.The individuals named have not entered into pleas as of yet.

In an earlier court judgement made in September, the presiding judges maintained a; 

”unanimous decision partially confirming the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

The attacks against Muslims were noted in a context following the coup in the CAR in 2013, where Muslim forces known as the Seleka forced President into exile.

The UN has stationed thousands of peacekeepers in the region despite an agreed-upon peace agreement earlier this year, likely due to the political volatility of the country.

Read Al Jazeera's reporting here.

Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has travelled to the Hague to defend her regime over the charges of alleged genocide against its Rohingya Muslim population.

Once hailed as a human rights heroine globally and the winner of a Nobel Peace Prize, she left on Sunday for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in one of the most-high profile international cases in recent times. Her failure to acknowledge the ethnic cleansing of her country’s Rohingya Muslim minority has led to her reputation being heavily tarnished with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum revoking her Elie Wiesel award last year.

Despite the accusations, thousands of supporters gathered to voice their support for Ms Suu Kyi and dozens of supporters are expected to demonstrate throughout the next few days at the Hague, in the Netherlands.

Myanmar vehemently rejects allegations that emerged from the military’s brutal ethnic cleansing crusade which saw over 730,000 Rohingya Muslims flee to Bangladesh. The lawsuit indicting genocide – which include rape, abuse and mass murders – was filed by Gambia, a small Muslim majority West African country.

The Gambia’s submission, has been backed by UN reports that described the crimes as executed with “genocidal intent”. It states,

“The genocidal acts committed during these operations were intended to destroy the Rohingya as a group, in whole or in part, by the use of mass murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as the systematic destruction by fire of their villages, often with inhabitants locked inside burning houses.”

Ms Suu Kyi will represent Myanmar in defence against Gambia’s Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, the country’s attorney general and justice minister, who had a role in prosecuting cases for Rwanda’s genocide. He will open the case on Tuesday and will urge for the court to immediately recognise the genocide and cease violence against Rohingya Muslims, with the closing statements from both sides concluding on Thursday.

Read more here and here.

Campaigners have criticised a much anticipated boxing match set to take place in Saudi Arabia’s newly built Diriyah stadium on Saturday, accusing it of “sportswashing” the country’s human rights record.

On Saturday, Anthony Joshua will take on Andy Ruiz Jr, in what the BBC Sports Editor Dan Roan termed “one of the most controversial sporting contests in recent times”.

Campaigners such as Amnesty International have voiced their concern that holding such a prestigious sporting event in Saudi Arabia is a political move to conceal the many human rights abuse allegations in the country.

Felix Jakens of Amnesty International had told BBC that "there's a reason the fight's happening in Saudi Arabia - the authorities are keen to whitewash - or 'sportswash' - their tarnished international reputation”.

"The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the war in Yemen, the imprisonment and torture of women's rights activists are all incredibly serious human rights violations and they have a damaged international reputation,” Jakens told Sky News. "They are using sport to try and launder that image and this is probably the high watermark in those efforts.”

Joshua admitted that he would "definitely be bothered" if his reputation would be used to conceal rights abuses. "In the future maybe I can bear a different kind of flag," Joshua said. "But at the minute it's a world championship flag. I just want to do a job."

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn also defended his client by saying that “No individual, journalist or media outlet can possibly tell a fighter where they can or can't go to earn money in a sport like this”.

Prince Abdulaziz, chairman of the Saudi Arabia’s General Sports Authority claimed that "we do have mistakes like any other country but there are changes that are happening”. "We're using sport to invite anyone who wants to see what it really is like here and to showcase the country,” he added.

See more from the BBC here and Sky News here.