SINCE early October, violence has escalated in Jerusalem and the occupied territories after the Palestinians took to the streets to protest. For more than a month there have been daily reports of civilian casualties. By the end of October, 72 Palestinians died at the hands of Israeli security forces and vigilante groups. A Palestinian child was among those killed near Bethlehem on October 29. Eleven Israeli Jews have also lost their lives at the hands of knife wielding Palestinians.

THERE has been growing unease and apprehension among the 1.7 million Indian diaspora in Britain ever since it became known in July that Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi would be visiting the UK. The visit has evoked mixed emotions and polarised opinions. This was the first visit in over a decade by an elected Prime Minister of India, representing 1.2 billion people, to the shores of Britain. Ordinarily, this would have been universally welcomed. But the fact that this individual was the controversial figure from Gujarat, was most unwelcome.

SAUDI Arabia's domestic and foreign policies are both coming under critical international scrutiny. Even domestic voices of dissent are getting louder as the new royal dispensation carries on with its relentless targeting of Yemen and the encouragement of a sectarian agenda in the region. The Saudi imposed war on Yemen has been going on for five months. The infrastructure of the Arab world's poorest county has been destroyed and it is the civilian populace which has borne the brunt.

WITH the exodus of refugees to European shores showing no signs of receding, the European Union (EU) is facing a crisis that could threaten its very survival. Schengen visa rules that allow passport free travel in EU countries have been suspended. Border controls have been re-established and fences have reappeared on the continent for the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Europe so far has responded woefully to the refugee crisis, the biggest since Second World War. European authorities were no doubt caught by surprise by the sheer scale of the migration.

A POLITICAL storm has been buffeting Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak, for the last couple of months. A corruption scandal, whose magnitude has dwarfed previous scams, has galvanised the people in many cities, including the capital, to stage massive anti-government protests. $US700 million from the State run investment fund called the 1MDB allegedly found its way into the personal bank account of the prime minister. The story first surfaced in July this year.