War

The ink on the Iran nuclear deal wasn’t even dry yet when Tehran tested a next generation, surface-to-surface ballistic missile with the range to hit archrival Israel.

The Emad, as the new weapon is called, expands upon Iran’s already impressive arsenal of missiles which the IRGC insists are paramount to securing the country against regional threats. The country’s missile program, Tehran says, is purely defensive in nature.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a military court in support of an IDF soldier who was caught on film shooting a wounded Palestinian man in the West Bank. They call for the release of the Israeli soldier whose identity remains under gag order. Footage emerged on Friday allegedly shows the soldier shooting the Palestinian man in the head as he lay injured on the ground after a stabbing attack. Protesters, as well as right wing politicians have criticized Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who has said the soldier acted inappropriately.

When the Brussels attacks happened, media coverage and popular outrage filled the days after—like the Paris terror attacks the year before, they dominated the news. And rightly so.

But what of the terrorist bombing in Pakistan on Easter Sunday? The coverage has slowly started to trickle in; the frustration is slowly building. The Vatican Insider shares some details on the bombing:

The U.S. government have ordered an immediate evacuation of families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel in Turkey, following intelligence that suggests ISIS might attack the country.  The State Department and Pentagon both said that American staffers at the U.S. consulate in Adana, the Incirlik air base, and two other locations must all evacuate immediately.

Thousands protested outside the parliament building in Tokyo against Japan’s controversial ‘war legislation’ that allows the military to take part in armed conflicts oversees. The governments new security law marks a historic departure from Japan’s decades-long pacifism that endured since the end of ww2. Common Dreams reports: The controversial “war legislation,” a package of bills that passed parliament in September and took effect on Tuesday, reinterprets Article 9 of the country’s Constitution, which renounced war as a means to settle international disputes following World War II.