Category World News

More than 20 world leaders are present at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which is now the largest regional group by population in the world, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A diverse range of power brokers from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East will be gathered in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Sunday and Monday for the Beijing-backed bloc’s convening.

The summit, which was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, has since switched its focus from Central Asian issues to global issues.

According to Eric Olander, the China-Global South Project editor-in-chief, the SCO has grown to be a significant component of China’s “parallel international governance architecture.”

The SCO has opened up spaces for dialogue and cooperation outside “the US-led international system,” Olander told Al Jazeera as Beijing assumed the role of the second-largest superpower in the world.

Although Tianjin’s summit is largely symbolic, Olander said the summit is a valuable opportunity to bring together world leaders and bureaucrats in a forum where they can discuss “common grievances.”

Attendees are likely to share even more common ground with the gathering because Donald Trump’s trade war with much of the world is expected to overshadow it.

Putin, the international criminal court’s wanted for war crimes, Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader of Belarus, and Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the UN, are just a few guests.

Many of the attendees have long-standing conflicts and border disputes, including those between India and Pakistan, India and China, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Central Asia, where they are both from China and Russia.

Olander claimed that “there are complex dynamics at play.”

He said, “Looking over shoulders is a lot of what comes with the happy family photo.”

Swing states

In recent years, the SCO has expanded its membership to include countries with political heavyweights like India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus. Afghanistan and Mongolia also signed up as observers.

The number of official “dialogue partners” has increased to 14 nations, including Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Qatar, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Southeast Asia, a region Olander compared to the “swing states” in the US and China’s fierce power rivalry, will also be a prominent part of the summit.

Along with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn and Malaysian Prime Ministers Anwar Ibrahim and Prabowo Subianto, five heads of state from the region will be present.

According to Claus Soong, an analyst at Germany’s Mercator Institute for China Studies who is knowledgeable about China’s global strategy, observers will be closely monitoring the interactions between Xi Jinping and Modi, who have not spoken in seven years.

India has long been a friend of Washington, but Trump’s $50 tariffs as retaliation for its ongoing purchase of Russian oil hit it this week.

Despite international sanctions and Russia’s war on Ukraine, the White House claims that India’s trade is keeping its economy afloat.

However, New Delhi and Beijing’s relationship, which had fallen in 2020 due to a deadly skirmish between border forces in the Himalayas, has improved as a result of the shared threat of US tariffs.

In 2024, the two parties reached a deal on their remote frontier, but their relationship has remained tense.

Analysts believe that China sees Trump’s trade war as an opportunity to avert India’s withdrawal from US-led political and military alliances like the QUAD, an international forum for strategic security that includes both India and the US.

The key is to examine how China [characterizes] its relationship with India following the visit, Soong said, adding that improving the relationship between China and India is key.

He claimed that Beijing’s subtle language changes send powerful diplomatic signals.

Putin and Xi will also have their first official meeting since their initial meeting earlier this month in Alaska over the Ukraine war.

Analysts will be paying close attention to how the two leaders describe the China-Russian relationship in terms of language.

China and Russia signed a “no limits partnership” in 2022, just before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and Xi has since played a significant role in stabilizing Russia’s economy.

China has supported Russia economically far more than it has since the start of the war, but Trump has not been subject to any comparable sanctions. This raises a point of contention for New Delhi.

The most likely outcome of the SCO will be a joint statement from all attendees, according to Daniel Balazs, a research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ China Program.

China and Russia are expected to make language points like their opposition to “unilateralism,” a coded reference to the US, more palatable for everyone, but the majority of the language will be simplified.

According to Balazs, “the symbolism of actually achieving a joint statement is more significant than the statement’s actual content.”

To get everyone on board, he said, “I would expect to have a very non-controversial statement.”

“Security and stability, comments about improving economic cooperation, and a few comments about the significance of multilateralism,” Balazs said.

In advance of a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of World War II’s end, in Beijing, China, on August 20, 2025, police officers stand guard in front of the Tiananmen Gate.

A massive military parade will take place in Beijing on September 3 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of World War II in Asia. Guests will then have a full day in China following the summit.

According to Olander, the China-Global South Project’s Olander, that extra day, September 2, will be ideal for bilateral meetings.

He said, “Who will meet whom on September 2nd? “That’s something to watch out for.”

Kim Jong Un, Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Robert Fico, and other heads of state are expected to attend the parade the following day.

Modi’s presence at the parade is not anticipated, but analysts predict he might send a representative, such as his foreign minister.

According to Soong of The Mercator Institute, Beijing’s crowded guest list and military parade will boost its reputation in the eyes of the world, particularly in the Global South.

A possible decision by US President Donald Trump’s administration to send federal troops to the city has been protected by the mayor of Chicago, according to an executive order signed by the mayor.

In light of what he called “credible reports” that the federal government might engage in militarized activity in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced on Saturday that he would sign the so-called Protecting Chicago Initiative.

At a press conference, the mayor said, “It is unclear at this time exactly how that will look.” “Immigration enforcement may be militarized.” National Guard personnel might also be present. In our streets, we might even see armed and active military vehicles.

According to Johnson, the order forbids interaction with US military personnel on patrols and during immigration enforcement activities, among other things.

He referred to the action as “the most extensive campaign of any city in the country to protect ourselves from the threats and actions of this out-of-control administration.”

Johnson’s announcement comes after Trump earlier this month stated that he was considering expanding his National Guard troop’s reach of other major cities across the country.

Trump called up the National Guard in what he claimed was an effort to combat crime in the US capital. Since then, the Republican leader has credited the deployment with lowering city violence rates.

However, according to the Metropolitan Police Department data, Washington, DC, is already experiencing 30-year-low violent crime, and critics worry that the crackdown will serve as a test for the US cities’ continued militarisation.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the most senior Democrat in the US House of Representatives, claimed in an interview with CNN that Trump has “no authority” to send federal troops to Chicago.

The states are given the authority to policing according to the US Constitution.

The idea was also refrained by Democratic governor of Illinois, where Chicago is located, JB Pritzker.

According to a statement from Pritzker, “Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue to abuse his power to detract from the suffering he is causing working families.”

According to unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation, CNN reported on Friday that the Trump administration had been preparing to conduct a “major immigration enforcement operation” in Chicago as soon as the following week.

White House officials told CNN that those plans are independent of Trump’s proposal to send National Guard troops to Chicago to launch a wider crackdown on crime.

The president, who served for a second term in January, has vowed to carry out the “largest deportation operation” in US history. He also pledged to carry out a hardline, anti-immigration agenda.

The administration has argued that “criminals” who are illegally entering the US are being deported, which serves as justification for its push. It has entered into agreements with third countries to accept deported migrants and asylum seekers.

However, recent media reports have revealed that many people have been ensnared in the immigration raids, including some permanent residents and Americans without criminal records.

After a protracted wave of arrests by US immigration authorities sparked widespread protests and clashes between police and demonstrators, Trump sent 4, 000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June.

White House spokesman Abigail Jackson criticized the Chicago mayor’s executive order on Saturday, saying that “cracking down on crime shouldn’t be a partisan issue.”

Their communities would be much safer, according to Jackson, if these Democrats focused on reducing crime in their own cities rather than performing publicity stunts against the president.

The mayor, Johnson, stated at his press conference that it was still unclear whether Trump would carry out his plans for the city.

Johnson said, “He could change his mind, he could change his course, and I would encourage him to do that,” adding that the third-largest city in the country does not want its citizens kidnapped off the streets.

When a police officer fatally affects a motorcycle delivery driver, violence spreads.

As the country wrestles with lingering questions about the fate of the many thousands of people who vanished during the country’s civil war, Syria is hosting its first International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances since Bashar al-Assad’s assassination.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) claimed this year has “particular significance” because it has seen a significant rise in the number of cases since al-Assad’s assassination in a report released on Saturday to coincide with the annual commemoration.

After al-Assad’s removal, desperate families flocked to former detention centers, prisons, morgues, and mass grave sites to seek out their missing relatives. In addition, investigators had unprecedented access to government records, witness accounts, and human remains.

The fate of tens of thousands of detainees remained unknown, making them forcibly disappeared, according to SNHR on Saturday, while a small number of detainees were still alive. This revealed a significant tragedy that affected all aspects of Syrian society.

According to the rights group’s report, at least 177,057 people were forcibly disappeared in Syria between March 2011 and August 2025, including 4, 536 children and 8, 984 women.

More than 90% of those cases, according to the study’s estimate, were caused by the former government.

According to SNHR, “Al-Assad’s regime has systematically implemented a policy of enforced disappearance to terrorize and collectively punish society, aimed at dissidents and civilians from various regions and affiliations.”

A new Syrian government was established just months after the establishment of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances under the leadership of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Al-Sharaa has pledged to stop the practice of enforced disappearances by establishing a National Commission for Transitional Justice and a National Commission for Missing Persons (NCMP) with a presidential decree in May.

The bodies are charged with, among other things, examining issues involving accountability, reparations, and national harmony. Al-Sharaa has also pledged to punish those responsible for mass murders and other crimes.

The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Saturday that the country’s government would continue to prioritize enforced disappearances. According to the ministry, “it can only be resolved by bringing justice to the victims, disclosing the truth, and restoring dignity to their families.”

Mohammad Reda Jalkhi, the NCMP’s head, added that while “Syria faces a daunting task,” “[the] families of the missing have the right to thorough and impartial investigations.”

resources and independence

Advocates for human rights applauded the Syrian government’s initial efforts to stop forced disappearances, including the NCMP’s establishment. However, they stress that the commission must have all necessary resources and be independent.

According to Kristine Beckerle, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, “truth, justice, and reparations for Syria’s disappeared must be treated as an urgent state priority.”

According to Beckerle, the NCMP needs “adequate resources and the highest levels of cooperation across all state institutions.” The stress of families awaiting answers about their loved ones’ fate and whereabouts increases with each day.

The effectiveness of the new commissions “depends on their actual independence and full access to information and documents,” according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

The group argued that “the legal frameworks regulating their work must be formulated to ensure the representation of victims and civil society, and to strengthen the completeness of justice, from truth-telling to reparations to preventing recurrence,” according to the group.

The disappearance of a family member was “one of the deepest and most prolonged human wounds of the Syrian conflict,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday.

The ICRC delegation in Syria, led by Stephane Sakalian, said in a statement that “the families of the missing deserve unwavering support and compassion to help them seek answers about the fate of their loved ones and put an end to their suffering.”

Their privacy is a fundamental human right.

Meanwhile, SANA, a state-run news agency in Syria, reported that witness accounts of those detained in al-Assad’s detention facilities, including the notorious Sednaya prison, were posted online.

In order to encourage the pursuit of accountability, the platform, created by journalists and activists, aims to serve as both a memorial and forensic archive.

According to the UN, al-Assad’s regime operated an unspecified number of secret locations and more than 100 detention facilities.