Even before India and Pakistan won their independence from Britain in August 1947, Kashmir was hotly contested.

Under the partition plan provided by the Indian Independence Act, Kashmir was free to accede to India or Pakistan.

The maharaja (local ruler), Hari Singh, chose India and a two-year war erupted in 1947.

A new war followed in 1965, while in 1999 India fought a brief but bitter conflict with Pakistani-backed forces.

By that time, India and Pakistan had both declared themselves to be nuclear powers.

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The island of Socotra has so far escaped largely unscathed as civil war rages on mainland Yemen, but the foreign powers bringing aid and infrastructure to the impoverished region could threaten it’s unique ecosystem.

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The recent youth-led protests have weakened Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “terribly”, says leading activist Sonam Wangchuk whose hunger strike galvanised the movement.

Wangchuk told the BBC that the atmosphere in the country had changed following mass demonstrations which triggered the resignation of the education minister on 25 July.

Young people now have more confidence they can “change things if they want to” and feel they don’t have to “take everything lying down”, the 59-year-old said.

The “cockroach” movement mounted one of the biggest public displays of dissent against Modi’s government, which has been in power since 2014.

The movement takes its name from a remark by India’s chief justice, who drew criticism after comparing sections of unemployed young people to “cockroaches” during a court hearing.

Wangchuk fasted in scorching heat in the capital, Delhi, for 26 days in June and July, consuming only salt and water. He says he has now regained six of the 11kg he lost.

The activist was forcibly taken to hospitals which he says were “more like prisons” for the final six days of his fast.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned the day after Wangchuk ended his hunger strike.

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In May, Ghana’s parliament approved a new bill criminalising homosexuality and the promotion of LGBTQ+ activities.

It proposes that identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer be punished by up to three years’ imprisonment.

One of the bill’s co-authors, Emmanuel Bedzrah, spoke to the BBC’s religion editor Aleem Maqbool about it.

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US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner is in Israel, where he is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It comes after Kushner held rare talks with Hamas to discuss the implementation of the US-backed Gaza peace plan.

Last month, Trump’s Board of Peace said it had reached agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. Last week, Israel rejected Trump’s 15-point plan, which also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw and for Gaza to be rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration.

In a statement, Hamas later called on mediators and the Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to approve the roadmap for the next steps.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a tough October election to try to hold onto power, with a coalition that includes ministers in favour of taking a harsher line on Gaza.

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