Israeli forces have detained 10 Palestinians in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank and injured dozens of others in anti-settlement protests in the occupied Palestinian territory. Palestine’s official Wafa news agency said heavily-armed Israeli police on Friday rounded up five Palestinians, including three brothers, after forcibly entering their houses …
Read More »Six people convicted in Madagascar over plot to kill president
A court in Madagascar convicted six people on Friday over a plot to kill President Andry Rajoelina and handed them various sentences up to 20 years prison with hard labor. French-Malagasy dual national Paul Rafanoharana, who local media reported was once an adviser to the president, was handed the highest …
Read More »UN Human Rights Council to investigate war crimes in Ethiopia
The UN’s human rights body voted to set up an experts panel to examine allegations of war crimes in Ethiopia. The resolution was brought forward by the EU. The UN Human Rights Council on Friday voted in favor of establishing a panel of experts to report on rights violations during …
Read More »Over 50 Saudi-backed commanders killed in Yemen’s Ma’rib: Report
More than 50 high-ranking Saudi-backed militant commanders loyal to former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi have reportedly been killed while fighting Yemeni army troops and their allies over the control of the country’s strategic oil-producing province of Ma’rib. Yemen’s al-Khabar al-Yemeni news website, citing informed sources who preferred not …
Read More »Iran’s top negotiator: ‘Good progress’ made, Vienna talks to continue after a break of few days
Iran’s lead negotiator at the negotiations in the Austrian capital to remove the US sanctions says good progress has been made in Vienna this week, noting that the high-ranking talks will continue after a short break. In a tweet on Friday morning, Ali Bagheri Kani said he met with EU …
Read More »More than 2,500 flee to Thailand as rebels clash with Myanmar army
At least 2,500 people including hundreds of children have fled a flare-up in fighting between the Myanmar army and ethnic minority rebels and have taken refuge across the border in Thailand, Thai authorities and an aid group said. Those displaced had poured into the Thai town of Mae Sot after …
Read More »Russia tells NATO to leave eastern Europe, stay out of former USSR
Russia said on Friday it wanted a legally binding guarantee that the NATO military alliance would give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, part of a wish list of ambitious security guarantees it wants to negotiate with the West. The demands form a package that Moscow says …
Read More »Turkish stock market halts trading as lira crashes
The Turkish stock exchange suspended trading after the national currency fell below 17 lira per US dollar on Friday. The lira has lost more than half of its value against the US dollar since the beginning of 2021.
Read More »Europe gears up for more restrictions as Omicron infections rise
European countries prepared to impose further restrictions on travel and more on Friday in an effort to stem surging cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 that are threatening to stall a global economic recovery. Germany, Ireland, and Denmark were all considering further restrictions in the days before Christmas festivities …
Read More »Death toll from powerful typhoon in Philippines climbs to 12 (Pictures)
The death toll from a typhoon that slammed into the Philippines rose to 12 on Friday, and its president feared it could climb further as authorities assess the devastation caused by one of the strongest tropical storms to hit the country this year. President Rodrigo Duterte said he would visit …
Read More »At least 27 killed in high-rise clinic fire in Japan’s Osaka
At least 27 people were feared dead after a fire swept through a psychiatry clinic in the Japanese city of Osaka on Friday, and police were investigating possible arson after reports a man had spilled liquid that fuelled the blaze. The fire broke out at the clinic on the fourth …
Read More »Karzai ‘invited’ Taliban to stop chaos in Afghanistan
The Taliban didn’t take the Afghan capital — they were invited, says the man who issued the invitation. In an Associated Press interview, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai offered some of the first insights into the secret and sudden departure of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani — and how he came …
Read More »Colombia’s riot police need ‘profound transformation,’ U.N. rights agency says
Colombia’s riot police should undergo a “profound transformation” to prevent the disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters, the United Nations urged in a report Wednesday. The U.N. human rights agency blamed the country’s public force for 28 deaths during months of nationwide protests this year. They included 10 deaths …
Read More »German court accuses Russia of “state terrorism” over 2019 Berlin park murder
Russia ordered the killing in broad daylight in a Berlin park of a former Chechen militant, a German court found on Wednesday, sentencing the agent who carried out the 2019 act of “state terrorism” to life imprisonment. Georgian citizen Tornike Khangoshvili was killed with three shots from a Glock pistol …
Read More »Fight for life as Polish services pull migrants from freezing swamp
Four migrants from Syria and Iraq were rescued from a swamp in Poland near the border with Belarus late on Tuesday in a life-or-death operation as bitter winter conditions set in, security services said. While the number of migrants trying to cross into the European Union from Belarus has decreased …
Read More »Putin and Xi cement partnership in face of Western pressure
Russia and China should stand firm in rejecting Western interference and defending each other’s security interests, presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping agreed in a video call on Wednesday. Their conversation, eight days after Putin spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden in a similar format, underscored how shared hostility to …
Read More »Lithuanian diplomats leave China as relations sour over Taiwan
Lithuania’s diplomatic delegation to China left the country on Wednesday in a hastily arranged exit, diplomatic sources said, as relations soured further over Taiwan, which opened a de facto embassy in Vilnius last month. Beijing, which has stepped up pressure on countries to sever relations with the island, downgraded diplomatic …
Read More »Ukraine allows foreign forces to join planned 2022 military drills
Ukraine’s parliament approved on Tuesday a draft law that allows foreign troops to take part in military exercises on the territory of the former Soviet republic in 2022, a move likely to infuriate Russia. According to the draft law, submitted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine plans to hold 10 …
Read More »Philippine President Duterte withdraws candidacy for senator
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has officially withdrawn his candidacy for senator in Halalan 2022, local media reported, citing Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez. Duterte withdrew his candidacy on Tuesday hours after Senator Christopher “Bong” Go pulled out of the presidential race, as per the report.
Read More »Husband of Belarus opposition leader sentenced to 18 years in jail
Syarhei Tsikhanouski, the husband of Belarus’s opposition leader, was sentenced to 18 years in jail on Tuesday for organising mass unrest and inciting social hatred, according to the official Belta news agency. Alongside him, five supporters were tried and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 16 years. Tsikhanouski, …
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