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At least 52 people were killed in heavy air strikes on densely crowded Rafah in southern Gaza before dawn on Monday, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. AFP journalists and witnesses heard an intense series of strikes and saw smoke billowing above the city, which now hosts more than half of Gaza’s total population after they fled bombardment elsewhere on the Strip. The strikes hit 14 houses and three mosques in different parts of […]
WASHINGTON, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden slammed as “appalling and dangerous” comments by Donald Trump downplaying his commitment to NATO, warning Sunday that the former president intends to give Russian leader Vladimir Putin “a greenlight for more war and violence.” Biden spoke after Trump said in a speech Saturday that he would “encourage” Russia to attack members of NATO who had not met their financial obligations, his most extreme broadside against […]
HOUSTON, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – Two people including a five-year-old boy were wounded after a woman opened fire at celebrity US pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston, Texas, one of the largest religious venues in the United States, police said Sunday. The woman was armed with a long gun when she entered the non-denominational Christian church with a child just before 2:00 pm (2000 GMT), Houston police chief Troy Finner told a […]
North Korea said on Monday it had developed a new control system for a multiple rocket launcher that would lead to a “qualitative change” in its defence capabilities. Pyongyang’s Academy of Defense Science successfully carried out a “ballistic control test firing of 240-mm caliber multiple rocket launcher shells” on Saturday to develop a “controllable shell and ballistic control system” for the launcher, state news agency KCNA reported. The new rocket launcher would now be “reevaluated” […]
By Mai Yaghi with Phil Hazlewood in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Feb 12, 2024 (AFP) – Hamas warned Israel on Sunday that a ground offensive in Rafah, crowded with displaced Gazans, would imperil future hostage releases, while US President Joe Biden urged the protection of civilians in the besieged territory. Foreign governments, including Israel’s key ally the United States, and aid groups have voiced deep concern over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to […]
MANILA, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday accused Chinese vessels of “dangerous” manoeuvres during a nine-day patrol near a reef off the coast of the Southeast Asian country. The Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was deployed in early February to patrol the waters around Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea, and “ensure the safety of Filipino fishermen in the area”. The reef has […]
By Jack MOORE JAKARTA, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – Indonesians vote in a presidential election Wednesday with Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto the clear favourite after a campaign mixing nationalist rhetoric and pledges to continue the era of popular outgoing leader Joko Widodo. The former general lost to Widodo in 2014 and 2019 but is on course to finally lead the world’s third-largest democracy after rehabilitating his image. Widodo is constitutionally barred from running for a […]
WASHINGTON, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – Benjamin Netanyahu says in an interview airing Sunday that the Israeli military will provide “safe passage for the civilian population” ahead of an expected assault on the overcrowded southern Gaza city of Rafah, rejecting fears of a “catastrophe.” Despite international alarm over the potential carnage in a city crammed with more than a million displaced Palestinians, the Israeli prime minister told ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” the […]
YANGON, Myanmar, Feb 10, 2024 (AFP) – Myanmar’s junta is enforcing a law allowing the military to summon all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve for at least two years, it said on Saturday, as it struggles to crush opposition to its 2021 coup. The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military takeover in February of that year, which ended a ten-year experiment with democracy and sparked mass protests […]
By David FOX, with Saad SAYEED in Lahore ISLAMABAD, Feb 10, 2024 (AFP) – Pakistan’s army chief told feuding politicians Saturday to show “maturity and unity” after an election failed to produce a clear winner, leaving the military’s favoured party having to cobble together a coalition in order to rule. The South Asian country faces days of political horse-trading after a strong performance by independent candidates loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan scuppered […]
TAIPEI, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – Eight Chinese balloons were detected around Taiwan for the second straight day, with five flying directly over the island, Taipei’s defence ministry said Sunday. The ministry said the balloons were spotted on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, at an altitude of 12,000 to 35,000 feet. Five of the balloons flew directly over the island, and one grazed its northern tip, according to a map […]
JERUSALEM, Feb 10, 2024 (AFP) – Israel’s foreign minister called Saturday for the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees to quit, following Israeli claims that a Hamas tunnel had been discovered under its evacuated Gaza City headquarters. Israel Katz dismissed UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini’s claim that he was unaware of its presence as “not only absurd but also an affront to common sense”. “His prompt resignation is imperative,” he wrote on X, […]
