International

A year after the Ukraine invasion, oil market much changed

by Thomas URBAIN Agence France-Presse HOUSTON, United States (AFP) — A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the oil market has become more fragmented and uncertain, a dynamic expected to boost crude prices over the long term. Condemnation of Russia by Western governments has essentially severed Europe from Russian supplies, leaving it more reliant on the Middle East and the United States. That shift means cheaper Russian energy imports for China and India, while countries […]

Syria child quake victims, flown to UAE, unaware of heartbreak to come

by Hashem Osseiran Agence France-Presse ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Cradling a pink stuffed animal as she sleeps in a United Arab Emirates hospital, a nine-year-old Syrian earthquake survivor is recovering from the wounds that nearly claimed her life, believing her mother is still alive. Sham Sheikh Mohammed, who suffered severe crush injuries in a 40-hour ordeal under the rubble, has not yet been told that both her mother and sister died in […]

US worries China will use supply chains as weapon

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States increasingly worries that China will use its power in global supply chains as an additional weapon to advance its political and military might, a report released Wednesday showed. The “Annual Threat Assessment” issued by the Director of National Intelligence said China is already using its supply chain dominance to force foreign companies and countries to transfer technologies and intellectual property to it. But the US intelligence community […]

Nigeria postpones local state election after court ruling

by Emmanuel ANULE Agence France-Presse ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s electoral agency said on Wednesday it had postponed a weekend governorship election by one week following a court decision over machines used in voting tallies. The so-called BVAS machines are at the center of a legal dispute over last month’s contested presidential election which results show Nigeria’s ruling APC party candidate won, but the opposition claims was marred by massive tampering. With President Muhammadu Buhari […]

NATO chief warns Bakhmut may fall in coming days

by Anna MALPAS Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Wednesday the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut might fall to Russia in the coming days following months of intense fighting. His remarks came as Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which has spearheaded the attack on Bakhmut, claimed to have captured the eastern bank of the industrial town, devastated in the longest battle since Moscow invaded Ukraine a year ago. Wagner chief […]

Women march as rights under threat across the globe

by Hazel Ward with AFP bureaux around the world Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Women hit the streets from Kabul to Mexico City on Wednesday to mark International Women’s Day and stand up for rights that are coming under increasing attack. With Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers imposing what the United Nations has called a “gender apartheid” on women, Iran’s repression of the Mahsa Amini protests, new US restrictions on abortion rights and the Ukraine war, […]

Kenyan innovators turn e-waste to bio-robotic prosthetic

by Mary KULUNDU Agence France Presse Nairobi, Kenya (AFP) — Twoportraits of Albert Einstein hang on the walls of a makeshift laboratory on Nairobi’s outskirts, inspiring a pair of self-taught Kenyan innovators who have built a bio-robotic prosthetic arm out of electronic scrap. Cousins Moses Kiuna, 29, and David Gathu, 30, created their first prosthetic arm in 2012, after their neighbour lost a limb in an industrial accident. But their latest invention is a significant […]

Russia’s Wagner Group claims to hold ‘eastern part’ of Bakhmut

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said Wednesday that his forces had taken “all the eastern part” of Bakhmut, the east Ukrainian town where fighting has raged for weeks. “Wagner units have taken all the eastern part of Bakhmut, all that’s east of the Bakhmutka river” that bisects the town, Wagner chief and Kremlin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message released by his press service. Pressure has been […]

Russia would get ‘open road’ into Ukraine if Bakhmut falls: Zelensky

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian army would have an “open road” into eastern Ukraine if it captures the besieged city of Bakhmut, US media reported Tuesday. “We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer […]

Australia PM says to meet Biden in US, submarine deal expected

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday said he will soon meet President Joe Biden in the United States, where a massive nuclear-powered submarine deal is expected to be unveiled. After 18 months of deliberation, Australia is expected to reveal plans to obtain eight nuclear-powered submarines, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called “the single biggest leap” in defense capability in the country’s history. “I’ll be meeting with President Biden in the […]

EU will never accept Russia threat to its security: von der Leyen

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, addressing Canada’s parliament on Tuesday during a visit to bolster support for Ukraine, said Europe would never accept Russian threats to its security. “We will never accept that a military power with fantasies of empire rolls its tanks across an international border,” she said in a speech more than one year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 27-nation bloc, she added, “will never […]

M23 rebels clash with DR Congo troops despite ceasefire

by Alexis HUGUET Agence France-Presse GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — M23 rebels clashed with soldiers on two fronts in eastern DR Congo on Tuesday, officials said, despite a regional ceasefire deal due to take effect the same day. After several days of relative calm, fighting erupted on Monday in the flashpoint province of North Kivu, leaving several civilians dead and injured, hospital sources and aid workers said. The fighting continued on Tuesday, with the rebels […]