International

17 die as cyclone lashes Mozambique, Malawi

NAMPULA, Mozambique (AFP) — The death toll from a cyclone that struck Mozambique this week climbed to 12 on Sunday as it moved towards Malawi killing five more after devastating wind and rain lashed the southern African countries. Cyclone Gombe has affected more than 30,000 people, injuring 40, and destroyed more than 3,000 homes since making landfall on Friday. Powerful winds reaching 170 kilometres per hour (105 mph) and torrential rainfall hit the northern Nampula […]

Afghan diplomats under pressure from Taliban regime

by Cyril Belaud with AFP bureaus around the world Agence France-Presse ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) – Afghan embassies around the world that have refused to recognise the new Taliban regime are struggling to stay afloat and facing increasing pressure from Kabul to accept loyalist replacements. None of the country’s 60 or so ambassadors, consuls or heads of diplomatic missions who were appointed by Western-backed former president Ashraf Ghani have agreed to serve the hardline Islamist group […]

Chechen strongman Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, said Monday that he was in Ukraine alongside Russian forces who are leading an offensive in the country. Kadyrov, who is accused by international NGOs of serious human rights violations in the tightly controlled Caucasus republic, posted a video on Telegram of himself in military uniform studying plans around a table with soldiers in a room. He said in a message that the video […]

Europe new ‘hotspot’ for arms imports: report

by Marc PRÉEL Agence France-Presse STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) – Europe saw the world’s biggest rise in arms imports in the past five years, a trend set to accelerate following recent rearmament commitments amid the threat posed by Russia, researchers said Monday. While arms exports declined globally by 4.6 percent in 2017-2021 compared to the preceding five years, Europe posted a 19-percent increase, according to a study published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). […]

Zelensky warns NATO as Russia strikes near Polish border

Attack was at military base in Yavoriv which had been a training centre for Ukrainian forces with foreign instructors by Ionut IORDACHESCU with Dave CLARK in Kyiv Agence France Presse LVIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned NATO Monday that its member states would soon be attacked by Russian forces after an air strike hit a Ukrainian military base close to the Polish border. Meanwhile, the death toll in the strategic southern port […]

US journalist shot dead in Ukraine

First foreign reported killed while covering Russia-Ukraine tensions   by Dmitry ZAKS Agence France Presse IRPIN, Ukraine (AFP) — A US journalist was shot dead and another wounded on Sunday in Irpin, a frontline suburb of Kyiv that has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine. Video documentary maker Brent Renaud, 50, was working for Time Studios on a project about global refugee issues, the media outlet said. “We are devastated by […]

US sets high-level talks with China Monday over Russia war

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A high-level US delegation meets in Rome Monday with a top Chinese official, the White House said as it warned Beijing would face severe “consequences” if it helps Russia evade sanctions over its war in Ukraine. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party’s chief diplomat, “will discuss ongoing efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia’s war […]

6.7-magnitude quake strikes Indonesia’s Sumatra: USGS

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A strong quake struck off the west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island early on Monday, sending residents fleeing from their homes, but no damage or victims were reported immediately. The shallow 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit at 4:06 am (2109 GMT) at a depth of 21 kilometres (13 miles), with its epicentre 167 kilometres west of the coastal city of Pariaman, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The epicentre was 197 […]

Russia, Ukraine to resume conflict talks Monday

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Conflict talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume Monday, negotiators and the Kremlin have said, after both sides hailed progress at earlier rounds aimed at ending more than two weeks of fighting. The talks would resume by video conference on Monday, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and part of the negotiating team, said late Sunday. His statement, on Twitter, confirmed an earlier statement by Dmitry […]

More than 250 detained in Ukraine protests across Russia

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia detained more than 250 people for protesting Moscow’s “military operation” in Ukraine Sunday, as the conflict continues for a third week. OVD-Info, which monitors arrests during protests, said police had detained 268 people during demonstrations in 23 Russian cities. An AFP journalist present at a protest in the capital Moscow witnessed at least a dozen arrests and said police were taking away anybody without press papers. A young woman […]

Ballistic missiles fired at Iraq’s Arbil ‘from east’

A dozen ballistic missiles targeted Iraq’s northern city of Arbil, including US facilities, causing damage but no major casualties early on Sunday, security forces in the autonomous Kurdistan region said. Local authorities said the missiles came from beyond the eastern border, suggesting that the source of the fire was Iran — a country that wields considerable political and economic influence over its neighbour. “Twelve ballistic missiles” on Sunday targeted the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Arbil, […]

China records nearly 3,400 daily virus cases, highest in two years

China reported 3,393 new Covid-19 cases Sunday, the National Health Commission said, more than double the previous day, as the country faces its gravest virus outbreak in two years. A nationwide surge in cases has seen authorities close schools in Shanghai and lock down several northeastern cities, as almost 19 provinces battle local outbreaks of the Omicron and Delta variants. The city of Jilin has been partially locked down, with hundreds of neighbourhoods sealed up, […]