ISMAILIA, Egypt, Nov 6, 2023 (AFP) – The Rafah crossing between the bombarded Gaza Strip and Egypt reopened Monday to allow the evacuation of foreigners, dual nationals and wounded Palestinians, the Hamas government and an Egyptian official said. The terminal was opened for three days on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week to allow dozens of wounded Palestinians and hundreds of foreign passport holders to cross before closing Saturday and Sunday amid a dispute over […]
Tag: border
Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants: HRW
LONDON, Aug 21, 2023 (AFP) – Saudi border guards fired “like rain” on Ethiopian migrants trying to cross into the Gulf kingdom from Yemen, killing hundreds since last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report Monday. The allegations, described as “unfounded” by a Saudi government source, point to a significant escalation of abuses along the perilous route from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia, where hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians live and work. […]
Russia vows response to ‘threats’ on western border
MOSCOW, Aug 9, 2023 (AFP) – Moscow accused Poland and Finland of threatening its security on Wednesday and vowed a response to multiplying “threats” on Russia’s western frontier from NATO members. Poland, Ukraine’s staunch ally and neighbour, has strengthened security on its border with Belarus after Minsk became a new base for Russian Wagner fighters. Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, joined NATO in April in a historic move fuelled by Moscow’s Ukraine […]
Suspicion and regret on Arctic border still open with Russia
By Pierre-Henry DESHAYES Agence France-Presse KIRKENES, Norway (AFP) — Assault rifles at the ready, binoculars pointed at the Russian shore, the patrol boats carrying Norwegian soldiers power up the Pasvik River at full speed. This is NATO’s most northern border, the only one still officially open between Russia and Europe. It may be 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) from Ukraine’s front lines, but the war has turned lives upside down here, and left the Arctic region […]
Thousands of migrants face tough new US border rules
EL PASO, United States, May 12, 2023 (AFP) – The United States bolted tough new immigration policies into place Friday, setting up an uncertain future for desperate migrants reaching its southern border, as a top official expressed confidence the system will hold. Thousands of people remained in Mexico hoping to enter the United States, as it was not yet clear how the stringent new rules for people crossing the border illegally would be enforced. In […]
US troops ordered to Mexico border for migrant surge
By Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Pentagon said Tuesday it will deploy more troops to help provide security at the US-Mexico border as officials fear a surge in migrant crossing attempts when Covid-19 immigration restrictions end on May 11. Some 1,500 troops will be sent to the border, adding to the 2,500 already there to support Border Patrol authorities in the face of a possible gush of frontier crossings. “For […]
India presses China on Himalayan border disputes
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has told his Chinese counterpart that military deployments on their disputed Himalayan frontier were undermining relations and called for disengagement to preserve “peace and tranquility”. Relations between the two Asian powers have been fraught since a high-altitude clash that left 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops dead in June 2020. The neighbors have since massed tens of thousands of soldiers along the […]
Venezuela, Colombia finalize border reopening
UREÑA, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela and Colombia reopened the last stretch of their shared border Sunday that had remained closed for years in a diplomatic dispute now settled under new leadership. Cars honked and passengers waved flags as vehicles with license plates from both countries traversed the area’s Atanasio Girardot bridge, which had been blocked by containers amid high tensions. The bridge, which is also known as Tienditas, was the last to remain inaccessible since […]
Russia says killed Ukraine ‘saboteurs’ trying to cross border
Moscow, Russia (AFP) Russia’s FSB domestic security service said Monday it had killed a group of saboteurs from Ukraine that attempted to cross into a Russian border region. “As a result of a clash on December 25, 2022, four saboteurs, who attempted to enter the territory of Bryansk region from Ukraine, were killed,” the FSB said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies. It added that they were carrying German submachine guns, navigation equipment […]
Hong Kong eyes reopening border with China by mid-January: leader
Hong Kong, China (AFP) Hong Kong is aiming to reopen its border with China by mid-January, city leader John Lee announced on Saturday after returning from meetings in Beijing. The border has been effectively shut for nearly three years while China enforced a zero-Covid strategy of snap lockdowns, travel restrictions and mass testing that battered the world’s second-largest economy. After abruptly reversing on its pandemic policies last month, Beijing has been grappling with a […]
Russian strengthens defence lines near Ukraine border
Moscow, Russia (AFP) The governors of two Russian regions bordering Ukraine have said they inspected the construction of defence lines days after Ukrainian drone struck key military airfields. The governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoyt, shared photos of pyramid-shaped concrete blocks that appear to be anti-tank fortifications. His counterpart in the neighbouring Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, on Tuesday reported inspecting local fortifications “to ensure the safety of all residents who live in the […]
Finland sees record surge in Russians crossing border
Helsinki, Finland (AFP) Finland said on Monday it had recorded the year’s busiest weekend in terms of Russians entering the country, after Moscow’s military call-up announcement caused a rush for the border. “Last weekend was the busiest weekend of the year for traffic on the eastern border,” Mert Sasioglu of the Finnish border guard told AFP. The border agency said nearly 8,600 Russians entered Finland via the land border on Saturday and nearly 4,200 crossed the […]





