SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Australia on Thursday said it would list all of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas as a terrorist organisation, the latest Western nation to do so. Canberra had previously listed Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades as a terror group, but the new designation will list the organisation in its entirety. Hamas currently controls the Gaza Strip, has vowed to “liberate” Jerusalem by force and has frequently carried out attacks on Israeli targets. “The views of […]
Tag: conflict
US accuses Russia of deploying thousands more troops to Ukraine border
by Aurélia END with David CLARK in Kyiv Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday dismissed reports that Russia was withdrawing troops from Ukraine’s border, instead accusing Moscow of sending more soldiers as fears of an invasion grow. Russia has increased its presence on the border with Ukraine by “as many as 7,000 troops,” some of whom arrived Wednesday, said a senior White House official, slamming Moscow’s announcement of […]
Russia announces end of Crimea military drills, troops leaving
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Russia on Wednesday said military drills in Moscow-annexed Crimea had ended and that soldiers were returning to their garrisons, a day after it announced a first troop pullback from Ukraine’s borders. “Units of the Southern Military District, having completed their participation in tactical exercises, are moving to their permanent deployment points,” Moscow’s defence ministry said in a statement. State television showed images of military units crossing a bridge linking the Russia-controlled […]
Agreement reached on transfer of oil from abandoned tanker off Yemen: UN
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) – An ‘agreement in principle’ has been reached to transfer the toxic cargo from a rusting oil tanker abandoned off the coast of war-torn Yemen to another ship, the UN said Tuesday. Experts warn of the risk of a major environmental disaster posed by the 45-year-old FSO Safer, moored since 2015 off Yemen’s western port of Hodeida. An oil spill could destroy ecosystems in the Red Sea, shut down the […]
German chancellor to meet Putin as Ukraine’s fate in the balance
by Anna SMOLCHENKO Agence France-Presse MOSCOU, Russia (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due in Moscow Tuesday in search of a diplomatic solution to avoid a war in Ukraine as the West and Russia signalled tentative hopes of an easing in the tense standoff. His talks with Vladimir Putin are the latest in an intense diplomatic scramble to dissuade the Russian leader from attacking his ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine. Western leaders consider the Russian troop […]
German leader flies to Kyiv to calm ‘critical’ Russia war threat
by Dmitry ZAKS Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lands in Kyiv on Monday before visiting Moscow to try to head off a “very critical” threat of a Russian invasion that would spark the worst crisis in Europe since the Cold War. Scholz’s visit comes with Kyiv seeking an urgent meeting with Russia explaining why it has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers to Ukraine’s borders while arguing with NATO about its […]
Tension as controversial Israeli lawmaker visits Jerusalem flashpoint
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) – Israeli police clashed with Palestinians in the flashpoint east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Sunday, as a visit by a controversial far-right Jewish lawmaker inflamed tensions. Police said two people were arrested as they tried to contain “a violent riot”, in the area of annexed east Jerusalem that has emerged as a symbol of Palestinian resistance against Israeli control of the city. Scuffles broke out as Itamar Ben Gvir of the […]
NATO chief warns of ‘real risk’ of war amid Russia tensions
MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania (AFP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday of the “real risk for a new armed conflict in Europe” as both the alliance and Russia are increasing their troop presences around Ukraine. Moscow has around 100,000 troops stationed close to Ukraine’s frontier and Western leaders have scrambled to hold talks with Russia fearing an attack. A total of 1,000 additional US troops — meant to bolster NATO’s eastern flank — are […]
Biden seizes $7 bln in Afghan assets
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)– President Joe Biden seized $7 billion in assets belonging to the previous Afghan government on Friday with the aim of splitting the funds between victims of the 9/11 attacks and desperately needed aid for post-war Afghanistan. Biden formally seized the assets in an executive order. The money had been stuck in the New York Federal Reserve since the fall of the US-backed government in Kabul and takeover by the Taliban […]
Biden warns American citizens in Ukraine to ‘leave now’
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – US President Joe Biden on Thursday urged American citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, and warned about potential major conflict with Moscow should US and Russian troops engage each other on the ground. “American citizens should leave, should leave now,” Biden said in an interview with NBC News. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. This is a very different situation and things could go crazy […]
‘Everyone is afraid’: Fear of unknown in Ukraine warzone
by Yulia Silina Agence France-Presse KARASNOGORIVKA, Ukraine (AFP) – Third-grader Maria Shanovska is mulling which toy to pack in her emergency evacuation bag should the Russian forces massing at the border invade her war-shattered town in east Ukraine. “A family photo, my favourite toy and some food so that I don’t get hungry,” she tells her mother Natalia as they debate what they would need most should their traumatised country plunge into an even bloodier […]
Refugee camp in Bogota park evokes pain of conflict
by Hervé BAR, with Diego LEGRAND Agence France-Presse BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) – Far from their ancestral homes, more than 1,000 indigenous people displaced by conflict have been squatting in squalor since September in one of the Colombian capital’s most emblematic parks. “We want rights and dignified conditions… food and security,” said Luz Mary Queragama, one of the group’s representatives. There are around 550 children among about 1,300 people camping in the National Park that sits […]





