ISTANBUL, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – An armed assailant on Thursday raided a plant owned by the US consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble near Istanbul and took an undisclosed number of people hostage, Turkish media reported. The assailant appeared to be acting in protest at US support for Israel’s military assault in Gaza, the private DHA news agency reported. Turkish officials and police issued no immediate comment. It was not clear how many people […]
Tag: conflict
US strikes 10 Huthi drones, downs unmanned Iranian aircraft
By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – American forces carried out strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, the US military said Wednesday. A US warship also shot down an anti-ship missile fired by the Huthis and later downed three Iranian drones, Central Command (CENTCOM) said. While the United States has recently launched strikes on the Huthis and other Tehran-supported groups in […]
Myanmar enters fourth year of post-coup crisis
YANGON, Myanmar, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – Myanmar on Thursday entered its fourth year since a coup snuffed out a short-lived dance with democracy, with the embattled junta warning it will do “whatever it takes” to crush opposition to its rule. The junta extended a state of emergency by six months on the eve of the anniversary, once again delaying promised elections, with a fresh round of US sanctions announced hours later. In the early […]
Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of POWs
By Daria ANDRIIEVSKA KYIV, Ukraine, Jan 31, 2024 (AFP) – Russia and Ukraine traded hundreds of prisoners of war on Wednesday, just a week after Moscow said Kyiv had shot down a plane carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers to an exchange. The crash of a Russian military cargo plane near the border with Ukraine — which Russia said killed 65 Ukrainian POWs — had thrown doubt on future prisoner swaps between the two sides. President Vladimir […]
US downs Iranian drones, strikes Huthi anti-air missile
By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – An American naval destroyer shot down three Iranian drones along with an anti-ship missile fired by Yemen’s Huthis rebels Wednesday, the US military said. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had also earlier announced a strike on a Huthi surface-to-air missile it said posed an “imminent threat” to American aircraft — a deviation from past air raids that focused on reducing the rebels’ ability to threaten international […]
UN agency for Palestinian refugees sacks employees for alleged October 7 role
By Didier LAURAS and Mark Anderson JERUSALEM, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday it had sacked several employees accused by Israel of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack, prompting the United States to suspend critical funding. The head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, vowed to hold “accountable, including through criminal prosecution” any UNRWA employee found to have taken part in acts of terror. In response to the firings, […]
Top UN court starts ruling on landmark Israel Gaza case
By Richard CARTER THE HAGUE, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – The head of the top United Nations court on Friday began reading the initial decision in the case against Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza, a landmark case that has sparked global interest. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) could in theory order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, sparked by the October 7 attacks by Hamas, or to facilitate humanitarian aid. The […]
Ukraine opens criminal probe into downing of Russian plane
KYIV, Ukraine, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – Ukraine’s SBU security service on Thursday opened a criminal probe into the downing of a Russian military plane that Moscow said killed 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Kyiv has not said whether captured Ukrainian soldiers were killed — or if it was involved — in Wednesday’s shooting down of a military transport plane over Russia’s western Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine. “The security service of […]
Yemen’s Huthis fire missiles at ships in Red Sea
By Jamal al-Jabiri SANAA, Jan 24, 2024 (AFP) – Yemen’s Huthis fired three missiles at two merchant ships in the Red Sea on Wednesday in their latest attack in the commercially vital waterway, the White House and the Iran-backed rebels said. It came after the Huthis vowed to keep up their attacks despite repeated US and British strikes against them. One missile missed its target and a US Navy destroyer shot down the other two, […]
Qatar ‘appalled’ at alleged criticism by Netanyahu
DOHA, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – Qatar said Wednesday it was “appalled” by remarks attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was allegedly caught on tape calling the emirate’s role as mediator in the Gaza war “problematic”. At a meeting this week with the families of hostages held in Gaza, Netanyahu blamed Qatar for financing Hamas and said he was upset at a US decision to extend the presence of a military base in […]
UPDATE: Russia blames Kyiv for downing POW plane, says no survivors
MOSCOW, Jan 24, 2024 (AFP) – Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of shooting down a military transport plane carrying dozens of Ukrainian prisoners, killing everyone on board. Unverified videos on social media showed a large plane, purportedly in Russia’s western Belgorod region, falling from the sky on its side before crashing in a fireball. Russia’s defence ministry said the IL-76 plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian soldiers captured in Russia’s offensive, six crew and three escorts. […]
Israel proposes pause in fighting as part of hostage deal: Axios
WASHINGTON, Jan 23, 2024 (AFP) – Israel has proposed to Hamas via Qatari and Egyptian mediators a pause in fighting of up to two months as part of a deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, the US news site Axios reported Monday. The report, citing unnamed Israeli officials, said the deal would take place in multiple stages, the first of which would see the release of women, men over 60 and […]
