Tag: conflict

UN access at Ukraine nuclear plant curbed for safety: Russia

MOSCOW, Jan 5, 2024 (AFP) – Russia confirmed Friday it had blocked the UN’s nuclear watchdog from accessing parts of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant, but said it was for safety reasons. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been on the ground monitoring the plant since September 2022, six months after it was captured by Moscow’s forces. Responding to an IAEA statement saying their team had been blocked from reactor halls, Renat Karchaa, […]

Russia used N.Korean missiles for Ukraine attacks: US

By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine in a major escalation of support for Moscow, the White House said Thursday. Russia is also looking to obtain missiles from its ally Iran as it runs short of arms nearly two years into President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it said. The Pyongyang-supplied missiles with ranges […]

Russia used N.Korean missiles for Ukraine attacks: US

By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine in a major escalation of support for Moscow, the White House said Thursday. Russia is also looking to obtain missiles from its ally Iran as it runs short of arms nearly two years into President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it said. The Pyongyang-supplied missiles with ranges […]

Beijing condemns Myanmar border clashes that caused Chinese casualties

BEIJING, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Beijing on Thursday voiced “strong dissatisfaction” that fighting in neighbouring Myanmar had caused Chinese casualties and said it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its citizens, following reports an artillery shell had exploded across the border. Armed conflict has raged in Myanmar’s northern Shan state since October, when an alliance of ethnic minority groups launched an offensive against the military junta. Several Chinese media outlets reported on Wednesday […]

Germany urges citizens to leave Lebanon swiftly

BERLIN, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Germany on Wednesday urged its citizens to leave Lebanon quickly, warning that an expansion of the Israel-Hamas war could not be ruled out after a drone strike in Beirut killed a senior Hamas leader. “All German citizens, who are still in Lebanon, are asked to register on the ELEFAND crisis preparedness list and to leave the country as quickly as possible,” wrote the German foreign ministry on X, formerly […]

US, allies warn Huthis as ship attacks rattle global commerce

By Shaun Tandon and Danny Kemp with Gregory Walton at the United Nations WASHINGTON, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Twelve nations led by the United States on Wednesday jointly warned Yemen’s Huthi rebels of unspecified consequences unless they immediately halt sea attacks that are increasingly disrupting global commerce. President Joe Biden’s administration described the statement — joined notably by Britain, Germany and Japan — as a final warning as he weighs possible military strikes against […]

NATO to buy 1,000 Patriot missiles in face of Russia threat

BRUSSELS, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – NATO members in Europe have signed a contract for up to 1,000 Patriot missiles to bolster air defences in the face of the threat from Russia, the alliance said Wednesday. The announcement of the contract, estimated to be worth $5.5 billion, comes as Moscow has unleashed repeated barrages of deadly missile and drone strikes against Ukraine in recent days. NATO’s procurement agency said the deal agreed by an initial […]

Maersk extends suspension of Red Sea passage

COPENHAGEN, Jan 2, 2024 (AFP) – Shipping giant Maersk said on Tuesday it would not resume passage through a key Red Sea strait “until further notice,” after Yemeni rebels attacked one of its merchant ships. “We have decided to pause all transits through the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden until further notice,” Maersk said in a statement. “In cases where it makes most sense for our customers, vessels will be rerouted and continue their journey around […]

Huthi rebels fire on commercial ships in Red Sea: US military

DUBAI, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels fired two missiles late Tuesday toward merchant ships travelling in the Red Sea near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the US military said following a report by the British maritime security agency UKMTO. United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations had initially reported explosions near a cargo ship sailing between the coasts of Eritrea and Yemen. “Master reports no damage to the vessel and crew are reported […]

Harvard president resigns after rows over plagiarism, anti-Semitism

By Gregory WALTON NEW YORK, Jan 2, 2024 (AFP) – The president of Harvard University resigned Tuesday after coming under ferocious attack over plagiarism accusations and her response to anti-Semitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. Claudine Gay was criticized in recent months after reports surfaced alleging that she did not properly cite scholarly sources. The most recent accusations came Tuesday, published anonymously in a conservative online outlet. Gay was also engulfed by scandal after […]

Hamas says Israel strike in Lebanon kills its deputy chief

By Aya Iskandarani with Adel Zaanoun in Gaza Strip BEIRUT, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Israel’s war against Palestinian militants reached Lebanon on Tuesday, where an Israeli strike killed Hamas’s deputy leader, the group and security officials in Lebanon said. A high-level security official told AFP that Saleh al-Aruri was killed along with his bodyguards in the strike by Israel, which vowed to destroy Hamas after the movement’s unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel. Israel […]

President Putin says Russia will ‘intensify’ attacks on Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine, Jan 1, 2024 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that his forces would intensify strikes on military targets in Ukraine, after an unprecedented Ukrainian attack over the weekend on the Russian city of Belgorod. The attack on Saturday, which killed 25 people including five children, came after Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukrainian cities. Meanwhile, Kyiv said Russia had targeted the country with a “record” number of drones on New […]