By Marc BURLEIGH Agence France-Presse REYKJAVIK, Iceland, May 16, 2023 (AFP) – A year after kicking Russia out of the Council of Europe (CoE), the leaders of the 46-nation pan-continental rights body gather Tuesday in Iceland to show a united face against Moscow. Firming up ways to hold Russia legally responsible for the death and destruction it has wrought in Ukraine will dominate the summit in Reykjavik, only the fourth to be held in the […]
Tag: conflict
Ukraine leader targets ‘jets coalition’ on UK visit
By Jitendra JOSHI with Joshua MELVIN in Kyiv Agence France-Presse LONDON, May 15, 2023 (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on a visit to Britain Monday won the promise of hundreds more missiles and drones — and said his coveted goal of enlisting Western fighter jets was drawing nearer. The visit came as a Russian missile strike killed four people and hit a hospital in eastern Ukraine, but also as Zelensky’s army readies a […]
Zelensky shores up weapons pledges as EU honors Ukraine fight
By Valerie Leroux, with Hui Min Neo in Berlin Agence France-Presse PARIS, France — May 15, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky secured fresh promises of military aid during weekend visits to France and Germany to boost his nation’s weapons stockpile ahead of a widely expected counter-offensive against Russia. On his latest stop in a tour of European allies, Zelensky dined with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on Sunday night and […]
Russia says two military commanders killed in east Ukraine
MOSCOW, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Russia said Sunday that two of its military commanders had been killed in combat near the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. In a rare announcement of its losses on the battlefield, the Russian defence ministry said the commander of the 4th motorised rifle brigade, Vyacheslav Makarov, and the deputy commander of the Army Corps for military-political work, Yevgeny Brovko, had been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine. […]
Sudan becomes battleground for foreign fighters
KHARTOUM, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Sudan has long sent mercenaries abroad, but now the country itself has become a battleground for foreign fighters and shadowy military backers lured by money and gold, experts say. Armed “fortune seekers” are flooding into the fight from across Africa’s Sahel region including Mali, Chad and Niger, UN special representative Volker Perthes has said, warning that “their number is not insignificant”. Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has accused […]
33 civilians killed in Burkina Faso attack: governor
OUAGADOUGOU, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Armed attackers killed at least 33 people when they opened fire on vegetable farmers in Burkina Faso, the governor of the Boucle du Mouhoun region said on Saturday. Much of the country, including parts of western Boucle du Mouhoun region, has been under a state of emergency since March as the government seeks to combat jihadist attacks. “On the evening of Thursday, May 11 at around 5:00 pm (1700 […]
Gaza ceasefire takes effect after five days of deadly fighting
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, May 13, 2023 (AFP) – A ceasefire took effect in and around the Gaza Strip on Saturday after five days of cross-border exchanges that have killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza and two people in Israel. The truce was due to take effect at 10:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), Egyptian and Palestinian sources said. But in the final 30 minutes running up to 1900 GMT, dozens of rockets were […]
Moscow says Kyiv using UK missiles to hit ‘civilian targets’
MOSCOW, May 13, 2023 (AFP) – Moscow said Saturday that Kyiv used British long-range missiles to target civilian sites in the eastern city of Lugansk, wounding six children. The defence ministry said that on Friday evening Ukraine’s armed forces had struck two civilian enterprises. “Storm Shadow air-to-air missiles supplied to the Kyiv regime by Great Britain were used for the strike, despite London’s declarations that these weapons would not be used against civilian targets”, the […]
Russia denies claims of Ukrainian ‘breakthrough’ in Bakhmut
MOSCOW, May 11, 2023 (AFP) – Russia late Thursday denied claims by pro-Moscow bloggers and the head of the Wagner mercenary group that Ukrainian troops had made a breakthrough in the flashpoint city of Bakhmut. A senior Ukrainian military official said earlier this week that Russian forces had dropped back from some areas near Bakhmut after limited counter-attacks by Kyiv’s forces around the eastern city. The head of Russia’s Wagner private military company Yevgeny Prigozhin, […]
Israel, Palestinian militants trade deadly fire over Gaza
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, May 10, 2023 (AFP) – Israel’s army and Gaza militants traded heavy cross-border fire Wednesday, with 20 Palestinians killed over two days amid the worst escalation of violence to hit the coastal territory in months. Smoke billowed from the densely-populated coastal enclave after Israel announced it was targeting rocket launch sites of the militant group Islamic Jihad. Gaza’s health ministry said five people were killed, a day after Israeli strikes on […]
3 Islamic Jihad leaders killed in Israel strikes on Gaza
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — The Israeli army said it killed three leaders of the Islamic Jihad militant group Tuesday in air strikes on Gaza, which left a dozen dead according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory. The ministry said that women and children were among the dead, publishing a list of names without ages or detailing any affiliations. An AFP journalist in Gaza saw the top of a building on fire […]
Pakistan buys Russian oil but sees diversified future
By Shaun TANDON Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Facing a deep economic crisis, Pakistan has started to buy Russian oil, but the country’s petroleum minister says the future lies in diversified, especially green, energy. Minister Musadik Malik was visiting the United States for talks with corporations as well as with the government, which has led global efforts to choke off Russia’s oil exports that help fund its invasion of Ukraine. Malik confirmed that […]





