France to pull troops out of Niger following coup
Paris, FranceReuters France will pull its soldiers out of Niger following a July coup in the West African country, President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, dealing a huge blow to French influence and counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel region. Macron said 1,500 troops would withdraw by the end of the year and that France, the […]
Gunmen kill 14, kidnap 60 in attacks in northern Nigeria
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen in Nigeria killed eight people on Sunday and abducted at least 60 others in two communities of north-west Zamfara state, residents and a local traditional leader said, two days after armed men kidnapped dozens from a university in the state. Elsewhere, in the north-east of the country suspected Islamist insurgents ambushed […]
Karabakh’s Armenians start to leave en masse for Armenia
Stepanakert, Azerbaijan Reuters Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh began a mass exodus by car on Sunday towards Armenia after Azerbaijan defeated the breakaway region’s fighters in a conflict dating from the Soviet era. The Nagorno-Karabakh leadership told Reuters the region’s 120,000 Armenians did not want to live as part of Azerbaijan for fear of persecution and […]
Serb gunmen battle police in Kosovo monastery siege; four dead
North Mitrovica, KosovoReuters Ethnic Serb gunmen in armoured vehicles stormed a village in north Kosovo on Sunday, battling police and barricading themselves in a monastery in a resurgence of violence in the restive north that killed four people. The siege centred on a Serbian Orthodox monastery near the village of Banjska in the Serb-majority region […]
Syrians feel growing pressure from Turkey’s anti-migrant political wave
Istanbul, TurkeyReuters Anti-migrant sentiment, economic woes and political pressures are leading some of the 3.3 millions Syrians living in Turkey to plan a return to Syria or seek shelter in Europe, according to migrants interviewed by Reuters. They are concerned that rhetoric against migrants may rear up in campaigning for March local elections, echoing efforts […]
Russia’s Lavrov doesn’t reject UN bid to revive Black Sea deal, but says unrealistic
United Nations Reuters Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday portrayed the United States and Europe as “looking down” on the rest of the world amid a battle to win over developing countries, and said that while Moscow does not reject UN efforts to revive a Black Sea grain deal, a recent proposal was unrealistic. […]
Food insecurity in Africa should be overcome in five years – AfDB head
New York, US Reuters Programs supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in over 30 African countries have helped produce some $US12 billion worth of food, and the bank’s $US25 billion objective is “well on track,” AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said on Friday. “As far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t be talking about food security […]
Catholic Church in Chile: Justice eludes victims of clergy sex abuse years after the crisis exploded
MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ, of Associated Press, reports…
Karabakh Armenians say ceasefire being implemented, aid is arriving
Near Kornidzor, Armenia Reuters The ethnic Armenian leadership of breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh said on Saturday that the terms of their ceasefire with Azerbaijan were being implemented, with work proceeding on the delivery of humanitarian aid and evacuation of the wounded. Earlier, the Karabakh Armenians held another round of talks with Azerbaijani officials in the town of […]
Somalia asks UN to delay peacekeeper drawdown after “significant setbacks”
United NationsReuters Somalia has asked the United Nations to pause a planned drawdown of 3,000 African Union peacekeepers for three months to allow its security forces time to regroup after a militant attack forced them to withdraw from several recently captured towns. The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which is mandated by the […]