JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to begin talks yesterday on a second phase of the ceasefire with Hamas as he visits the new Trump administration in Washington. Before departing, Netanyahu told reporters he would discuss “victory over Hamas”, countering Iran, and freeing all hostages when he meets president Donald Trump today....
ISTANBUL – Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa will visit Turkey today on his second international visit since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December, the Turkish presidency said. He went to Saudi Arabia on Sunday. War-ravaged Syria is looking to wealthy Gulf countries to finance reconstruction and revive its economy. Sharaa “will pay a visit...
The idea of inflicting “strategic defeats” on Russia has been the cornerstone of US policy for a long time. It transcends party lines, and is implemented regardless of which administration occupies the White House. The only real differences lie in the methods used to achieve this objective. In this era of global transformation, Moscow must...
GENEVA – The Red Cross voiced alarm yesterday over the risk that fighting in the besieged DR Congo city of Goma could cause samples of Ebola and other pathogens held in a laboratory to escape.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is “very concerned about the situation in the laboratory of the national biomedical...
DOHA – Qatar reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution yesterday after United States (US) president Donald Trump repeated his call to move Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt or Jordan.Foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari did not reveal details of conversations with US officials. However, he said Qatar often didn’t see “eye to eye” with its...
Moses Magadza An influential traditional leader is rallying other traditional leaders across the African continent behind ongoing efforts to eradicate child marriage. Chief Chamuka VI Dr Morgan Kumwenda is a gender equality activist and traditional leader of the Lenje ethnic group in Zambia. He was a special guest at a side – event co-hosted in...
JENIN – A Palestinian official said hundreds of residents of the occupied West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp were leaving their homes yesterday, days into a large-scale Israeli raid in the area. “Hundreds of camp residents have begun leaving after the Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered them to evacuate the camp,”...
KINSHASA – The M23 armed group has seized further territory in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and yesterday was continuing to tighten its grip on provincial capital Goma, which is almost surrounded by fighting. Weaknesses within the Congolese army, as well as backing from Rwanda, are aiding the fighters of the M23,...
MOSCOW – Russia yesterday stated a British man captured fighting on Ukraine’s side in the Kursk region faces charges of “terrorism” and acting as a “mercenary”, punishable by decades in prison. James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, was captured in November while fighting with Ukrainian forces in Kursk, the western Russian border region where Kyiv began...
TEHRAN – Iran yesterday stated it hoped the incoming US administration under Donald Trump would adopt a “realistic” approach and show “respect” for the interests of countries in the region. Trump was sworn in for a second term as US president yesterday. “We hope that the approaches and policies of the (new) US government will...