New Yemen Leader lands in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on official visit

Yemen

Rashad Al-Alimi, head of the newly formed presidential council of Yemen, arrived in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah on Wednesday on a visit to Saudi Arabia, according to the state-run news agency SPA. Al-Alimi was greeted at King Abdulaziz International Airport by Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, adviser to King Salman and governor of Makkah, … Read more

Singapore executes a mentally disabled Malaysian on drug charges

Singapore

A Malaysian drug smuggler was executed by a Singapore court, his sister revealed. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam has been sentenced to death for more than a decade for attempting to smuggle three teaspoons of heroin into Singapore. His case was particularly contentious because a medical expert determined he had an IQ of 69, which implies an intellectual … Read more

Belgorod, Russia hit with explosions

Belgorod

According to a local authority, multiple explosions have been reported near the Russian city of Belgorod, around 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of the Ukrainian border. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed on the social media app Telegram that he was awakened at around 03:35 a.m. on Wednesday by the sound of an explosion. He stated … Read more

Farmers in Ukraine wear protective vests wile ploughing frontline fields

farmers

Farmers in Ukraine in the southern province of Zaporizhzhia, which borders the frontline of the military war with Russia, are now ploughing their fields while wearing body armor. Grad rockets began dropping right next door to the fields where contract farmer Yuri worked a week after the war began. He now operates a tractor while … Read more

Death toll in Poland mine accidents risen to 13; 11 people still missing

Poland mine

The death toll from two coal mine accidents in southern Poland last week increased to 13 when another injured miner died Tuesday, according to a doctor. Dr. Przemyslaw Strzelec said the miner died at the Siemianowice Slaskie hospital, which specialized in treating burns and where 20 other coal mine workers were still being treated for … Read more

Putin’s Ukraine red line endangers peace accord

Ukraine peace

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia would not agree to a peace treaty with Ukraine unless the country committed to “resolve the issues of Crimea and Donbas” on a level at which Ukraine would lose parts of the territory. Putin made the remarks at a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres … Read more

Egypt relaxes the ban on night prayers following public outcry

egypt

Following a widespread outcry, the government of Egypt has reconsidered its decision to ban nighttime prayers and retreats in mosques. Both customs are common throughout the fasting month of Ramadan, with retreats held in the last ten days of the month. The restriction, according to Religious Affairs Minister Mohammad Mokhtar Gom’a, is intended to prevent … Read more

France opposes life sentence of Kavala in Turkey

France

France criticized a Turkish court’s life sentence for leading civil society leader Osman Kavala on Tuesday, saying his incarceration breached Turkey’s international commitments. “France firmly opposes the life sentence,” said the foreign ministry of France, urging Kavala’s “immediate release” and the dismissal of all allegations against him. He had been jailed for almost four and … Read more

Ukraine has pledged its assistance to Moldova

Moldova

As we’ve previously reported, there have been a series of explosions in Transnistria, the Russian-controlled region of Moldova bordering Ukraine. Ukraine’s foreign ministry has vowed support for the territorial integrity of Moldova, accusing Russia of attempting to sow discord and destabilize the region. It appeared that Russia was aiming to draw the region into its … Read more

Russia to halt gas supplies to Bulgaria

Bulgaria

The government of Bulgaria has announced that Russia’s state gas firm, Gazprom, will cease supply to the country beginning tomorrow. It comes just hours after Poland announced the suspension of its Russian gas supplies. According to Reuters, the Bulgarian energy ministry has taken steps to secure alternate gas sources and has informed people that there … Read more

Russia claims to have gained control of the Kherson region

kherson

According to the Interfax news agency, Russia’s defense ministry announced its soldiers have “liberated” the whole region of Kherson in southern Ukraine. According to a Ukrainian regional military official, the Russian army has installed new regional administration and municipal council leaders. Hennadiy Lahuta wrote on Telegram, “Yesterday, the occupants took the offices of the Kherson … Read more

Palestinian shot dead in an operation by Israeli police

Palestinian

A Palestinian was killed Tuesday when Israeli police invaded a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank in a “counter-terrorism” operation that provoked violent protests. The fatal shooting was the latest in a surge of violence in the West Bank and Israel this month when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday … Read more

Ukraine might split as result of war, Russian defense officer

Ukraine defense

According to one of the top defence officers of Russia, the war might split Ukraine into several smaller republics. According to the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, the US and other Western nations are attempting to instill animosity against Russia in Ukraine, and that “history teaches that hatred will … Read more

Ministers abandon efforts to turn back migrant boats in the English Channel

English channel

Just over a week before they were to be challenged in court, the UK government scrapped plans to send back individuals crossing the English Channel. Campaigners argue that the strategy, which would empower Border Force personnel to stop boats and return people to France, is inhumane and dangerous. The PCS civil servants’ union described the … Read more

NATO ‘pouring oil on the fire’ by delivering weaponry, Russia’s foreign ministry

weaponry

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, weaponry supplied by Western countries “will be a legitimate target,” and Russian forces have already targeted munitions facilities in western Ukraine. “Everyone is reciting incantations that we cannot allow World War III,” Lavrov stated in an extensive interview on Russian television. He accused Ukrainian officials of inciting Russia … Read more

Longer-range weapons will ‘fundamentally affect this battle’, Ukrainian minister

weapons

In an interview with local television, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov discussed the influence of more modern and longer-range weapons supplied by the United States, France, and others on the battle. “Today our artillerymen are already learning …. already studying in the respective places where they are taught to use this equipment,” he said. “The … Read more

Swansea COVID field hospital beds supplied to Ukraine war refugees

refugees

Hundreds of beds and mattresses purchased on short notice for a COVID field hospital will now be donated to Ukraine war refugees. The Swansea Bay field hospital’s 500 vacant beds will be handed to disadvantaged people, including families. The Swansea Bay health board has also stated that it will provide beds to persons who have … Read more

Turkish activist sentenced to life in prison

Turkish activist

Osman Kavala, Turkish activist, had already been in prison for more than four years without being convicted. He was convicted of charges stemming from nationwide protests in 2013 and a failed coup attempt in 2016. Kavala has refuted the allegations and accused the administration of “judicial assassination.” Western diplomats were among those in attendance at … Read more

Biden reverses Trump decision to allow additional oil drilling in Arctic

Trump

On Monday, the Biden administration rescinded a Trump administration plan that would have permitted the government to lease more than two-thirds of the country’s greatest tract of public property to oil and gas drilling. The decision by the Bureau of Land Management will reduce the amount of land available for lease in Alaska’s National Petroleum … Read more

Finland and Sweden will make their NATO membership ambitions public in May

Finland Sweden

According to Finnish and Swedish newspapers, Finland and Sweden are planning to announce their intentions to join NATO at the same time in May. Both countries are non-aligned militarily, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased public enthusiasm for joining the Western defensive alliance. According to the Finnish tabloid Iltalehti, the leaders of Finland and … Read more

White House will not rule out sanctioning ‘secret first lady’ of Russia

white house

During Monday’s daily press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki disputed that the US was purposely delaying sanctioning the lady suspected of being Putin’s girlfriend. “We’re continuing to review sanctions,” Psaki said when asked why Russian politician and ex-gymnast Alina Kabaeva had not yet been targeted. “No-one is safe from our sanctions,” Psaki continued. … Read more

Lavrov acknowledged the threat of nuclear war

Lavrov

Lavrov also acknowledged the risk of the battle rising to nuclear weapons, but he sounded optimistic about the prospects for a peace treaty. On Monday, Putin told Russia’s First Channel that Moscow wished to avoid “artificially” raising the risks of such a clash. “This is our key position on which we base everything. The risks … Read more

UK banned the supply of spy equipment to Russia

Russia spy

Electronic equipment that may be used to intercept communications and spy on Ukrainians is the latest product category to be prohibited from shipment to Russia by the United Kingdom. The UK’s Department for International Trade also declared that taxes and quotations on items from Ukraine will be removed, in response to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s appeal … Read more