Global News

By TOE | Posted TOE Ethiopia and Eritrea each accused the other of starting a war of aggression on Friday as an internal Ethiopian conflict threatened to escalate into a regional war. Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of backing rebels in its northern Tigray state, who launched attacks against federal forces last month. The two countries severed diplomatic relations, and over the past week, Eritrean troops have been seen in northern Tigray with Ethiopia launching drone strikes against their forces. A foreign security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP they estimated 5,000 to 8,000 Eritrean soldiers were present in Tigray. Eritrea’s conduct is “a blatant act of aggression that engages Ethiopia’s inherent right to self-defence”, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos wrote in a letter to diplomats. Eritrea’s information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, responded on X that it was facing “an unprovoked war of aggressio...

By AFP | Posted by TOE Saudi authorities said Wednesday three people were killed in attacks on two of the kingdom’s international airports, including in the capital Riyadh, after Yemen’s Houthis claimed to have fired on both transport hubs. The Iran-backed Houthis have claimed a wave of attacks on Saudi civilian infrastructure in recent weeks, which came as Riyadh-backed forces pressed a counter-offensive against the group’s territorial gains. Since Yemen’s civil war reignited in July, more than 200,000 people have been displaced within the country, the United Nations said Wednesday. The Houthis claimed an attack on Riyadh’s main airport, while the Saudi-led coalition — which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government in its fight against the group — vowed retaliation. The Houthis later claimed another attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Thursday and repeated a warning — “...

By Branko Filipovic and Fedja Grulovic Reuters | Posted by TOE A Bosniak left-leaning moderate, a pro-Russian Serb nationalist and a Croatian nationalist are leading Sunday’s election for Bosnia’s inter-ethnic tripartite presidency, the election commission said early on Monday, based on ballots from 96.31% of polling ‌stations. The results were largely in line with expectations and with projections by the Poliwave tracking platform, although voter turnout was low at a ‌combined 42.02% in Bosnia’s two entities, the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Serb Republika Srpska. Voters also cast ballots for the national parliament, alongside regional races in the two entities. Voter frustration has grown ​over an economic slowdown, the slow pace of EU entry talks and a lingering political crisis in which ethnically based dominant parties from the two entities have repeatedly stalled decisions by the weak central government that links them. Denis Becirovic, a Bos...

By Timour Azhari and Mubasher Bukhari Reuters | Posted by TOE Saudi Arabia is planning an offensive against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, with options being considered including a coastal push to secure the Red Sea shipping route or an assault on multiple fronts, regional and Western officials told Reuters. The operation, expected to be launched in the coming weeks, will by led by Yemeni forces on the ground, which are overseen by Riyadh, and supported by Saudi air strikes, according to six people with knowledge of the preparations. While the US is already providing ​intelligence to support Riyadh’s operations in Yemen, and some regional and European nations are providing mainly defensive military aid to the kingdom, the Saudi allies aren’t expected to play a direct role in combat operations, said the people ‌who requested anonymity to discuss security matters. Saudi Arabia entered neighboring Yemen’s civil war in 2015 at the head of an Arab c...

By AFP and Posted by TOE Tigray rebels were abandoning their regional capital in northern Ethiopia on Saturday, a local journalist and residents told AFP, as pro-government forces advanced on the city. Fighting erupted on September 23 in northern Ethiopia as the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) launched attacks into neighbouring states, raising fears of a return to the devastating 2020-2022 civil war. But federal forces and pro-government militias have pushed them back in recent days and were heading north towards the regional capital, Mekelle. “TPLF militants and leaders are leaving Mekelle,” the journalist said, adding that federal forces had not yet been seen inside the city. He said government offices and police stations had been left without security personnel. “I am concerned that government and public property could be exposed to looting because there are no security forces in the city,” a local resident told AFP...

By Frédéric Bourigault and Stuart Williams AFP | Posted by TOE French high school students lit fires outside schools and faced off with police on Friday as a protest movement that has forced the closure of some 400 establishments showed no sign of abating. The movement, which began last week in the Paris region and rapidly spread nationwide, has seen teenage pupils at lycees in their final years of schooling block access to buildings and clash with police. The students say their school hours are excessively long, conditions inadequate including overheated classrooms, and that there are too many staff absences. The government says the grievances are legitimate but has condemned what it has described as “urban violence”. Students have accused police of using excessive force and causing injuries by regularly firing tear gas canisters to disperse the protests. In Paris on Friday, fire damaged the entrances of two high schools — Leonard de Vinci in ...