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Burkina Faso junta cuts diplomatic ties with former colonial ruler France

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By The Associated Press | Posted by TOE Burkina Faso’s military government severed diplomatic ties with France, its former colonial ruler that had been a key security partner for the West African nation before relations fractured. The junta said in a statement Friday it broke off relations with France effective immediately, accusing it of “blatant neo-colonial ambitions and active support for subversive networks and terrorists,” without providing evidence. France’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said in a statement that the country regrets the “hostile and unfounded decision, which illustrates the worrying drift of the Burkinabè authorities.” “Necessary reciprocal measures are currently under review,” he said. Confavreux added that France is monitoring the safety of French government personnel and citizens in Burkina Faso and urged them to exercise heightened vigilance. The West African country of 23 million people has been battered by yearslong  ...
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North Korea’s Kim calls for ‘destructive’ military posture as South vows to boost drones

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By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG AP | Posted by TOE  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed major  weapons tests  and called for the military’s “deadly and destructive offensive posture” to be bolstered, state media reported Friday, as South Korea announced it would drastically boost its drone warfare capabilities. The development comes as tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula, with Kim pushing to strengthen both nuclear and conventional  military capabilities  while refusing to return to talks with South Korea and the United States. The tests watched by Kim on Thursday were meant to evaluate the power of a “special mission” warhead for a tactical ballistic missile, an upgraded multiple rocket launch system and the hit accuracy of shells with an extended firing range of a self-propelled gun-howitzer, the official Korean Central News Agency said. KCNA cited Kim as saying results of the tests proved the technological progress achieved ...
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Venezuela earthquake: Dozens killed and hundreds injured after two big tremors

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By Margioni BERMÚDEZ AFP and Posted by TOE Powerful twin earthquakes have killed 32 people and injured more than 700 in Venezuela, the nation’s interim president said Thursday, after the massive shocks collapsed entire buildings and sent people running in panic. Rescue workers and residents were seen clambering on piles of rubble in the hunt for survivors after the disaster that prompted leader Delcy Rodriguez to declare a state of emergency. The earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck the same area of Venezuela on Wednesday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), causing buildings in the capital to crumble and forcing the closure of the country’s main airport. Addressing the nation early Thursday, Rodriguez said the government had “received reports of 32 deaths” and “more than 700 injured,” adding she did not yet have data on the “hardest-hit region” of La Guaira, located near the capital. Rodrig...
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Chad sees influx of drone victims from Sudan

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By Joris Bolomey AFP | Posted TOE Faouzi Abdulbagi Mahammat Anour woke up in Tine, Chad, with a burnt face and his right eye missing after being attacked on the Sudanese side of the border by a drone. The attack happened on the morning of June 10, when the 18-year-old was grazing his family’s livestock northeast of the twin town of Tina in Sudan, in an area still outside the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Eight hours later, he found himself in a hospital in Tine, with his hands burnt and bandaged. His 15-year-old cousin, Tadjerdin Mahammat Anour, was at his bedside. The conflict in Sudan has pitted the country’s army against its former allies the RSF since April 2023, killing more than 11,000 civilians and forcing over 15 million to flee their homes, according to the UN. – 1,000+ killed – Another cousin, aged just 16, was killed on the spot, said Tadjerdin, dressed in a white tunic and also with burns on a large part of his fa...
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UK, France, Germany raise alarm about Chinese activities off eastern Taiwan

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By Reuters and Posted by TOE Britain, France and Germany raised the alarm on Wednesday over recent Chinese activities off the ‌east coast of Taiwan, where China has mounted coast guard ‌patrols, saying they threaten regional stability and freedom of navigation. China, which views democratically ​governed Taiwan as its own territory, earlier in June sent coast guard ships into the waters off the island’s east coast for what it called a “special maritime traffic law-enforcement operation”, angering Taipei. China said the ‌operation was in response ⁠to Japan and the Philippines, saying they would begin formal talks on their maritime boundaries, which Beijing viewed ⁠as involving Chinese waters off Taiwan. China has also been sending maritime survey ships into the same waters. “We have noted with concern novel ​Chinese activity ​in the waters east of Taiwan,” ​the de facto British, ‌French and German embassies in Taipei said in a rare joint...
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Anger mounts as Sudan’s army takes in Darfur paramilitary defectors

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By Eltayeb Siddig, Nafisa Eltahir and Khalid Abdelaziz Reuters and Posted by TOE Last month, Ali Rizkallah, a commander in the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, was welcomed to Sudan’s capital ​Khartoum and given a uniform and a rank in the armed forces he had spent about  three years fighting . The army-affiliated government hailed his defection — the latest in a series of ‌high-level switches that have been reshaping Sudan’s alliances and boosting the military in  one of the deadliest conflicts  of the century. But many others have balked at the sight of Rizkallah and other former RSF figures feted in public, holding press conferences and sometimes literally embracing their former rivals. They fear that the defectors will evade justice for alleged crimes committed under their command. ‘I CAN’T FORGIVE THEM,’ SAYS DARFUR WOMAN “These RSF soldiers, even if they seek God’s forgiveness, I can’t forgive them because of what I ​...
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigns amid public mood shift

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By Associated Press | Posted by TOE U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned on Monday, paving the way for Britain to have its seventh prime minister in just over a decade. He said he was stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party but will remain caretaker prime minister until a new Labour leader is chosen by the party. Andy Burnham, who won a special parliamentary election last week, is the front-runner to replace Starmer as Labour leader. Starmer won a landslide victory at a general election in 2024, but a series of missteps badly damaged his credibility. Here’s the latest: EU leader praises Starmer European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Starmer’s legacy after news of his resignation in a post online on Monday. “It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years,” she said on X. “European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you. Thank you, dear K...
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