Global News

By Reuters | Posted by TOE Islamic State-linked militants raided a village in ​eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 33 ‌civilians and forcing patients with confirmed and suspected Ebola infections to flee, authorities said on Friday. The attackers set fire to a health ​post during their assault on Cantine-Aloya in North Kivu ​province, a hotspot of the Ebola outbreak coursing through ⁠Congo, officials said Patients from a nearby hospital also fled, including ​one confirmed Ebola patient and five suspected cases, among them ​three high-risk contacts, the head doctor there, Christian Kakule Vulembera, told Reuters The militants from the Allied Democratic Forces, a group recognised by Islamic ​State as an affiliate, set fire to several houses ​and killed civilians, Beni territorial administrator Colonel Charles Omeonga told Reuters He said ‌a ⁠death toll could not yet be established because heavy rain hampered army operations and investigations ...

By Reuters | Posted by TOE Saudi Arabia issued alerts on Thursday warning of potential danger in ​Yanbu, the kingdom’s Red Sea oil export hub, as Yemen’s ‌Iran-aligned Houthis continue attacks on the kingdom that have opened another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said it ​destroyed a missile launched by the group towards Islam’s holy ​city of Medina. The kingdom’s civil defence also issued emergency ⁠alerts for the southeastern area of Sharurah that borders Yemen. The Houthis ​had yet to claim any attack on the kingdom on Thursday. They said ​on Wednesday they had attacked Riyadh’s international airport while Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the kingdom. Saudi authorities have not confirmed the attack. The Syrian leader witnessed the ​signing of a defence agreement alongside Crown Prince Mohammed — their second meeting in ​Saudi Arabia in less than a month. ...

By AFP | Posted by TOE Paraguay’s Santiago Pena has had a colorful career, going from an IMF economist to finance minister to the youngest-ever president of his small South American nation. But who knows what comes next for the 47-year-old following his attempted resignation amid an explosive banking crisis that has blocked nearly half of Paraguay’s population from accessing their money. Pena took power in 2023, becoming the fresh young face of the conservative Colorado Party, which has ruled for nearly eight decades. Even the US-allied president’s peers turned against him following the dramatic takeover of a bank linked to him, with party leader and ex-president Horacio Cartes backing the impeachment of his erstwhile mentee. Pena’s departure likely won’t alter Paraguay’s close relationship with the United States, however, with Vice President Pedro Alliana of the same party preparing to take the reins. – ‘Difficult...

By Thomas Maresca UPI | Posted by TOE North Korea test-fired a new air defense missile system and held a strike drill with a long-range strategic cruise missile, state-run media reported Thursday, marking Pyongyang’s fourth round of weapons tests in a week. The North’s Missile Administration conducted the air defense missile test Wednesday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported, without providing a location or detailed specifications. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday it detected multiple missiles fired toward the sea separating Korea and Japan from the Sondok area on the North’s east coast. The missiles flew less than 186 miles, with authorities leaving open the possibility that they included a close-range ballistic missile. KCNA said the air defense test verified the missile’s materials and guidance technology, along with the system’s target identification, tracking and information-processing capabilitie...

By Joseph Ax, Brad Heath and Jason Lange Reuters | Posted by TOE Democrats seized control of both the Senate and House on Tuesday, scoring sweeping victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations as tens of millions of voters delivered a scathing rebuke to President Donald Trump. Voters in conservative bastions who had propelled the president to his second term in office just two years ago swung dramatically ​toward Democrats, fueled by deep frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, anxiety over the high cost of living and anger at Trump’s stewardship of the country. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a ‌century ago. In South Carolina, a state that Trump carried by nearly 18 points in 2024, Democrats turned aside his hand-picked Senate candidate. And in Texas, the biggest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak in seismic fashion, winning a Senate seat and ousting three-ter...

By AFP | Posted by TOE Uganda said Monday that it had begun withdrawing troops from Somalia after almost two decades in the country, removing a vital element in the fight against extremist insurgents. Uganda was the first country to sign up for the African Union’s military mission in Somalia in March 2007 and currently has around 6,500-8,500 troops in key roles, including protecting the capital, Mogadishu. Successive African Union missions have fought the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab militant group, with the help of Western forces, but the group still controls large swathes of central Somalia. Just last week, Al-Shabab claimed to have carried out one of the deadliest attacks on government forces in years, saying it killed hundreds of elite soldiers in the Lower Shabelle region. The government has refused to give a toll. Frustrated with the lack of progress and the endless political chaos in the country, the United States announced this year that it would stop fund...