Global News

By AFP | Posted by TOE Russian strikes hit Kyiv’s airports overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday, as US envoys are expected to arrive in the region to discuss a plan to end more than four years of war. US President Donald Trump said Friday he was sending Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv, in Washington’s latest bid to break a diplomatic stalemate in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Russia hit a civilian target in the Dnipro region overnight, killing four people, as well as Kyiv’s two airports, Zelensky said, accusing the Kremlin of trying to disrupt the envoys’ visit. “Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” Zelensky said on X, adding there would be “no threats to diplomacy” from the Ukrainian side. It will be the first time...

By Reuters | Posted by TOE Vietnam and Myanmar agreed on Saturday to deepen defence and security cooperation, elevating the sector to ‌a pillar of bilateral ties as Vietnamese leader To ‌Lam hosted Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing in Hanoi. The two leaders agreed to ​expand cooperation in military training, exchanges between young officers, search-and-rescue operations and disaster response, while stepping up information sharing and coordination against crimes, the government said in a statement. “Vietnam stands ready to share ‌its experience in national ⁠development, ensuring economic security and fostering sustainable growth,” Lam was quoted as saying during the talks, according ⁠to the statement. Both sides also reaffirmed a commitment not to allow any individual or organisation to use one country’s territory for activities ​against ​the other. The talks were held during ​Min Aung Hlaing’s first ‌official visit to Vietnam as Myanmar...

By Gopal Sharma and Saurabh Sharma Reuters | Posted by TOE Two people were pulled out alive on Friday from a tunnel linked to a hydropower station on the Trishuli River in Nepal, nine days after an ice, rock and mud slide swept through its valley, killing more than 1,200 people ‌and displacing tens of thousands. Officials and rescue workers believe the August 26 collapse of a glacier on the upper reaches of the Trishuli River trapped ‌at least 900 people in tunnels related to six hydropower projects along the river. At least 1,252 people were killed in Nepal as houses, streets and schools in towns and villages near the border with China’s Tibet ​were swept away. More than 4,200 people are still missing and thousands more displaced. China has put the death toll in Tibet at 21, with 541 others listed as missing. The two workers pulled from the tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station are the first to be rescued from the hydropower projects and have be...

By Gradel Muyisa and Ange Kasongo Reuters | Posted by TOE Schools reopened this week in areas of Democratic Republic of Congo hardest hit by Ebola, after authorities decided the risk of transmission ‌was outweighed by the risk of pupils struggling with remote learning, an official told Reuters on Wednesday. The ‌death toll from the outbreak – the worst in Congo’s long history with the disease – has exceeded 3,000, according to government data published on Wednesday, ​with cases spread across six provinces and a mortality rate of 48.6%. More than 1,000 schools in Ituri are classified as being in the “red zone”, meaning a high-risk zone or zone of active transmission, according to an education ministry document seen this week by Reuters. Ministry regulations published on August 19 stipulated that schools in the red zone would temporarily replace in-person classes with “distance learning” ‌involving worksheets distributed every two...

By Reuters | Posted by TOE  For the first time in recent history, Danish conscripts have been deployed to Greenland, as Denmark moves to bolster its presence in the Arctic ​after U.S. demands to acquire the territory. U.S. President Donald Trump has ‌repeatedly sought  to acquire  the semi-autonomous Danish island, citing national security concerns and accusing Copenhagen of neglecting Arctic defence. Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected the idea. The conscripts are part of the ​first cohort under Denmark’s new  extended conscription programme , aimed at producing soldiers able to ​operate in one of the kingdom’s most strategically important and challenging ⁠regions. “It shows presence that we’re here and not just thinking of our own ​skin. And also thinking of the people in Greenland,” 19-year-old conscript David told Reuters. Copenhagen ​has pledged billions of dollars to strengthen Arctic defences after Denmark’...

By Reuters and Posted by TOE Israeli airstrikes killed at ‌least five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Monday, health officials said. Medics said two people were killed and several others wounded when one strike hit a crowd near the municipal public park in Gaza ​City, an area packed with displaced families. Later on Monday, another Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle ​in the Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood in western Gaza City, killing at least ⁠three people, medics added. The Israeli military said the two attacks targeted Hamas militants, without ​giving further information. At Al Shifa Hospital, the enclave’s largest medical facility, relatives and friends paid ​their last respects to two of the five men killed on Monday before carrying the white-shrouded bodies to the cemetery to bury them. “There is no ceasefire. There is not one good day in ​Gaza since October 7 (2023),” said Amjad Abu Abdo, a relative of one of the ​people who died in the first s...