Global News

Afghans gathered around a mass grave on Sunday to bury villagers who died in overnight air strikes by Pakistan, which said its military operation killed dozens of militants. The overnight attacks left at least 18 people dead including children, Afghanistan said, and were the most extensive since border clashes in October that killed more than 70 on both sides and wounded hundreds. “The house was completely destroyed. My children and family members were there. My father and my sons were there. All of them were killed,” said Nezakat, a 35-year-old farmer in Bihsud district, who only gave one name. Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups, in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan. A Pakistani security source told AFP on Sunday that the strikes killed “more than 80” militants, adding the death toll was expected to rise. AFP journalists in Afghanistan were not able to verify the toll, which was rejected by an Afghan securi...

Ukraine’s domestically produced Flamingo missiles hit a Russian plant manufacturing ballistic missiles in Russia’s remote southern region of Udmurtia overnight, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday. It said in a statement that the plant was located in Votkinsk, about 1400 km (800 miles) from Ukraine, and produced intercontinental ballistic missiles and short-range ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian military also said that it hit a gas processing plant in Russia’s Samara region. SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/G0EF3dc

By Ahmed Kingimi Reuters – At least 50 people were killed and several women and ‌children abducted after armed men attacked a village ‌in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state, a state lawmaker told Reuters on Friday. Hamisu A. ​Faru, lawmaker representing Bukkuyum south, said the attackers raided Tungan Dutse village from around 5 p.m. on Thursday until about 3:30 a.m. on Friday, burning down buildings and shooting residents ‌who tried to ⁠flee. “They have been moving from one village to another … leaving at least 50 people dead,” Faru ⁠told Reuters by phone. He said the number of abducted victims was yet to be determined. Traditional leaders and local government ​officials were ​still accounting for the ​missing. A Zamfara state police spokesperson ‌did not respond to calls seeking comment. Abdullahi Sani, 41, a resident of Tungan Dutse, said three family members were killed in the attack. “No one slept yesterday, we are all in pain,” he said. A day earlier, residents contacte...

By Robin MILLARD AFP The United Nations’ independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said on Thursday the siege and capture of El-Fasher by a paramilitary group bore “the hallmarks of genocide”. Its investigation concluded that the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) seizure of the city in Darfur state in October had inflicted “three days of absolute horror” and called for those responsible to be brought to justice. The mission warned that “urgent protection of civilians is needed, now more than ever” in neighbouring Kordofan state, the flashpoint of fighting since the RSF’s capture of El-Fasher, which was marked by ethnic massacres, sexual violence and detention. “The scale, coordination and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El-Fasher were not random excesses of war,” said mission chairman Mohamad Chande Othman. “They formed part of a planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of gen...

By Ahmed Kingimi Reuters At least 37 miners died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a mining site in Nigeria’s Plateau state, a police source and a security report seen by Reuters said on Wednesday. The incident occurred at about 5:45 a.m. in a mining pit in Kampani, a community in the Wase area, according to the report. Another 25 miners were taken to hospital. Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said the area was an abandoned lead site with stored minerals prone to releasing toxic gases. Villagers, unaware of the toxic nature of the emissions, reportedly entered the tunnel to extract minerals and inhaled the gas, he said. Alake ordered the closure of mining areas covered by licence 11810, operated by Solid Unit Nigeria Limited and owned by Abdullahi Dan‑China in Zuraq, following the deaths of villagers allegedly mining in a pit containing dangerous gas emissions. Preliminary findings showed the victims, aged 20 to 35, died after inhaling the gas while work...

By John Revill Reuters Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia concluded the first of two days of U.S.-mediated peace talks in Geneva on Tuesday, with U.S. President Donald Trump pressing Kyiv to act fast to reach a deal to end the four-year conflict. Ahead of the negotiations in ‌Switzerland, Russia carried out airstrikes overnight across swathes of Ukraine, severely damaging the power network in the southern port city of Odesa. Ukrainian President Volodymyr ‌Zelenskiy said the attacks left tens of thousands without heat and water. “We are ready to move quickly toward a worthy agreement to end the war,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address, saying he was waiting for ​a report from the negotiating team in Geneva. “The question for the Russians is: Just what do they want?” Ukraine’s lead negotiator Rustem Umerov, the head of the National Security and Defence Council, said in a statement that the day’s talks had focused on “practical issues and the mechanics of possible decisions,” with...