Global News

Direct talks between Israel and Lebanon concluded in Washington on Tuesday, with Israel’s envoy hailing a “wonderful exchange” and saying the two countries are “on the same side” in opposing Iran-backed Hezbollah. “We enjoyed it together. We had a wonderful exchange of over two hours,” Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter told reporters following the talks. “We discovered today that we’re on the same side,” he said, adding: “We are both united in liberating Lebanon from (an) occupation power dominated by Iran called Hezbollah.” There was no immediate reaction from the Lebanese side. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who mediated the talks — had earlier urged the two countries to seize a “historic opportunity” for peace. “We understand we’re working against decades of history and the complexities that have led us to this unique moment and the opportunity here,” Rubio said at the State Department as he welcomed the ambassadors of the two countries. “The hope today is that we can out...

By Kyu-seok Shim Reuters North Korea conducted another test of strategic cruise missiles and anti-warship missiles on Sunday as part of operational efficiency trials ‌of its destroyer Choe Hyon, state media KCNA said on Tuesday. Leader Kim Jong ‌Un observed the test alongside senior defence officials and naval commanders, the report said. Two strategic cruise missiles and ​three anti-warship missiles were fired to check the warship’s integrated weapons command system, train crews in missile-launch procedures and verify the accuracy and anti-jamming performance of upgraded navigation systems, KCNA said. The cruise missiles flew for about 7,869 to 7,920 seconds and the anti-warship missiles for about 1,960 ‌to 1,973 seconds over waters ⁠off the country’s western coast, striking their targets with what the report described as ultra-precision accuracy. KCNA said Kim was briefed the same day on ⁠weapons system plans for two additional destroyers under construction, indicating preparati...

By Justin Spike and Sam McNeil, Associated Press Hungarian voters ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday after 16 years in power. The result is seen as a rejection of the authoritarian policies and global right-wing movement that Mr Orban embodied, in favour of a pro-European challenger in a bombshell election result with global repercussions. Election victor Peter Magyar, a former loyalist of Mr Orban who campaigned against corruption and on everyday issues such as health care and public transport, has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s relationships with the European Union and Nato — ties that frayed under Mr Orban. European leaders quickly congratulated Mr Magyar. It is not yet clear whether Mr Magyar’s Tisza party will have the two-thirds majority in parliament to govern without a coalition. With 77% of the vote counted, it had more than 53% support to 38% for Mr Orban’s governing Fidesz party. It is a stunning blow for Mr Orban, a close ally of both US President...

Russia and Ukraine on Saturday accused each other of violating ​a brief ceasefire in their four-year-old war hours into the truce put in place to mark Orthodox Easter. Governors of two Russian ‌border regions said Ukrainian drones had attacked targets in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, injuring five people. The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said Russian forces had violated the terms of the 32-hour truce 469 times, including assault actions, shelling and drone strikes. The ceasefire, announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, went into effect at 4 ​p.m. Moscow time (1300 GMT). His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he would abide by it. Reuters could not independently verify reports of military ​activity. The ceasefire was put in place as U.S.-led negotiations to reach a settlement have been halted amid the ⁠war in the Middle East. U.S. and Iranian negotiators were meeting in Pakistan on Saturday to try to end their six-week-old war. According t...

BY BABA AHMED AP Mali on Friday backed Morocco’s plan to offer autonomy to Western Sahara but establish sovereignty over the disputed region, endorsing a plan to end a decades-long conflict between the Moroccan government and the indigenous Sahrawi people. The Malian transitional government said Friday it was withdrawing its recognition of the pro-independence Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as part of its backing for the Moroccan plan, which has growing support from African allies, the Trump administration in the U.S. and most  European Union  members. In a statement released by the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government said “the Republic of Mali supports the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco as the only serious and credible basis for resolving this dispute and considers that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the most realistic solution.” Western Sahara is a phosphate-rich stretch of coastal desert the size of Colorado that was under Spanish rul...

By Robbie Corey-Boulet Reuters The West African affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State have clashed in Niger for the first time, according to a ‌statement from one of the groups, a development that analysts said signals an ‌intensification of their years-long rivalry. Al Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al‑Islam wal‑Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Sahel Province (ISSP) engaged in ​their first skirmishes in 2019 and have since clashed hundreds of times, resulting in more than 2,100 deaths, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a conflict monitoring group. That fighting had unfolded exclusively in Mali and Burkina Faso until last week when ISSP fighters attacked a JNIM position in ‌the Tillaberi region of western Niger. In ⁠a statement dated Monday, ISSP said it had killed 35 JNIM operatives and seized weapons and motorbikes. It said the attack came on April ⁠2 in response to a JNIM attack on a village in Tillaberi. Human Rights Watch has previously ac...