Global News

By DÁNICA COTO AP Drones operated by  Haitian security forces  and private contractors have killed at least 1,243 people and injured 738 others, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Of those killed, 17 were children and 43 were adults not believed to be members of any criminal group. Of those injured, at least 49 were believed to be civilians, according to the rights group. The killings took place between March 1, 2025, and Jan. 21, 2026. The most lethal drone operation killed 57 people, it noted. “Haitian authorities should urgently rein in the security forces and private contractors working for them before more children die,” Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not respond to a request for comment. The nonprofit said the number of armed drone attacks in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince,  which is 90% controlled by gangs , has “significantly increased” in recent months, with 57 r...

Europe became the world’s biggest arms importer over the last five years as governments reacted to Russia’s threat and ‌waning confidence in U.S. security commitments, data from the Stockholm International ‌Peace Research Institute showed on Monday. European countries more than trebled their arms imports in 2021-25 versus 2016-2020 ​to supply Ukraine in its defence against Russian invasion and to rebuild their own militaries after decades of under-investment. “The sharp increase in arms flows to European states pushed global arms transfers up almost 10 per cent,” Mathew George, Director of the ‌SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme, said. Europe ⁠accounted for 33% of global arms imports, up from 12% in the previous five-year period, the report showed. Despite boosting domestic production, ⁠European countries continued to increase purchases of U.S. weapons, especially combat aircraft and long-range air-defence systems. MIDDLE EAST Arms imports by Middle Eastern states fell 13%, though Sa...

BY DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN AP Nigeria’s military killed 45 militants in the country’s northwest region, the Katsina state government said Saturday. The clashes between the military and the gunmen happened on Friday in the Danmusa area of Katsina, the state’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Nasir Mua’zu said in a statement. It followed a failed attempt by the gunmen to steal cattle on Thursday. “Seeking revenge, the bandits returned in large numbers on March 6,” Mua’zu said. “What followed was an intense and fierce battle. The army successfully neutralized all 45 bandits.” Nigeria is battling a  complex security crisis  from different armed groups, especially in the north of the country. The United States has  sent troops  to the West African nation to help advise its military on the fight against insecurity. Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups are  Boko Haram  and its breakaway faction, which is affiliated with the Islamic S...

Militants killed 15 soldiers and wounded five more at a military camp in ‌northern Benin, an army spokesperson said on Friday, as ‌violence spreads in the West African region. Fighters linked to al Qaeda and ​Islamic State have been rapidly increasing their attacks on the borderlands between Niger, Benin and Nigeria, turning remote transit corridors into active conflict zones. Al Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al‑Islam wal‑Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility ‌for the latest attack ⁠in Benin which it said took place in the northern village of Kofouno on Wednesday. The “attack ⁠resulted in the loss of 15 of our personnel and five wounded, whose lives are not in danger,” Benin armed forces ​spokesperson Colonel ​James Johnson said. The army killed ​at least four of ‌the “terrorists” and destroyed several of their motorcycles when they were retreating, Johnson added. He denied JNIM’s claim that it controlled the Kofouno camp. Benin rarely comments on jihadist violence in the north, t...

Ukraine and Russia exchanged 200 prisoners of war each on Thursday in their latest swap, ​officials on both sides said, despite a ‌deadlock in U.S.-backed negotiations to end the four-year conflict. Kyiv and Moscow have carried out regular POW exchanges throughout the ​war, committing during recent talks in Geneva to ​a new round of such swaps even ⁠as negotiations remain stuck over the question of ​territory. “Every time our people come home, it proves ​that Ukraine is working to bring everyone back. No one is forgotten,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X. “We involve mediators. ​I am grateful to everyone who helps Ukraine. ​I thank the United States for its support in making ‌this ⁠exchange possible.” Some of the POWs freed on Thursday were captured as far back as Moscow’s siege of Mariupol in early 2022, Zelenskiy added. Tearful ​relatives greeted loved ​ones – many ⁠of them draped in Ukrainian flags – as they emerged from a ​bus that had arrived at an undis...

By Paavan MATHEMA and Anup OJHA, with Aishwarya KUMAR in Jhapa AFP Nepal voted on Thursday for a new parliament in a high-stakes showdown between an entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement, six months after deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government. Queues began at dawn on the streets of the capital Kathmandu and in the usually sleepy eastern town of Jhapa, the site of a head-to-head contest between two key prime ministerial hopefuls. Photo: Social Media “I came here early to vote, we have to exercise our rights. Nepalis have been waiting for change for so long, from one system to another,” said Nilanta Shakya, 60, waiting to cast her ballot at a college in Kathmandu. “I hope there is a meaningful change this time,” she added. Key figures contesting for power include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the powerful Nepali Congress party. Nearly 19...