Global News

By Pierre DONADIEU AFP | Posted by TOE A group linked to Al-Qaeda claimed Thursday’s attack on the airport of Niger’s capital, Niamey that killed at least 11 soldiers and two civilians, six months after other jihadists staged a large assault on the sensitive site. Twenty-two attackers were also killed as security forces repelled the raid on the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger’s defence ministry said. Gunfire erupted early in the morning and rang out for hours near the airport, where a large military presence was later deployed, residents said. In the evening, a brief statement from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, or JNIM using its Arabic acronym, said it had carried out “a suicide attack” on the airport and on a neighbouring military base. The group is Al-Qaeda’s Sahel branch. Niger has been ruled for three years by a military junta, which has struggled to contain jihadist violence that has rock...

By Reuters and Posted by TOE Explosions and sustained gunfire were heard early on Thursday morning at the airport and military airbase ‌in Niger’s capital Niamey, witnesses said, in what a ‌security source described as an apparent attack on the facility. There was no immediate claim ​of responsibility for an attack. A Niger government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Islamic State affiliate in the region claimed responsibility for an attack on the airport in January. At ‌the time, the group ⁠said it had targeted air command headquarters and drone assets and claimed to have “delivered a direct blow” to ⁠the Sahel country’s counterinsurgency operations. Niger, like its Sahel neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, has struggled to contain attacks from jihadist groups linked to al ​Qaeda and ​Islamic State that have killed ​thousands and displaced millions across ‌the three countries. On Thursday morning, the firs...

By Reuters and Posted by TOE South Korea will shift a line running parallel to the military border ‌with North Korea to narrow the area that ‌restricts civilian access to reflect an evolving security environment and for the ​convenience of local residents, the defence minister said on Wednesday. The so-called Civilian Control Line is currently as much as 10 km (6.2 miles) to the south of the Military ‌Demarcation Line (MDL) drawn up ⁠at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Authorisation by the military is required ⁠to enter the area. Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the change that will shift the civilian access line by an ​average of ​6 km from the ​MDL is in response ‌to years of requests by residents and is made possible by improved defence readiness. As many as 20,000 people reside inside the zone according to media reports, and others enter the area to farm or work going through authorisation ‌procedures. The ministry also announced other ​changes that will ea...

By SYLVIE CORBET, DARLENE SUPERVILLE and AAMER MADHANI AP U.S. allies at the Group of Seven summit of major industrialized nations worked Tuesday to push the  war in Ukraine  back up the agenda of President Donald Trump after more than four years of fighting sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Iran conflict  has in recent weeks overshadowed the war in Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched. Host President Emmanuel Macron of France said he’ll seek to persuade Trump to continue supporting Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia to help reach a peace agreement. As the U.S. under Trump has cut back aid to Ukraine, France and its European allies are now the biggest providers of military and financial support to Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined G7 leaders for a morning working session but talks wrapped quickly, as leaders gathered for just 75 minutes, according to the French G7 presidency. The Ukraine...

By Parisa Hafezi, Yomna Ehab and Humeyra Pamuk Reuters and by TOE U.S. and Iranian officials said they had reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary pact that sent oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Tehran’s nuclear program to further negotiations. While still a framework, the deal marked the biggest breakthrough towards resolving ‌the conflict that has killed thousands and upended energy markets since it began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” U.S. President Donald ‌Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform at around 5:30 p.m. in Washington (2130 GMT) on Sunday. His post came shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, announced a deal had been struck early on Monday local time. The memorandum of ​understanding is scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland....

By Nina LARSON AFP and Posted by TOE Swiss voters will decide the fate of a divisive anti-immigration proposal on Sunday to cap the country’s population, and another referendum on restricting access to conscientious objection to military service. Opinion polls suggest that both votes, put forward under Switzerland’s direct democracy system, could be tight. Voting booths will open for just a few hours Sunday morning before closing at noon (1000 GMT), most of the votes having been cast in advance by post. The first results are expected by mid-afternoon. Tensions have been running particularly high over the “No to a Switzerland with 10 million!” initiative, put forward by the hard-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP). That proposal wants measures to stop the wealthy Alpine nation’s population — currently 9.1 million — going above 10 million before 2050. In a country where foreigners make up over a quarter of the populatio...