15-07-2025 PRETORIA: South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on an immediate “leave of absence” after allegations of links to organized crimes were made against him. In Sunday’s live televised speech to the nation, Ramaphosa also announced a judicial commission would probe the claims, which he …
Read More »Europe’s freedom faces greatest ‘threat’ since WW2: Macron
15-07-2025 PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron has outlined plans for a big increase in defence spending, warning Europe’s liberty is facing a “greater threat” than at any time since the end of World War Two. In a speech to the armed forces in Paris, he said “we are living in …
Read More »RSF storms cattle market and prison in ‘death trap’ city
15-07-2025 KHARTOUM: The Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed the besieged city of el-Fasher on Friday in a battle that raged for seven hours, witnesses told the BBC. RSF fighters managed to capture a cattle market, a prison and a military base while broadcasting videos of themselves walking …
Read More »EU delays retaliatory trade tariffs against US
15-07-2025 BRUSSELS: The EU’s retaliatory tariffs on US exports have been delayed again, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced. The countermeasures, which were due to start on Tuesday, came in response to US President Donald Trump’s initial import taxes on steel and aluminium. The EU’s retaliation, which …
Read More »Iranian President lightly wounded while escaping Israeli attack
15-07-2025 TEHRAN: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian suffered minor injuries in an Israeli air strike on a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on June 15, a senior Iranian official said. The assassination attempt targeted the heads of the three branches of government in an effort to overthrow …
Read More »Taiwan deploys US HIMARS rockets in annual drills
14-07-2025 TAICHUNG: Taiwan’s military began deploying one of its newest and most precise strike weapons on Saturday as part of intensifying drills meant to showcase the island’s determination to resist any Chinese invasion. Two armoured trucks with HIMARS, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems were seen manoeuvring around the city of …
Read More »Hamas clip of killing contradicts Israel Defense Forces account
14-07-2025 JERUSALEM: A video released yesterday by Hamas of the Wednesday killing and attempted abduction of a soldier in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis appeared to contradict the Israeli army’s version of events. The Israel Defense Forces said earlier this week that several Hamas operatives had emerged from a tunnel and …
Read More »‘Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict’
14-07-2025 SYDNEY: Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said on Sunday, responding to a report that the Pentagon has pressed its ally to clarify what role it would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan. Australia prioritizes …
Read More »PKK disarmament opens new page for Turkey: Erdogan
14-07-2025 ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called for full support of the disarmament of Kurdish militants that began with a handover of the first batch of weapons by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces, a step he said opened a new page for the country. Thirty PKK militants burned their weapons …
Read More »US mission to push a Trump deal in Congo unraveled
14-07-2025 DAKAR: An Israeli-American businessman, a former State Department official and a decorated Green Beret pitched up in the Democratic Republic of Congo in March with a message for President Felix Tshisekedi from the Trump administration. Two days later, they fled the country in fear of arrest. The three envoys …
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