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For a third day in a row, drones targeted the army-held Sudanese capital and the Khartoum international airport in attacks blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which the country’s regular military has been battling since April 2023.
From our correspondent in Abidjan – In the Abidjan district of Yopougon, a historic stronghold of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo, some residents reject politics, which they see as a divisive force. Others have decided to get involved, convinced that an alternative to President Alassane Ouattara, who is seeking a fourth term in office, is possible.
The election campaign in Ivory Coast has come with an upsurge in disinformation on social media. Supporters of both the ruling and opposition parties have circulated fake news about presidential candidates and Abidjan is concerned about destabilisation attempts from abroad, including from its neighbour Burkina Faso. As a response, the Ivorian government has begun censoring posts and making arrests. This report by Julia Guggenheim and Damien Koffi (Adapted by Tom Canetti).
Trump administration hardens stance against the Kremlin day after cancelling a planned summit with Russian leader
The US has sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil companies, as the Trump administration increased pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine.
The sanctions were the first against Russia since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, and were targeted to cut key revenues from oil sales that finance the Russian war machine.
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The measures taken against Rosneft and Lukoil mark the first time the US has sanctioned Russia since Donald Trump’s return to office in January
US imposes sanctions on Russian oil over Putin’s ‘refusal’ to end war in Ukraine
The US has announced new sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies, signalling a major shift in Donald Trump’s approach to ending the war in Ukraine. The measures taken against Rosneft and Lukoil mark the first time the US has sanctioned Russia since Trump’s return to office in January.
The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said the sanctions were needed because of “Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war” and that the companies targeted were responsible for funding the Kremlin’s “war machine”. He said that the US was also prepared to take further action.
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US vice president is in Israel for meeting with Israeli PM amid fragile Gaza ceasefire
Israel has completed the identification of the bodies of two more hostages, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Authorities identified the deceased hostages as Arie Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar. Their bodies were transported in coffins by the Red Cross and handed over to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. A military ceremony attended by the chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces was planned for later in the day, Netanyahu’s office said.
The two were killed in kibbutz Nir Oz during the 7 October 2023, attack by Hamas militants, which triggered the two-year war.
Since the ceasefire began on 10 October, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over, a key element to the ceasefire agreement.
Meanwhile, the burial of more than 50 Palestinians is set for Wednesday at a..
Elite helicopter unit’s part in military deployment comes as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Nicolás Maduro
They call themselves the Night Stalkers and their unofficial motto hints at the group’s lethal nocturnal line of work: “Death Waits in the Dark.” “You can flee, but they will find you,” warns a rare book about the US army’s secretive 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR).
Since the elite helicopter unit’s creation in 1981, its daredevil pilots have taken part in some of the most dangerous missions in recent US military history: battling Islamic State during OperationInherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria, and Somali warlords during Operation Gothic Serpent; and spiriting Navy Seals into Pakistan to kill the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as part of Operation Neptune Spear.
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LONDON — Jonathan Powell gives Britain’s prime minister his street cred on the world stage. Keir Starmer — and European leaders too — might do well to keep him in their gang.
As the world tries to both keep the fragile Gaza ceasefire on track and resolve the long-running war in Ukraine, Starmer’s top foreign policy aide — also the country’s national security adviser — is taking flak.
Jonathan Powell, a veteran of Tony Blair’s government, is feeling the political heat over the collapse of a high-profile Chinese espionage trial.
Starmer’s Westminster opponents say Powell has questions to answer about a crucial government meeting held before prosecutors dropped charges against two alleged Chinese spies operating in Westminster. They have cited a lack of government evidence that Beijing posed a threat to national security.
No. 10 has repeatedly insisted the meeting was about handling Britain’s wider relationship with China, not the trial evidence. Colleagues fiercely defend Powell, ..
Czechia’s likely next prime minister Andrej Babiš may act as a “puppet” of Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán at the European leaders’ table, harming the country’s standing on the world stage, said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský.
Babiš, a populist tycoon who was reelected earlier this month but has yet to form a government, stated after his victory that he would not be seeking confrontation with the European Union.
But for Lipavský, who’s part of Czechia’s outgoing government, the likely incoming prime minister is set to follow in the footsteps of his political ally Orbán, who is at odds with Brussels and the EU mainstream on everything from the rule of law to support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Babiš “will not behave like [an]Orbán figure,” Lipavský said in an interview with POLITICO ahead of a gathering of European leaders on Thursday. “He will behave like Orbán’s puppet. That’s a big difference. To behave like Orbán and be someone’s puppet. And he will be all about [be..
Divisive German civil servant Martin Selmayr should return to Brussels for the sake of the EU, a senior minister declared Wednesday — sparking an immediate rebuke from his own government.
Germany’s EU Affairs Minister Gunther Krichbaum told POLITICO he would “very much welcome” Selmayr returning to the fray in a senior role. The veteran political operator is considering taking a job working for Brussels’ top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, despite opposition from powerful factions in the European Commission and in national capitals.
“If we already have civil servants who are playing at Champions League level, we should deploy them in the right place,” said Krichbaum. “That’s also in Germany’s interest, and it would be good for Kaja Kallas if she had him as support.”
However, that is not the feeling elsewhere in Berlin.
A German government official told POLITICO that “this is not a position agreed by the German government. We will not endorse Mr. Selmayr.”
Selmayr was chief of staff to for..
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