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1274 articles · page 14 of 27
Ethiopian forces have carried out drone attacks against Eritrean troops who crossed into the northern Tigray region, according to witnesses and the conflict monitoring group Acled, dramatically escalating tensions between the two neighbours and threatening to expand the two-week-old conflict in northern Ethiopia into a wider regional war.
· 3 sourcesYemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia's capital, with explosions heard in Riyadh on Thursday, flights disrupted at its main airport and office workers told to stay home, as the kingdom's campaign against Houthi gains in Yemen reignites a civil war that has displaced 200,000 people.
Israel has ordered the British consulate in East Jerusalem to reduce its diplomatic staff to a seven-person task force, enforcing a 30-day closure deadline first announced in September. The UK insists the building is not closing and will operate as a 'UK Mission, Jerusalem', with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband describing the staff reduction as a temporary withdrawal for security reasons.
· 3 sourcesUkrainian authorities have raised the death toll to 33 from a Russian glide bomb attack on civilian buses in Kramatorsk, as the regional governor ordered all public transport suspended in the eastern frontline city and neighbouring Slovyansk, citing the safety of civilians.
· 12 sourcesAt least 33 people were killed and 18 wounded in a Russian glide bomb attack on two civilian buses in the frontline city of Kramatorsk on Thursday, local rescue officials said. The strike is the latest in a dramatic surge of Russian attacks that the United Nations says has made 2026 the deadliest year of the war for Ukrainian civilians.
· 6 sourcesA report from the Transition Security Project warns that Britain's military is too focused on global commitments at the expense of domestic defence, and that the government's planned increase in spending risks further waste without a change in posture. The UK has the most overseas-oriented military among European nations, with nearly a quarter of the defence budget committed across five continents, the analysis found.
Three years on from the October 7, 2023 attacks and the start of the war in Gaza, the Middle East has been fundamentally redrawn by conflict. The balance of power has shattered, with Iran's regional network severely weakened, Israel increasingly isolated from its traditional allies, and the United States engaged in an open war with Tehran, according to an analysis.
The Indonesian government has been accused of 'gross negligence' in a class action lawsuit filed by indigenous and civil society groups over its handling of wildfires that have blanketed parts of Southeast Asia in toxic haze. The case, lodged in West Kalimantan, names President Prabowo Subianto and the provincial governor among 10 defendants, seeking comprehensive recovery measures including healthcare costs for affected residents.
South Korea has said it will take legal action if an investigation finds domestic law was broken by shipments of fuel from its ports to Russia, after a Guardian report revealed over 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, was loaded onto tankers that made 14 voyages to Russia's far east in July and August.
· 2 sourcesA tanker sailing off the north coast of Qatar was struck by multiple projectiles, resulting in a number of casualties, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The incident took place 94 kilometres north of Madinat ash Shamal on Wednesday, falling within Qatar's exclusive economic zone. UKMTO said authorities are investigating but did not specify the number of casualties or the vessel's origin.
The United States has sanctioned Chinese-Fijian businessman Zhao Fugang over allegations of significant corruption and bribery in Fiji, with the State Department saying he abused his position to advance China-based interests. The decision was supported by intelligence from the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
· 6 sourcesA Russian missile struck a five-storey apartment block in the town of Pryluky, northern Ukraine, early Wednesday, killing 19 people including five children as families slept. Three of the children were one-year-olds, officials said, and the attack destroyed 30 flats.
· 2 sourcesThe European Union's diplomatic service and two national governments have withdrawn sponsorship from a leading European disinformation conference after the Trump administration pressed them to do so, the Guardian understands.
Witnesses have reported seeing Eritrean soldiers driving through the northern Ethiopian town of Adigrat, 25 kilometres from the Eritrean border, according to Reuters. The sightings come days after the two countries severed diplomatic ties, and as Ethiopian forces continue operations against an armed alliance that includes the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
Trading firm Trafigura has chartered the supertanker Alexandros to carry crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast to China for $76 million, a source familiar with the deal told CNBC, as the Middle East crisis drives shipping costs to roughly ten times pre-war levels.
Germany's former spy chief, August Hanning, has been arrested on suspicion of treasonous espionage and obtaining state secrets, federal prosecutors announced. The 80-year-old, who led the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, is accused of passing sensitive documents to a foreign intelligence service since 2010, while working as a private consultant. A former bureau chief who allegedly supplied Hanning with around 2,000 classified documents has also been arrested.
Satellite images show Chinese attack jets stationed at a newly opened military facility in Laos, giving Beijing its first air force foothold in mainland Southeast Asia, according to commercial satellite provider Vantor.
The UK consulate in East Jerusalem shut its doors on Thursday after Israel ordered its closure in response to Britain's ban on trade with illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move analysts say will leave Palestinians bearing the cost of the deepening diplomatic rift.
· 2 sourcesUnited States Vice President JD Vance has called for Iran to make a meaningful reduction in its uranium enrichment capacity as part of an agreement to end the war, a demand experts say may signal a softening of Washington’s earlier insistence that Tehran abandon enrichment altogether. The comments come as the US-Israel war on Iran enters its eighth month, with hardline rhetoric from other senior US officials and growing skepticism from Tehran.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia's military of deliberately killing civilians in an overnight barrage that destroyed an apartment block in the northern town of Pryluky, which he called a macabre birthday gift for Vladimir Putin on the Russian leader's 74th birthday.
· 2 sourcesThree years after the October 7, 2023 attacks, Washington continues to provide near-complete military support to Israel, with aid flowing under both the Biden and Trump administrations even as the Gaza war has expanded into a broader regional conflict, including a US-Israeli war with Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Iran has passed up multiple chances to reach a deal on its nuclear program, as talks between Washington and Tehran over a lasting Middle East peace agreement remain stalled. The absence of an agreement has coincided with increased attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, where vessels now rely on U.S. military protection to navigate the critical waterway, and oil prices have moved higher following separate attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on airports in Saudi Arabia.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones at airports in Yemen and Saudi Arabia early Wednesday, escalating a conflict that has seen renewed fighting along Yemen's Red Sea coast. Yemen's Transport Ministry said a missile landed near the runway of Aden International Airport just before a flight from Cairo was due to land, forcing the aircraft to divert to Jeddah. The Saudi-led coalition reported intercepting a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh, while Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed the group had targeted King Khalid International Airport with drones.
· 2 sourcesAt least two people were killed in a Russian missile attack on Kyiv early Wednesday, as Moscow said it carried out a “massive strike” targeting the capital and other regions of Ukraine.
· 2 sourcesOman's air force evacuated 10 crew members from a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker that was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, setting off a fire on board and wounding at least 12 of its 19 crew, according to Omani and Indian officials.
EU trade negotiators are flying to China for two days of crunch talks aimed at sealing a breakthrough deal over Beijing's record £1bn-a-day trade surplus by curbing its exports of cheap hybrid electric cars into Europe.
· 2 sourcesTuareg-led rebels have withdrawn from the strategic town of Kidal in northern Mali, six months after capturing it, as the country's military, backed by Russian fighters, pressed large-scale air and ground operations in the region. Pro-government forces were reported to have re-entered the town on Tuesday.
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has said US President Donald Trump's suggestion that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is Asia's problem holds some merit, but warned against allowing Iran to gain effective veto power over the critical waterway. Speaking at the Milken Institute's Asia Summit in Singapore, Balakrishnan stressed that freedom of navigation through international straits is an existential issue for the city-state.
French Polynesia has formally proposed an independence process at the United Nations, marking a significant step in the territory's long-running push for self-determination from France.
A Russian crude oil tanker was struck in waters off the Black Sea port city of Sochi in a suspected Ukrainian attack, igniting an open oil fire that darkened the skies and prompting a rescue of 23 Indian nationals aboard.
· 3 sourcesAugust Hanning, the 80-year-old former president of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND), has been arrested on suspicion of espionage and treason in what could be Europe's gravest spy scandal since World War II. German prosecutors also arrested a senior BND official in a separate raid and allege the two men conspired since 2010 to sell state secrets to an undisclosed foreign intelligence service.
· 3 sourcesForces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised government have launched an operation to capture the strategic mountainous district of al-Waziiya in Taiz governorate from Houthi control. The offensive, part of the wider 'Dawn of Yemen' campaign announced Sunday, aims to retake all remaining Houthi-held territory, including the capital Sanaa. The operation came as Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards the city of Khamis Mushait.
Six progressive members of the United States Congress have called for the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, a Gaza doctor held in Israeli detention since December 2024 without charge or trial. In a statement, the lawmakers condemned what they described as Israel's systematic destruction of Palestine's health system, including the killing and detention of hundreds of medical workers.
Armed Israeli settlers beat a veteran Agence France-Presse photographer in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, hospitalising him, while Israeli soldiers reportedly watched without intervening, as a surge in settler violence against Palestinian olive farmers escalates ahead of Israeli elections later this month.
Ukraine’s top sanctions official has accused South Korea of exporting petroleum products that helped Russia offset the impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on its oil refineries, as a diplomatic row simmers between Seoul and Kyiv over the transfer of captured North Korean soldiers.
· 2 sourcesA second drone attack in a week on merchant ships near Bulgaria has left one vessel sunk and another damaged. Prime Minister Rumen Radev confirmed that the Ukrainian-owned cargo ship Chelsea 3, sailing under a Maltese flag, was hit by three drones early Tuesday about 33 kilometres off Bulgaria's coast, adding that one crew member from the ship that sank was also rescued. Radev condemned the attacks as 'absolutely unacceptable' and said the Russian ambassador would be summoned.
· 3 sourcesA new analysis in Foreign Policy argues that the prospects for lasting peace between the United States and Iran are dim, warning that seven months of conflict have left Iran's nuclear program, missile and drone arsenal, and proxy groups intact while exposing fundamental vulnerabilities in US Middle East posture and munitions inventories.
The 30-day deadline Israel imposed on the United Kingdom to close its East Jerusalem consulate is approaching this week, with Britain reportedly threatening to expel 27 Israeli diplomats if the closure proceeds – a move described by a former British consul general as unlawful interference in diplomatic relations.
· 2 sourcesThe United States has warned Sri Lanka it will face sanctions if it continues supplying essential provisions to roughly 20 Iranian tankers stranded off its coast, according to a Wall Street Journal report confirmed by Sri Lankan diplomatic sources. The vessels are running short of food, fuel and fresh water, creating a humanitarian dilemma for Colombo between Washington's demands and the plight of the crews.
A Taiwan Coast Guard operation that used a water cannon against a mainland Chinese fishing boat near the Pratas (Dongsha) Islands on October 1 has drawn widespread anger on Chinese social media, with much of the criticism directed not only at Taiwan but also at Beijing, according to reporting by The Diplomat.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announced on Tuesday that the kingdom's critical East-West Pipeline has resumed pumping at a capacity of 5.8 million barrels per day (bpd), just weeks after it was shut down following a drone attack in early September.
The European Commission has proposed that any new member state face a 15-year probation period during which it could be stripped of voting rights or EU funds for breaching democratic values, in a bid to prevent leaders like Hungary's Viktor Orbán from blocking decision-making in an enlarged bloc.
· 2 sourcesThe Iranian government is preparing measures to ease the severe financial strain on its population caused by tightened US sanctions and a naval blockade, President Masoud Pezeshkian has signalled, as the year-long war with the US and Israel takes an escalating economic toll.
Oil exports from the Gulf have resumed significantly despite a surge in attacks on ships around the Strait of Hormuz, with maritime intelligence firm Kpler reporting that Gulf oil flows, excluding Iran, recovered to more than 81 percent of pre-war levels in September. At least seven incidents involving tankers have been reported in the past week, according to shipping intelligence service Marisks, as shipping companies face higher freight, insurance and security costs.
Saudi Arabia says three people were wounded in attacks on two airports near the Yemen border on Monday evening, as fighting between Houthi forces and Yemeni government-aligned troops, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, intensifies across the region.
Three Iranian men have gone on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of spying for Iran on UK-based journalists, who prosecutors say were targeted so "serious violence" could be inflicted on them. The alleged targets worked for Iran International, the Persian-language satellite channel critical of the Tehran regime.
· 2 sourcesIran has stepped up attacks on commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, threatening the fragile rebound of crude oil exports from the Persian Gulf. Nearly 20 vessels, mostly tankers, have been attacked in the past month, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, a group of US-allied militaries. Crude shipments through the strait remain volatile, averaging about 23 percent below prewar levels even as the US military maintains a protected shipping lane along the coast of Oman.
The Houthi movement has warned passengers and airlines against using Saudi airports, threatening further attacks after a strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed 12 people and wounded hundreds. The warning came as Pakistani and Turkish forces began deploying to the kingdom under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, activated for the first time since its signing in August.
· 5 sources