Michael Kovrig, one of two Canadian men detained in China for more than 1,000 days on alleged spying charges, has described being put in solitary confinement for six months and relentlessly interrogated in what he said was psychological torture. Dubbed the “Michaels,” Kovrig and fellow Canadian national Michael Spavor were at the heart of a bitter tussle between Beijing and Ottawa ...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a plan to force all Palestinian civilians out of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, in order to lay siege to Hamas and force the release of hostages. It is unclear how many Palestinians remain north of the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which splits Gaza in two, but estimates run into the hundreds of thousands. ...
Israel’s military has raided and ordered the closure of Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, the network said. Al Jazeera broadcast live footage early on Sunday of Israeli soldiers entering its offices in Ramallah, capturing the reactions of bureau chief Walid Omary and staff members live on air. Video broadcast by Al Jazeera showed one soldier ...
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) looked set to fend off the far right in a state election in Brandenburg on Sunday after trailing behind the Alternative for Germany (AfD) throughout the campaign, exit polls indicated. The SPD, which has governed the state surrounding the capital Berlin since reunification in 1990, scored 31.8% of the vote, ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany on 29.2%, in a last-minute comeback, according to ...
An Israeli airstrike reduces a nine-story apartment building in Beirut’s southern suburb to a large mound of rubble. A man covered in dust flails lifelessly in the arms of a rescuer. A corpse in a body bag is whizzed past parked ambulances on the back of a quad bike. Suspicion pierces through the catastrophic aftermath of the attack. Plainclothes Hezbollah ...
The last 48 hours has seen the most intense exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in almost a year of war in Gaza, as the Lebanese militant group fired projectiles deeper into Israeli territory than has previously been seen. On Saturday Israel pounded Hezbollah targets with nearly 300 strikes it what they described as preemptive action to thwart a ...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toured a Pennsylvania ammunition plant on Sunday as he began a key visit to the United States in which he is expected to present his blueprint to defeat Russia to President Joe Biden and other allies. Zelensky will fully outline his “victory plan” – which includes Kyiv’s long-stated request to use long-range missiles on targets inside Russia – to Biden for ...
Sri Lankans elected Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake as their new president on Sunday, putting faith in his pledge to fight corruption and bolster a fragile economic recovery following the South Asian nation’s worst financial crisis in decades. Dissanayake, 55, who does not possess political lineage like some of his rivals in the presidential election, led from start to finish during the counting of ...
Zelensky has been pushing Ukraine’s allies to ease restrictions on weapons and although there have been signs of the US shifting its stance he said they are yet to be given the go-ahead. “We do have long-range weapons. But let’s just say not the amount we need.” Zelensky said Friday, adding that “neither the US nor the United Kingdom gave us permission ...
At least 22 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in an Israeli strike on a school compound Saturday, Palestinian officials said, with Israel saying it targeted Hamas fighters sheltering there. A spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defense, Mahmoud Basal, said the missile hit the Al-Zaytoun School, near Gaza City, where thousands were sheltering. The Government Media Office in Gaza ...