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UN ends peacekeeping mission in Mali, US blames Russia’s Wagner

UN ends peacekeeping mission in Mali, US blames Russia’s Wagner

THE United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to end a decade-long peacekeeping mission in Mali after the West African country's military junta abruptly asked the 13,000-strong force to leave - a move the United States said was engineered by Russia's Wagner mercenary group. The end of the operation, known as MINUSMA, follows years of tensions and government restrictions that have hobbled peacekeeping air and ground operations since Mali teamed up in 2021 with Russia's Wagner group, which was behind an abortive armed mutiny in Russia last weekend. U.N. peacekeepers are credited with playing a vital role in protecting civilians against an Islamist insurgency that has killed…
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US asks what’s next for Wagner Group in Middle East, Africa, after mutiny attempt

US asks what’s next for Wagner Group in Middle East, Africa, after mutiny attempt

THE United States is examining how the Wagner Group's short-lived mutiny against Russia's military establishment might affect the mercenaries' operations in the Middle East and Africa, officials said. Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin startled the world by leading an armed revolt on Saturday that brought his fighters from the Ukrainian border to within 200 kilometres (125 miles) of Moscow before he abruptly called off the uprising. U.S. policymakers view the mercenary force through the prism of a rivalry with Russia for influence in Africa and the Middle East and accuse it of gross human rights violations. The U.S. military has clashed directly…
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North Korea holds rallies denouncing US, warns of nuclear war

North Korea holds rallies denouncing US, warns of nuclear war

NORTH Korea held mass rallies in Pyongyang where people shouted slogans vowing a "war of revenge" to destroy the United States, as it marked the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, state media reported on Monday. About 120,000 working people and students took part in the rallies held across the capital on Sunday, state news agency KCNA reported. Photos released by state media showed a stadium crowded with people holding placards reading "The whole U.S. mainland is within our shooting range" and "The imperialist U.S. is the destroyer of peace." Sunday's anniversary came amid concerns Pyongyang could…
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Special Report: US, Swedish prosecutors study graft complaint naming son of Turkey’s Erdogan

Special Report: US, Swedish prosecutors study graft complaint naming son of Turkey’s Erdogan

DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS ANTI-CORRUPTION authorities in the United States and Sweden are reviewing a complaint alleging that the Swedish affiliate of a U.S. company pledged to pay tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks if a son of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan helped it secure a dominant market position in the country. The proposed plan was detailed in communications and business documents seen by Reuters, as well as by a person familiar with the matter. Reuters is reporting this plan and the resulting preliminary probes for the first time. Ultimately, no kickbacks were paid, according to the complaint submitted to…
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United States to host expanded Club World Cup in 2025

United States to host expanded Club World Cup in 2025

 THE first edition of FIFA's new 32-team Club World Cup will be held in the United States in 2025, world soccer's governing body said. FIFA confirmed in March that the revamped Club World Cup will be played every four years from June 2025. The FIFA Council unanimously appointed the United States as the competition's host for the first edition of the expanded format. The United States will also host the 2024 Copa America while they are also co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada. "The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be the pinnacle of elite professional…
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United Nations, United States ring alarm on West Darfur violence

United Nations, United States ring alarm on West Darfur violence

THE United States and United Nations have said the situation in Sudan's region of West Darfur could herald a repeat of past mass atrocities there as fighting in Sudan reached its third month. The war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out on April 15 but quickly spread westward, hitting cities in the Kordofan and Darfur regions. Activists said El Geneina, on the border with Chad, has been particularly badly hit. Fighting has killed 1,100 people and sent more than 270,000 refugees across the border to Chad. Homes and hospitals have been destroyed. The United States…
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US urges Nigerian authorities to investigate air strike killing of herders

US urges Nigerian authorities to investigate air strike killing of herders

DAPHNE PSALEDAKIS and HUMEYRA PAMUK THE United States urged Nigerian authorities to investigate an air strike that Reuters reported killed dozens of cattle herders earlier this year and highlighted a pattern of deadly aerial assaults. Dozens of ethnic Fulani herders died in a January 24 aerial bombing in the central state of Nasarawa, according to a Reuters investigation published this week. The deaths raise awkward questions for allies such as the U.S., which arm Nigeria's military as part of ongoing efforts to quell Islamist insurgencies in West Africa. "We urge Nigerian authorities to thoroughly investigate this and all other incidents of civilian…
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US imposes visa restrictions on some Nigerians

US imposes visa restrictions on some Nigerians

THE United States has imposed entry restrictions on more Nigerians for undermining the democratic process during the African nation's 2023 election cycle, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. "These individuals have been involved in the intimidation of voters through threats and physical violence, the manipulation of vote results, and other activity that undermines Nigeria’s democratic process," Blinken said in a statement. The action is the latest in a series of visa restrictions imposed on Nigerian individuals in recent years. Nigeria's election tribunal this month was to begin hearing opposition petitions challenging president-elect Bola Tinubu's victory in the disputed February presidential vote,…
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Battle for Africa: Russia accuses US of meeting sabotage

Battle for Africa: Russia accuses US of meeting sabotage

RONALD POPESKI THE U.S. is trying to wreck Russia's planned summit with African countries as part of efforts to isolate Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview. Lavrov told the news site Argumenty i Fakty that Moscow was different from Western countries in its relations with Africa in that "we never tell our foreign partners how they are supposed to live. We have no secret agenda." Moscow is preparing for its second summit with African countries, scheduled for the end of July in St. Petersburg, including work on infrastructure, technology and energy projects. "It is true that the…
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Freed ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero returns to United States after prison stay

Freed ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero returns to United States after prison stay

IMAD CREIDI THE man who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda", Paul Rusesabagina, arrived in the United States after being released from prison in Rwanda last week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. Rusesabagina, a U.S. permanent resident who has lived in exile in San Antonio, Texas, for over a decade, was sentenced in September 2021 to 25 years over his ties to a group opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame that has an armed wing. The 68-year-old, a vocal critic of Kagame, says he was lured to Rwanda in 2019 when he boarded a private plane in Dubai…
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