BBC News: Taliban ministers have told a senior UN official they plan to draw up new guidelines to allow Afghan women to work in some humanitarian operations. Martin Griffiths told the BBC he had received “encouraging responses” from a wide range of Taliban ministers during talks in Kabul, even if last month’s edict banning Afghan […]
Reuters: MOSCOW, Jan 25 – The Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday the frigate Admiral Gorshkov tested its strike capabilities in the western Atlantic Ocean. In a statement, the ministry said the frigate had run a computer simulation on hypersonic Zircon missiles. Zircon missiles have a range of 900 km (560 miles), and can travel […]
Reuters: TOKYO, Jan 25 – Thirteen crew members were rescued on Wednesday from a cargo ship that sank off southwestern Japan during fierce winter winds, with planes and ships, including private vessels, searching for the remaining nine. The vessel, the 6,651-tonne Hong Kong-registered “Jintian”, issued a distress call late on Tuesday, the Japan Coast Guard […]
BBC News: India and Pakistan came “close” to a “nuclear conflagration” in February 2019, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said in his new memoir. This happened after Delhi launched strikes against militants in Pakistani territory following an attack on Indian troops in Kashmir. Pakistan had then said it had shot down two […]
BBC News: The Rwandan government says “defensive measures were taken” on a Democratic Republic of Congo fighter jet that “violated” its airspace on Tuesday evening. Images shared on social media show a military plane being shot at while flying at a low altitude between the towns of Goma in DR Congo and Gisenyi in Rwanda. […]
BBC News: After months of reluctance, the US and Germany reportedly plan to send tanks to Ukraine, in what Kyiv hopes will be a game-changer on the battlefield. US President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to announce plans to send at least 30 M1 Abrams tanks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also reportedly decided to […]
Chris Hipkins has been sworn in as New Zealand’s 41st prime minister. The 44-year-old was formally appointed to the role in Wellington, a week after Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. Ms Ardern, 42, had said she no longer has “enough in the tank” to lead the country. The country’s governor-general Cindy Kiro accepted her formal resignation […]
Al Jazeera: Islamabad, Pakistan – Power has been completely restored in Pakistan, says its energy minister, a day after it suffered its worst outage in months. “All 1,112 grid stations restored within 24 hours,” Khurram Dastgir Khan told reporters on Tuesday. In a tweet, Khan added that there will be limited power outages in various […]
WARSAW, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Germany has now received Poland’s official request to re-export Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the Polish defence minister said on Tuesday, as Warsaw cranks up the pressure on Berlin to give its approval. Ukraine wants the German-made Leopard 2, one of the most widely used Western tanks, to help it […]
Reuters: KATHMANDU, Jan 24 – An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck Nepal on Tuesday, damaging some houses and sending tremors out as far as India’s capital, New Delhi. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was at a depth of 25 km, about 63 km to the northwest of Nepal’s Jumla district, more than 300 […]