WASHINGTON (AA) – The US maintained on Wednesday that it would not allow the Taliban to access Afghanistan’s $3.5 billion in Central Bank reserves without major reforms, even as it opened the funds for disbursement to alleviate economic strain on the war-torn country. Washington announced earlier in the day the formation of an inte...
KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday confirmed a cross-border exchange of fire with Pakistani forces, causing casualties on both sides. Pakistani forces wanted to establish a military post near the border district of Dand Wa Patan in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said on ...
OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – The Spanish ombudsman has collected testimony from 201 victims as part of its newly launched investigation into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The independent probe began a little over two months ago and is Spain’s first official investigation into the depths of abuse and pedophilia at the hands of Catholic [&h...
WASHINGTON (AA) – Russia is feeding its people a “steady diet of lies” to conceal the true costs it is incurring as a result of its more than half-year war against Ukraine, the State Department has said. Spokesman Ned Price said Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior officials “have done everything they can” ...
BRUSSELS (AA) – EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell discussed renewed fighting on the Armenia and Azerbaijan border with the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers on Tuesday. Borrell said he had an in-depth discussion about the situation in a telephone call with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. He said on Twitter that...
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AA) – Ukraine’s deputy defense minister has claimed that more than 300 settlements in the Kharkiv region were regained from Russian forces over the past week. Hanna Maliar told reporters that an area of some 3,800 square kilometers (1,467 square miles) has been recaptured. “More than 300 settlements and nearly 1...
UNITED NATIONS (AA) – United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to de-escalate tensions amid recent fighting which claimed lives on both sides. “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about reports of renewed fighting along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric ...
NICE, France (AA) – A retired French police officer accused of assaulting two high school girls wearing headscarves will appear in court to face charges. Footage of the attack, which occurred early this year in France’s southern city of Montpellier, was circulated widely on social media during the recent presidential election. The trial ...
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – An armed woman broke into a bank in the Lebanese capital Beirut demanding access to her savings to treat her sick sister. A woman carrying a gun entered BLOM bank and threatened to set herself on fire to withdraw her own money, eyewitnesses said. The government-run National News Agency said the […]
Khartoum, Sudan – (AFP): Thousands of Sudanese protesters took to the streets to press demands for a return to civilian rule following a military coup last year. Sudan has been rocked by waves of demonstrations since the armed forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan grabbed power in October. The takeover upended a transition to [&he...
