Europe

By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO (Reuters) – The Islamist group Hamas on Friday criticized the “unilateral” designation by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of an ally and leading business figure as prime minister with a mandate to help reform the Palestinian Authority (PA) and rebuild Gaza. Mohammad Mustafa’s appointment comes after mounting pressure to overhaul the governing […]

Russia hit the Ukrainian port city of Odesa in a double-tap strike on Friday. The attack involves drawing crowds to the site of an initial blast and then hitting the spot again. At least 14 people were killed and 46 more injured in the bombardment, local authorities said. Russia launched multiple missiles at the Ukrainian […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans for a military operation in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip on Friday, according to his office. Alongside the operational deployment, the army is preparing to evacuate the civilian population, the statement said. The move comes despite growing international criticism of a potential Rafah operation as […]

Russian activist Oleg Orlov was asked to agree to fight in Ukraine, the rights group he founded said. Orlov, who is 70, declined the offer, according to the group. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine. A jailed Russian human rights activist, who is 70, was asked to […]

Nigerians in the south of the country are mourning a traditional Yoruba monarch who has died after just two years on the throne. Oba Moshood Olalekan Balogun’s short reign as the Olubadan of Ibadan, a city in south-western Nigeria, followed a long career in academia and politics. His highest political role was as senator for […]

As a canopy of stars unfurled across the landscape of Namibia, a “golden” creature sat in a shallow pond. The animal’s size and “aggressive” nature made it easy to spot. When scientists found the huge frog, it turned out to be a new species. Researchers visited several sites in the southern African countries of Namibia […]

Somali security forces say they have ended the 12-hour siege of a hotel in the capital Mogadishu by killing all five of the gunmen involved. Three soldiers were killed and 27 people injured, including three members of parliament and the government spokesperson. Jihadist group al-Shabab attacked the Syl Hotel, which is popular with government officials […]

The Israeli army will make sure civilians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip are brought to safety if the military carries out an operation there, an army spokesman said on Friday. Spokesman Arye Shalicar said that leaders of Hamas were suspected to be in the city on the border with Egypt, along with many […]

At least 20 people were killed in an attack in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, according to Palestinain reports. The Hamas-controlled health authority said Israeli troops had fired on people waiting at a roundabout, although the Israeli army firmly rejected the claims. More than 150 other people were injured, according to the health […]

The commission in charge of Russian elections, which many critics consider neither free nor fair, said its online voting system had malfunctioned on Friday due to the large numbers of voters trying to cast their ballots that way. In the first day of three days of voting, some 500,000 people in Moscow alone cast their […]

Kenyan MPs are investigating the recent recruitment of tax revenue workers after it emerged that some applicants were rejected after doing HIV and pregnancy tests. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said it had disqualified 133 job applicants after they did the tests last year. They were set to undergo paramilitary training to prepare them for […]

Russia is suspected of jamming the signals of a plane carrying the UK’s defense secretary. The plane experienced GPS problems near the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Russian electronic warfare units are believed to be behind GPS disruptions in the region. Russia is suspected of jamming the signals of a military plane carrying UK Defense Secretary […]