International News

09/09/2023

09/09/2023

07/09/2023

Gabon’s military says deposed President Ali Bongo ‘free’ to travel abroad
Bongo’s release comes after General Brice Oligui Nguema sworn in as Gabon’s new head of state on Monday
Gabon’s deposed president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, has been released from house arrest and is free to leave the country for medical treatment, the military which removed him from power last month has said.

Bongo was toppled from power on August 30, shortly after being declared the winner of much-criticised elections that would have seen him extend his 14-year rule as president.
“Given his state of health, the former President of the Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba is free to move about. He may, if he wishes, travel abroad for medical checkups,” Gabon’s military spokesman Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi said in a statement read on national television on Wednesday evening.

The statement announcing Bongo’s release from house arrest was signed by General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, who was sworn in as Gabon’s new head of state on Monday.

07/09/2023

Russia blasts ‘inhumanity’ of US sending depleted uranium shells to Ukraine
Provision of controversial depleted uranium ammunition for US tanks is part of new $1bn assistance package to Kyiv.
Russia has denounced as inhuman a plan by the United States to provide the Ukrainian military with ammunition containing depleted uranium.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that the controversial arms for US-made Abrams tanks would be part of a new military package worth up to $175m, out of more than $1bn in civilian and defence support that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced during a visit in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
“The administration’s decision to supply weapons with depleted uranium is an indicator of inhumanity,” Russia’s embassy in Washington said on the Telegram messaging app following the announcement.

“Clearly, with its idea of inflicting a ‘strategic defeat’, Washington is prepared to fight not only to the last Ukrainian but also to do away with entire generations,” the embassy said.

“The US is deliberately transferring weapons with indiscriminate effects,” it added.

“It is fully aware of the consequences: explosions of such munitions result in the formation of a moving radioactive cloud. Small particles of uranium settle in the respiratory tract, lungs, esophagus, accumulate in kidneys and liver, cause cancer and lead to the inhibition of the whole organism’s functions.”

Along with the depleted uranium shells for tanks that the US plans to deliver to Ukraine, the new military assistance package includes Javelin anti-tank missiles, tactical air navigation systems and additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), according to the Pentagon.

While the United Kingdom sent depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine earlier this year, this will be the first US shipment to Ukraine of the controversial armour-piercing shells and it is set to stir controversy over the use of such weapons on the battlefield.

The US was widely criticised recently for sending cluster bombs to Ukraine, despite concerns over the dangers such weapons pose to civilians.

07/09/2023

‘Islamophobic policy’: French high school goes on strike over abaya ban
Teachers and students of a school in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb are protesting against the government’s new measures.
Teachers and students of a French high school have gone on strike in protest against the government’s decision to ban abaya and qamis – long and loose garments worn by some Muslim women and men, respectively – in public schools.

“We want to distance ourselves from the government’s Islamophobic policy,” read a statement from the protest group at the Maurice Utrillo high school in Stains, Seine-Saint-Denis, calling for a strike which started on Wednesday.

07/09/2023

‘We will be finished’: Modi manufacturing plan squeezes small Indian firms
Incentives to big manufacturers aimed at challenging China are threatening small businesses, India’s economic backbone.
Until a few weeks ago, Gurmeet Singh Kular’s cycle parts factory in this northern India manufacturing hub was operating at less than 40 percent capacity. There were hardly any orders for the rims and mudguards that his family has been making since 1952 for the basic bicycles used by generations of Indians but whose sales are now fading away.

Relief came as some state governments put in orders for these bicycles, often handed out by authorities during election season, which is coming up in the next few months, or to schoolgirls from low-income families.
back. There has been a significant employment loss and loss of those products,” he added.

On a recent hot September day, a worker soldered a piece of metal into what would become a cycle rim while another smoothed the sharp edge of a mudguard.

While Kular’s industry, most of which is based in Ludhiana, saw a boost in business in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic as people picked up cycling as a sport, that boom has since faded and many cycling-related businesses are closing down or paring back production and the number of their employees, he said.

“There are no [loans] available to buy cycles unlike for scooters and motorcycles,” Kular said. Even though basic cycles cost as little as 4,000 rupees ($50), loans make automated two-wheelers affordable, eating into Kular’s potential clientele.

Small businesses like Kular’s make up a giant chunk of India’s manufacturing sector. The segment – officially called micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) – provides about 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, produces 36 percent of the national output and is responsible for close to 45 percent of India’s exports, according to data by India Ratings, a unit of the American credit ratings agency Fitch. There are 18.9 million such businesses, employing 129 million people.

They are also important in India’s efforts to grab some of the global manufacturing market share as global brands try to diversify their supply chains to reduce their dependence on China in the face of trade and political tensions between Washington and Beijing.

But they have been buffeted by a range of shocks in the past few years, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to remove high-value currency notes overnight, a new national tax and COVID-19, which wiped out thousands of businesses and millions of jobs.

Most MSMEs “don’t have deep pockets” and their survival depends on being able to operate every day, said Sunil Sinha, principal economist at India Ratings. “Many of the MSMEs who closed down during COVID could never come back. There has been a significant employment loss and loss of those products,” he added.

On the back of those losses some have struggled to keep up with changing industry dynamics, such as consumer preferences for higher performing or more trendy cycles in Kular’s sector, for instance.

07/09/2023

Death toll rises to four in Greece after floods, more than 800 rescued
Swift water rescuers and divers from disaster response units and the army are participating in rescue efforts.
The death toll from floods in central Greece has risen to four after severe rainstorms turned streets into raging torrents, hurled cars into the sea, and washed away roads and bridges.

Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s minister for the climate crisis and civil protection, said on Thursday that more than 885 people had been rescued so far and six were reported missing.
Flooding triggered by severe rainstorms also hit neighbouring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing a total of 15 people in the three countries.

“Our country finds itself for the third day dealing with a phenomenon the likes of which we have not seen in the past,” Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Thursday.

He added that some areas received more than twice the average annual rainfall of Athens in the space of 12 hours.

“The state’s absolute priority at the moment is the rescue … of people from the areas hit by the bad weather and the protection of critical infrastructure,” Marinakis said.

07/09/2023

No sign of intentional attack on Romania – NATO
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says there are no indications that drone debris found on Romanian territory was caused by a deliberate Russian attack, but that air attacks close to NATO borders posed a risk.
Regional Governor Oleh Kiper says Russian drone attacks have damaged port infrastructure, a grain silo and administrative buildings in the Izmail district of Ukraine’s Odesa region.
Russia says the United States’ supply of depleted uranium weapons to Ukraine is a “criminal act“.

03/09/2023

Threats, insults, and Kremlin 'robots': How Russian diplomacy died under Putin
Russia's diplomats were once a key part of President Putin's foreign policy strategy. But that has all changed.

In the years leading up to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, diplomats lost their authority, their role reduced to echoing the Kremlin's aggressive rhetoric.

BBC Russian asks former diplomats, as well as ex-Kremlin and White House insiders, how Russian diplomacy broke down.

In October 2021, US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland went to a meeting at the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow. The man across the table was Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who Ms Nuland had known for decades and always got along with.

Mr Rybakov's American counterparts saw him as a practical, calm negotiator - someone they could talk to even as the two countries' relationship frayed.

This time, things were different.

Mr Ryabkov read Moscow's official position from a piece of paper and resisted Ms Nuland's attempts to start a discussion. Ms Nuland was shocked, according to two people who discussed the incident with her.

She described Mr Ryabkov and one of his colleagues as "robots with papers", the people said (the State Department declined to comment on the incident).

And outside the negotiating room, Russian diplomats were using increasingly undiplomatic language.

03/09/2023

Russia puts advanced Sarmat nuclear missile system on ‘combat duty’
Russian space agency chief Yuri Borisov says new intercontinental ballistic missile system is now in service, Russia’s news agencies report.
Moscow has put into service an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said would make Russia’s enemies “think twice” about their threats, according to reported comments by the head of the country’s space agency.

Yuri Borisov, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said Sarmat missiles have “assumed combat duty”, according to Russian news agency reports on Friday

03/09/2023

Ukraine tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky taken into custody over fraud allegations
Court places billionaire businessman under arrest for two months over fraud and money laundering charges
A Ukrainian court has placed billionaire businessman Ihor Kolomoisky under arrest for two months over fraud and money laundering charges as part of the war-torn country’s crackdown on corruption.

The court on Saturday gave Kolomoisky the option of posting bail of more than 509 million hryvnias, equivalent to more than $13m.
In an oblique reference to legal proceedings against the business magnate, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday thanked law enforcement bodies for bringing long-running cases to justice.

“I thank Ukrainian law enforcement officials for their resolve in bringing to a just outcome each and every one of the cases that have been hindered for decades,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

Al Jazeera Rob McBride, reporting from Kyiv, said the court’s decision has caught many people by surprise.

“This has come as a big shock here in Kyiv. There’s been rumblings of it on social media all day. Kolomoisky is one of Ukraine’s most high-profile, richest oligarchs in the country. He was a supporter of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presidential bid back in 2019. He has been under US sanctions since 2021,” McBride said

03/09/2023

Curfew imposed in Iraq’s Kirkuk after deadly clashes
At least one civilian killed as Kurdish and Arab residents hold rival protests over plans to hand over a security building to local authorities.
A curfew has been imposed in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk after rival demonstrations by Kurdish and Arab residents descended into deadly violence, according to officials.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the curfew in Kirkuk as well as “extensive security operations in the areas affected by the riots”, a statement from his office said on Saturday.

He called on all parties to “play their part in preventing strife and preserving security, stability and order in Kirkuk Governorate”.

At least one civilian was killed and eight people were injured, a local official said.

03/09/2023

Niger coup supporters call for French ambassador, troops to leave country
Protesters rally outside a French military base, calling for the ambassador and about 1,500 soldiers to leave.
Thousands of people have rallied in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, demanding that France withdraw its ambassador and troops from the West African country as its new military rulers have accused the former colonial power of “interference”.

The protesters gathered near a military base housing French soldiers on Saturday after a call by several civic organisations hostile to the French military presence. They held up banners proclaiming, “French army, leave our country.”

31/08/2023

Kyiv confirms drone attack on Russia's Pskov airbase
A Ukrainian government official has confirmed to the BBC that Ukraine was behind Wednesday's drone attack on a Russian airbase at Pskov.

A number of Ilyushin transport planes were said to be damaged or destroyed.

The official, from the Ministry of Defence, confirmed local reports that Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) was behind the attack.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a Ukrainian-made weapon had hit a target at a distance of 700km.

He did not specify the weapon or the target, but the distance could correspond to the Pskov attack.

Ukraine believes that four Il-76 planes were destroyed and two others damaged. Russian officials say four planes were damaged.

The damaged aircraft are long-range cargo planes, ideal for transporting troops and equipment over long distances and therefore valuable war assets for Russia.

Russia has vowed that Ukraine will "not go unpunished" for the attacks.

Ukraine's drone war on Russia is now an almost daily occurrence. Wednesday's attacks at Pskov, Bryansk and elsewhere were among the most widespread so far.

A fuel depot in Kaluga and a microelectronics factory in Bryansk where components for Russian weapons systems are made were also hit in those attacks.

On Thursday morning, the Mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said another drone had been shot down south-east of Moscow.

Earlier, Russian media reported dozens of flights had been delayed at Moscow airports, a regular occurrence during drone attacks.

In a Telegram post, Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said three drones had been shot down over Bryansk.

Ukrainian officials are generally tight-lipped about attacks inside Russia. But it seems that as the campaign gathers pace, officials in Kyiv seem more willing to claim them as part of the country's war effort.

31/08/2023

Ecuadorian police arrest six after car bombs explode in Quito
South American nation is grappling with surge in violence as voters prepare for October presidential run-off.
Police in Ecuador have arrested six suspects after a car bombing in a commercial area of the capital, Quito, as the South American nation grapples with a surge in violence that authorities say is linked to drug trafficking.

The explosion late on Wednesday did not cause any casualties, police said.
The vehicle exploded due to the ignition of “two gas cylinders with fuel, a slow fuse and apparently dynamite sticks”, police investigations director Pablo Ramirez told reporters.

Ramirez said agents arrested six people, among them a Colombian national, several kilometres from the site of the explosion hours after the incident. The suspects have a record of extortion, robbery and murder, he said.

A second vehicle that contained two cylinders of petrol and a slow fuse also exploded nearby at an office of Ecuador’s prisons agency, police said on Thursday morning
It caused “destruction of the vehicle and damage to the exterior” of the building, but no injuries were reported.

Ecuador has faced months of rising violence, particularly in its prisons, where a series of deadly riots have broken out over what officials say is an escalating battle over lucrative drug trafficking routes.

The country also was shaken this month when presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated during an election campaign stop in Quito.

31/08/2023

India erects life-size cutouts of langurs to deter monkeys before G20
Officials also hire more than 30 ‘monkey-men to scare away the primates as global leaders make their way to New Delhi.
Life-size cutouts of langurs have been erected in several parts of New Delhi and teams of “monkey-men” have been hired to deter marauding monkeys from munching on the floral displays laid out for the G20 summit next week.

New Delhi’s city council has hired more than 30 “monkey wallahs”, or “monkey-men”, who mimic the hoots and screams of the aggressive langur monkey – the natural enemy of the smaller rhesus macaque primates.
Rhesus monkeys are a menace in many areas of India’s capital, running across busy roads without warning and often attacking unsuspecting pedestrians or residents.

They also wreak havoc in the capital’s leafy government areas.

The langur – a bigger primate with a black face – has commonly been used by authorities in the city to scare away monkeys, with the remedy already working well in this instance, officials said.

“We can’t remove the monkeys from their natural habitat, so we have deployed a team of 30 to 40 men who are trained to scare away monkeys,” Satish Upadhyay, the vice chairman of the New Delhi Municipal Council, said on Wednesday.

31/08/2023

African Union suspends Gabon’s membership after military coup
The body said it ‘strongly condemns the military takeover’ which resulted in the ouster of President Bongo.
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council said it has decided to “immediately suspend” Gabon following the military coup this week.

The body said on X, formerly Twitter, that it “strongly condemns the military takeover of power in the Republic of Gabon”.
It “decides to immediately suspend the participation of Gabon in all activities of the AU, its organs and institutions”.

The announcement came after a meeting of the council on the situation in Gabon following Wednesday’s coup that followed disputed elections in which President Ali Bongo was declared the winner.

It said the meeting was chaired by AU commissioner for political affairs Bankole Adeoye of Nigeria and the current holder of the council’s rotating chair, Burundi’s W***y Nyamitwe.

The takeover ended the Bongo family’s almost six decades in power and created a new conundrum for a region that has struggled to deal with eight coups since 2020.

31/08/2023

Niger’s military rulers order police to expel French ambassador
Visas of the envoy and his family are revoked, marking a further downturn in ties and a rise in anti-French sentiment.
Niger’s military rulers have ordered police to expel France’s ambassador, a move that marks a further downturn in relations and one that French authorities say the army officers who seized power in Niamey last month had no authority to make.

The coup’s leaders are following the strategy of military governments in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso in distancing themselves from the region’s former colonial power amid a wave of anti-French sentiment.
The visas of French Ambassador Sylvain Itte and his family have been cancelled, and police have been instructed to expel the envoy, the military administration said in a statement dated Tuesday and confirmed as authentic on Thursday by its head of communications.

Last Friday, instigators of the coup, which has been condemned by African leaders and Western nations, ordered Itte to leave the country within 48 hours in response to what they called actions by France “contrary to the interests of Niger”.

31/08/2023

Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election case
Former US president waives formal arraignment in case accusing him and 18 others of subverting 2020 election.
Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to election interference charges in the US state of Georgia, a court filing showed, as the former United States president waived a formal arraignment hearing in the widely watched case.

Thursday’s court filing, which was signed by Trump, reads: “As evidenced by my signature below, I do hereby waive formal arraignment and enter my plea of NOT GUILTY to the indictment in this case.”
The former president trump support, for now
The former president faces 13 criminal charges in Georgia, where prosecutors have accused him and 18 associates of joining a conspiracy to “unlawfully change the outcome” of the 2020 US presidential election in the state.

Prosecutors had set arraignment hearings for Trump and his co-defendants for September 6.

Trump, who remains the frontrunner in the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination race, surrendered last week at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta to face the charges.

He was swiftly released on $200,000 bond after becoming the first former president in US history to have his mugshot taken during his brief arrest.

30/08/2023

Burger King faces legal claim over size of Whopper
Burger King must face a lawsuit that alleges it makes its Whopper burger appear larger on its menus than it is in reality, a US judge has ruled.

The lawsuit accuses the fast food giant of misleading customers by showing the burger with a meatier patty and ingredients that "overflow over the bun".

"The plaintiffs' claims are false," Burger King told the BBC.

Rivals McDonald's and Wendy's are facing a similar lawsuit in the US.

The class action lawsuit against Burger King alleged that the Whopper was made to look 35% larger, with more than double the amount of meat compared to what was actually served to customers.
Burger King had earlier argued that it was not required to deliver burgers that look "exactly like the picture".

In the ruling, US District Judge Roy Altman said it should be left to jurors to "tell us what reasonable people think".

However, he dismissed claims that Burger King misled customers with its television and online advertisements.

"The flame-grilled beef patties portrayed in our advertising are the same patties used in the millions of Whopper sandwiches we serve to guests nationwide," a Burger King spokesperson said in a statement after the ruling.

Lawyer Anthony Russo, who represents the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

30/08/2023

Wave of drone strikes hits several Russian regions
Moscow has vowed Ukraine will "not go unpunished" after drone strikes hit targets in Russia, while Kyiv saw its heaviest bombardment in months.

The drones hit several Russian regions and damaged two military planes, a fuel depot and a microelectronics factory.

Meanwhile Ukrainian officials said most missiles and drones were shot down but two people were killed.

Kyiv has not said that it was involved in the latest attacks, but it rarely comments on strikes inside Russia.

In recent weeks, however, Ukraine is believed to have increased its use of explosive drones to attack targets in Russia.

This is all part of its counter-offensive strategy - making it as difficult as possible for Russia to keep its frontline troops supplied, as it pushes on with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At a regional airport in Pskov, a western city that lies some 600km (372 miles) from Ukraine, two military planes were struck and burst into flames according Russian news agencies.

The regional governor, Mikhail Vedernikov, said that he was at the scene and posted a video on Telegram showing a large fire, while an explosion could be heard.

The damaged aircraft - Ilyushin 76 - are long range cargo planes, that are ideal for transporting troops and equipment over long distances. Pskov airport, which was closed to its select few civilian flights on Wednesday, also serves as an important military hub.

They are valuable war assets to Russia, and that makes them targets for Ukraine.

It was the second drone attack in as many months in Pskov - there was another strike in the region in May.

There were more attacks further south, with the Russian military saying it shot down Ukrainian drones in the Bryansk, Kaluga, Oryol and Ryazan regions, plus one near the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

Bryansk's regional governor, Aleksandr Bogomaz, said one was intercepted en route to destroying a TV tower, while another hit a microelectronics factory, where components for Russia's weapons systems were made.

A fuel depot in Kaluga was also hit - yet another logistical target involved in keeping Russia's war machine rolling.