The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has voted to advance a bill aimed at repealing the 2002 authorisation that greenlit the US invasion of Iraq. The committee on Wednesday approved the measure, led by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Todd Young, with a 13-8 vote. It would repeal both the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), as well as the longer-standing 1991 AUMF. 'We need to put the Iraq War […]
A drone strike in eastern Syria on Wednesday killed seven people, including civilians, a UK-based war monitor said. A further 15 people were wounded after the strike targeted a weapons factory and a truck loaded with arms in Deir Ezzor province, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, which took place in a part of […]
Though Israel's past wars on Gaza have often been justified by Tel Aviv as a response to Palestinian rockets or, generally, as acts of self-defence, the truth is different. Historically, Israel's relationship with Gaza has been defined by Tel Aviv's need to create distractions from its own fractious politics, to flex its muscles against its regional enemies and to test its new weapons technology. Though the Occupied West Bank – […]
Ukraine said its troops were holding out against pro-Moscow forces in the eastern salt mining town of Soledar as more than 500 civilians including children were trapped there. In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday thanked two units in Soledar that he said “are holding their positions and inflicting significant losses on the enemy.” He did not give more details. Zelenskiy said he and senior Ukrainian commanders analysed […]
Ten months after walking for 16 hours and hustling for rides to escape from Ukraine when Russia launched its attack, Johan Nel said he faced trauma following the experience. However, the online teacher is now living in Russia where he made new friends and found the love of his life. Speaking to TimesLIVE, he said he does not want to relive the four-day horror of escaping from Ukraine in February […]
INTERNATIONAL LIVE updates as at 1pm 11:13 GMT- Western-supplied arms and mercenaries are priority targets: Moscow The secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, says that Western-supplied arms and foreign mercenaries were priority targets for Russia’s forces fighting in Ukraine, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. “Lethal weapons supplied to Ukraine, as well as foreign mercenaries fighting on the Ukrainian side, are priority targets for the Russian Armed Forces,” Patrushev […]
INTERNATIONAL Ukrainian officials have cheered apparent attacks on military bases in Russian-annexed Crimea and warned civilians to stay away from potential targets, shortly after Moscow on Tuesday said the explosions were the “result of sabotage”. Russian-installed officials have accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the city of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is located, according to Interfax news agency, with Ukraine accusing Russia of shelling the city of Nikopol across the Dnieper river […]
INTERNATIONAL Yemen's warring sides agreed to renew a two-month truce expiring on Tuesday, the United Nations Envoy said, despite international pressure for an extended and expanded deal that would build on the longest stretch of relative calm in over seven years, Reuters reports. "This truce extension includes a commitment from the parties to intensify negotiations to reach an expanded truce agreement as soon as possible," Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said […]
A UN envoy on Sunday pushed for progress on the eve of the latest round of talks in Geneva towards revising Syria's constitution and winding down the country's nine-year-old civil war. "We want to see progress," Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, told reporters during a virtual news conference, according to AFP. A so-called constitutional committee made up of 45 people - with 15 delegates each representing Bashar […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
