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Global arms exports soar on European demand: study
STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- Global weapons flows grew by almost 10 percent in the past five years, with Europe more than tripling imports, a report showed Monday. The surge in European countries can be explained, in part at least, by the fact they are buying in weapons to supply to Ukraine and because they are seeking to boost their own military capabilities against a perceived threat from Russia, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. The volume of worldwide arms flows grew by 9.2 pe
March 9, 2026 -
US marks 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday
SELMA, Alabama (AP) -- Sixty-one years after state troopers attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, thousands gathered in the Alabama city amid new concerns about the future of the Voting Rights Act. The March 7, 1965, violence that became known as Bloody Sunday shocked the nation and helped spur passage of the landmark legislation that dismantled barriers to voting for Black Americans in the Jim Crow South. The anniversary was celebrated in this southern city, that
March 9, 2026 -
Thousands march for women's rights and against Mideast war
PARIS, France (AFP) -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the world Sunday to mark International Women's Day and denounce the war in the Middle East. From Rio in Brazil, Caracas in Venezuela and cities across France, Spain, Turkey and other European countries, demonstrators marched to demand women's rights across a range of issues. Thousands marched in cities across Spain to protest gender-based violence and call for an end to the war in the Middle East. Rape
March 9, 2026 -
Flash floods in Nairobi kill 23
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) -- At least 23 people have been killed in flash flooding in Nairobi, police said Saturday, as search and rescue operations continued amid widespread devastation. Torrential rains lashed the Kenyan capital late Friday, turning major streets into rivers and flooding thousands of homes and businesses. Rescue teams were still pulling out bodies and rescuing trapped residents on Saturday, while Agence France-Presse reporters saw heavily damaged roads and infrastructure from the c
March 8, 2026 -
Iranian clerics seek swift naming of new supreme leader
Hard-line clerics have called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader to help guide Iran, Iranian media reported on Saturday, as the Islamic Republic reels under a new wave of US and Israeli strikes. The calls suggest some in the clerical establishment may be uncomfortable leaving power in the hands of the three-man council put in charge temporarily after the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had the final say in all matters of state. US President Donald Trump has
March 8, 2026 -
Protesters come out amid war in Iran
PARIS, France (AFP) -- Lion-emblazoned flags of pre-revolution Iran fluttered in cities across the world on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets a week after the start of the war in the Middle East. Some protesters came out in support of Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of the country's late shah, while others denounced the option. Others demonstrated against the war and some in support of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first US-Israeli strikes of the confl
March 8, 2026 -
At least 10 killed in Ukraine's Kharkiv
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two children were among at least 10 people killed on Saturday in a Russian missile that hit a five-story residential building in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, officials said. Sixteen others were wounded. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack and called for an international response. He said that Russia struck Ukraine overnight with 29 missiles and 480 drones, targeting energy facilities in Kyiv and other central regions and with damage reported in at l
March 8, 2026 -
Tehran residents keep up semblance of normality
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) -- For a moment Tehran resembled a city at peace, with birdsong, joggers and tranquil views of the snow-capped Alborz mountains in the distance. Then the sound of another explosion ripped through the air. A week ago, opening strikes by the US and Israel killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, upended residents' lives and transformed the city streets into a battleground. In Tehran's west, a block that belonged to the security forces had been blasted apart, and the
March 8, 2026 -
Iran's president apologizes for strikes on neighbors
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's president apologized Saturday for attacks on “neighboring countries," even as its missiles and drones flew toward Gulf Arab states and hard-liners asserted that Tehran's war strategy wouldn't budge. A rift between more pragmatic politicians looking to deescalate the weekold war and others committed to battling the US and Israel could complicate efforts to end the fighting. Conflicting statements involved two of the three members of the leadership council
March 8, 2026 -
Former US presidents attend Jesse Jackson memorial in Chicago
CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Former US Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton joined thousands of mourners at a public memorial service for Jesse Jackson in Chicago to honor the longtime civil-rights activist and Democratic political leader. Jackson, who died last month at the age of 84, was a leading advocate for voting rights and desegregation. The memorial on Friday at the House of Hope, a 10,000-seat venue on Chicago's South Side, was celebratory, with a choir performing rousing gospel
March 8, 2026 -
Russia, Ukraine to exchange 500 prisoners of war on March 5-6: negotiator
Moscow and Kyiv will each release a total of 500 prisoners of war over Thursday and Friday, Russia's top negotiator said, with the Russian defense ministry saying the first 200 on each side had already been swapped. "There will be an exchange of prisoners of war with Ukraine. 500 for 500," Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky wrote on Telegram, adding it was part of agreements reached at trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva searching for an end to the conflict
March 5, 2026 -
US and Mideast countries seek Kyiv's drone expertise as Russia-Ukraine talks put on ice
The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday. He said he has spoken in recent days with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation. Russia has fired tens of tho
March 5, 2026 -
France allowing US aircraft on some Mideast bases: military
France has allowed US aircraft on some of its bases in the Middle East after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional conflict, the French military said Thursday. "As part of our relations with the United States, the presence of their aircraft has been temporarily authorised on our bases" in the region, a spokeswoman for the military general staff told AFP. "These aircraft contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf." France has an airbase in the United Arab Emirates and aircra
March 5, 2026 -
British American Tobacco faces UK shareholders' lawsuit over North Korea sanctions breaches
British American Tobacco is facing a London lawsuit from shareholders over allegations the cigarette maker failed to properly tell markets about breaches of US sanctions in relation to its business in North Korea. BAT in 2023 agreed to pay more than $635 million to US authorities after a subsidiary admitted conspiring to violate US sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea and commit bank fraud from 2007 to 2017. More than 100 current and former BAT shareholders filed a lawsuit ag
March 5, 2026 -
Koreans in Middle East reveal fear, anxiety, and why they stay
Gal Young-hea, a 70-year-old Korean resident of Be’er Sheva, Israel, now spends her day counting how many times she heads to the bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming missiles. “When the sirens sound now, I just think about how long it will take me to reach the shelter,” she said. Missile alerts have become a regular part of daily life as tensions escalate following US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Tehran has retaliated by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and nearby count
March 5, 2026