West African nations Gabon and Togo join Commonwealth

Gabon and Togo joined the Commonwealth on Saturday, becoming the latest nations with no historic ties to Britain to enter the English-speaking club headed by Queen Elizabeth II.

The 54-nation group of mostly former British colonies accepted Togo and Gabon’s application for membership on the final day of its leadership summit in Rwanda.

Remembering Lenin when watching Ukraine today

Russia’s President Putin, in a speech on February 21, 2022, said: “Modern Ukraine was entirely created by….Communist Russia. The process began immediately after the revolution of 1917.” He then described the state as “Vladimir Ilych Lenin’s Ukraine.” Putin was harking back to the Romanov empire of the past, when Ukraine was under the Tsarist regime. Putin is today keen on bringing back Ukraine under the geo-political umbrella of the present Russian Federation that he heads – claiming that Ukraine had always been a part of Tsarist Russia, which Putin inherits now as its president.

Syrian Kurds, Arabs join forces to defend Manbij ahead of Turkish military operation

The Syrian Democratic Forces are seeking Arab tribes’ support in Manbij, northeast of Aleppo, ahead of the anticipated Turkish military operation in northern Syria.

Turkish armed forces and Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions have mobilized on the outskirts of Manbij, which is under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in the northeastern Aleppo countryside in preparation for an anticipated Turkish military operation in northern Syria.

Survivors recount Mali’s deadliest attack since coup

Moussa Tolofidie didn’t think twice when nearly 100 jihadis on motorbikes gathered in his village in central Mali last week.

A peace agreement signed last year between some armed groups and the community in the Bankass area had largely held, even if the gunmen would sometimes enter the town to preach Shariah to the villagers. But on this Sunday in June, everything changed — the jihadis began killing people.

As summit host, Spain urges NATO to watch its southern flank

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is certain to dominate an upcoming NATO summit in Madrid, Spain and other member nations are quietly pushing the Western alliance to consider how mercenaries aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin are spreading Moscow’s influence to Africa.

Russia strikes Kyiv as Western leaders meet in Europe

Russia shattered weeks of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital with long-range missiles fired toward Kyiv early Sunday, an apparent Kremlin show-of-force as Western leaders meet in Europe to strengthen their military and economic support of Ukraine.