US strike kills al-Qaida leader in Syria

U.S. forces on Monday killed a “senior leader” of an al-Qaida-aligned terrorist organization during a strike in Syria, U.S. Central Command said in a news release.

Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, a senior leader of Hurras al-Din, was traveling alone on a motorcycle in Idlib province at the time of the “kinetic strike,” Central Command said Monday.

Sweden, Finland set to formally be invited into NATO after Turkey lifts objections

Sweden and Finland are poised to formally be invited into NATO after breakthrough negotiations Tuesday with Turkey, paving the way for one of the most significant alliance expansions in years.

Turkish opposition to the two Nordic states’ membership bids threatened to derail NATO plans, but hours before an alliance summit in Madrid was set to begin, Ankara got on board.

Prosecuting Crimes Against Humanity In Ethiopia: Where Is The Law?

In June 2018, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali told Parliament that the post-1991 government used torture and killing to terrorise its people. Perpetrated in police detention centres, dungeons and prisons across the country, the state-sanctioned violence recounted by the prime minister amounts to crimes against humanity in international criminal law. That is, a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population.

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.