The senseless slaughter of World War I began with the murder of a single man, a Crown Prince of a European empire whose name no one was particularly familiar with at the time. Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria was the presumptive heir to the Austrian-Hungarian empire in June of 1914.
Along the northern flank of Ukrainian-controlled territory on the outskirts of the eastern city of Bakhmut, tank crews from the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade are waiting for the ground to dry up so they can begin a long-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces.
It’s the conventional wisdom in Washington and in most European capitals: China is only providing limited support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In Beijing, meanwhile, officials attempt to portray neutrality, emphasizing that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not providing weapons to Russia. As PRC leader Xi Jinping told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a recent call, according to state media, “China has always stood on the side of peace.”
In early April 2023, the authorities in a few Russian regions bordering Ukraine—Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk—decided to refuse to hold the regular military parade in honor of Victory Day on May 9 (Svoboda, April 10). Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov stated that he did not want to “provoke the enemy with a large number of equipment and military personnel in the city center.” Thus, the situation in Russia is beginning to look typical for that of a losing army, as the concentration of Russian troops in any region no longer means that the locals are secure. On the contrary, this presence is causing the regions to fear that they will become an easy target for Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
A long time back I was visiting some remote villages where the murder of a youth who had raised his voice against corruption of a powerful local contractor and politician had attracted a lot of attention. There was an undercurrent of simmering anger among people but no one was willing to discuss many details openly, much less make any accusations.
After three weeks of fighting, envoys of Sudan’s rival generals traveled to Saudi Arabia for “pre-negotiation talks” on Saturday. Meanwhile, aid shipments have started arriving. DW has the latest.
Representatives from the warring Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary were in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Saturday, with the two expected to start direct talks on securing an actual cease-fire.
ISIS has acknowledged the weakness of its terrorist activity Libya in 2022 after it had published the results of its criminal operations in the world, nearly half of which took place in Africa.
An Egyptian diplomat, who asked not to be named, revealed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that a high-ranking Egyptian security delegation visited eastern Libya in the past few days and met with Khalifa Haftar to convey a warning message from officials in Cairo regarding his involvement in supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in light of the close relationship Haftar has with Hemedti.
Al-Kufra municipality and the city’s emergency room have denounced linking the city and its Subul Al-Salam Brigade in the conflict in Sudan by certain media, denying the presence of any mercenaries in the city.
L’Etat-major général des Armées maliennes a mis en garde contre le « port irrégulier » d’uniformes de l’armée, après avoir constaté que les nombreux combattants neutralisés lors de l’attaque complexe déjouée contre l’aéroport de Sévaré (centre du Mali), le samedi 22 avril, portaient des uniformes militaires.