(Al Jazeera Media Network) Secessionists in the western Canadian province of Alberta recently announced that they have gathered enough signatures to launch a referendum on independence from the rest of the country.
Leading secessionists said that they formally submitted about 300,000 signatures to election authorities earlier this week, far more than the 178,000 required for the province to consider a referendum.
“This day is historic in Alberta history,” secessionist leader Mitch Sylvestre said.
“It’s the first step...
(BBC News) Oil prices have dropped and global stock markets have risen following reports that the US and Iran are close to a deal to end the war.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark oil price, fell to $97 (£73) a barrel after the reports before rebounding to over $101. The price was over $108 earlier in the day.
The FTSE 100 index of London's largest public firms and Germany's Dax index closed over 2% up...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The United Arab Emirates has come under attack from Iranian missiles and drones for the second day in a row, according to its Defence Ministry, while Iran denied being behind the aggression.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said late on Tuesday that the country’s forces “have not carried out any missile or drone operations against the UAE in recent days.”
“If any action had been taken, we would have announced it...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Amnesty International has accused a rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of mass war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a damning report published Monday, the rights group said the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) was behind multiple cases of murder, abductions, forced labour and marriage, sexual abuse of women and girls, and the exploitation of children.
The report is entitled “I’d Never Seen So Many Bodies: War Crimes by...
(BBC News) Russian drone and missile strikes in Ukraine have killed 10 people and injured at least 76 over the past day, Ukrainian officials say.
Officials in five regions around the country reported fatalities as Moscow continues to target Ukrainian cities with regular drone and missile attacks.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said three Russian oil tankers, a cruise-missile carrier warship and a patrol boat were struck in separate attacks on two Russian ports.
There are no...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reiterated warnings to Belarus not to get involved in Russia’s invasion as he reported unusual activity near the shared border between the two.
In a video address shared on social media on Saturday, Zelenskyy said, without offering details regarding the suspicious activity along sections of the border, that Ukraine is ready to respond.
“We are closely documenting everything and keeping the situation under control,” he said, warning that...
(BBC News) Pro-Palestinian activists say 22 boats from a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza have been intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near the Greek island of Crete.
The organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) denounced the action as "piracy", saying those on board were seized unlawfully more than 965 km from Gaza, which is under an Israeli naval blockade.
Israel's foreign ministry said about 175 activists were detained and dismissed the flotilla as...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities say Pakistani mortars and missiles struck a university and residential neighbourhoods in the eastern province of Kunar on Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding more than 80.
Taliban deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said the strikes hit the city of Asadabad, the provincial capital, as well as surrounding districts.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education said about 30 students and professors were among the wounded, with Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani...
(BBC News) A superyacht linked to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's key allies has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, despite the ongoing blockade of the critical shipping channel.
The 142-metre-long, multi-deck luxury boat, named Nord, is linked to sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov. It travelled from Dubai to Muscat, Oman, over the weekend – one of few private vessels to transit through the strait in recent months.
Iran held high-level talks with Russia this...
(New York Times) The Chinese government said on Monday that it would require the unwinding of Meta’s acquisition of Manus, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence company with Chinese founders, in a move that could chill other Chinese entrepreneurs from seeking tie-ups with foreign partners.
Chinese officials had said in January that they were investigating whether Meta’s acquisition of Manus in December violated the country’s rules on foreign investment. They were also assessing whether the deal violated China’s requirements...
