(Al Jazeera Media Network) The United Nations is being forced to make an “appalling choice” about whether to continue operations in Afghanistan while the Taliban government bans women from working for the organization.
Taliban authorities have imposed a slew of restrictions on Afghan women since seizing power in 2021, including banning them from higher education and many government jobs. In December, they banned Afghan women from working for domestic and foreign non-governmental organizations, and on April...
(BBC News) A leak of classified U.S. Defence Department documents is a "very serious" risk to national security, the Pentagon has said.
The documents appear to include sensitive information regarding the war in Ukraine, as well as on China and U.S. allies.
Officials say the files are in a format similar to documents issued to senior leaders.
An investigation has been opened to determine the source of the leak.
The documents — some of which officials say may...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Saudi and Omani delegations have arrived in Yemen’s capital Sanaa for talks with Houthi officials as part of international efforts to find a settlement to Yemen’s nine-year conflict, Houthi-run media reported.
The visit indicates progress in the Oman-mediated consultations between Riyadh and Sanaa, which run parallel to United Nations peace efforts. Negotiations also gained momentum since archrivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to re-establish ties in a deal brokered by China.
The envoys,...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Israeli military says it has launched artillery attacks on Syria after several rockets were fired from Syrian territory towards northern Israel, none of which caused damage or casualties.
The cross-border exchanges early on Sunday came as violence escalates on multiple fronts, including in Gaza, Lebanon, occupied East Jerusalem, and the occupied West Bank.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government.
The Israeli military said it had launched artillery strikes and a...
(BBC News) China's military is rehearsing the encirclement of Taiwan during three days of military drills.
Beijing, which views Taiwan as a breakaway province of China, called the operation a "stern warning" to the island's government.
The exercises began hours after President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a trip to the United States.
The Taiwanese Defence Ministry said 71 Chinese military planes and nine ships crossed the Taiwan Strait median line.
The line is an unofficial dividing line between...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have announced a strike on Gaza on Thursday evening, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a video statement vowing that his country’s enemies would “pay a price for any aggression.”
The Israeli military operation has led to reports of explosions across Gaza, as warplanes fly overhead. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far, but at least five sites have been targetted in the...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) North Korea has accused the United States and South Korea of escalating tensions “to the brink of nuclear war” through their joint military drills, and promised to respond with “offensive action,” according to state media KCNA.
A commentary published by KCNA on Thursday criticized the continuing exercises as “a trigger for driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the point of explosion.”
Attributed to Choe Ju Hyon, an international security analyst,...
(BBC News) China has launched military drills in response to a much-anticipated meeting between Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
They met in California on Wednesday, a week after Tsai was feted in New York with a leadership award.
Tsai hailed their "strong and unique partnership," and McCarthy said that arms sales to Taiwan must continue.
Beijing, in turn, has vowed a "resolute response" and sent warships into the waters around the self-governed...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) NASA has unveiled the four-member crew for its upcoming mission around the moon, a team that includes the first woman, the first person of colour, and the first Canadian assigned to a lunar mission.
At a ceremony on Monday in Houston, Texas, NASA announced that Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Jeremy Hansen would crew the Artemis II mission for a 10-day flight, marking the agency’s first moon voyage containing humans in...
(BBC News) The Chinese balloon that flew over the U.S. earlier this year managed to gather intelligence from military bases for days before it was shot down, U.S. media report.
The balloon was able to transmit data to Beijing in real time, NBC News reported, citing U.S. officials.
The craft picked up electronic signals rather than taking pictures, according to one official quoted by the network.
The White House did not confirm the report.
But U.S. officials say they...
