Author: Anadolu Agency
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday picked a 21-member Cabinet after winning a two-thirds majority in the parliamentary elections last week. Dissanayake will keep ministerial portfolios of finance, defense, and digital, while educationist Harini Amarasuriya again took oath as the prime minister of the island nation. Dissanayake won presidential elections in September and ran the government with a three-member Cabinet until last week’s general polls where his National People’s Power won 159 seats in a parliament of 225 members. The swearing-in ceremony of the Cabinet, which was telecast live, took place at the Presidential Secretariat in the capital…
The Jordanian army on Monday said a “flying object” fell in a border area of the Aqaba Governorate, near southern Israel. A statement quoted a military source that said no casualties or material damage were reported. It added that the relevant security forces, including sappers, arrived at the scene. The statement, however, did not specify from where the object was fired, or if it was downed by an interceptor. The city of Aqaba is adjacent to Israel’s southern city of Eilat, which usually comes under drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthis and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq group. Regional tensions have…
Sources from the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday denied claims that the Hamas Political Bureau has relocated to Türkiye. “The claims that the Hamas Political Bureau has relocated to Türkiye do not reflect the truth,” the sources said.
At least 15 Palestinians were killed as the Israeli army stepped up bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to medical sources. Two Palestinians lost their lives when Israeli forces bombed the refugee camp of Jabalia in northern Gaza, one source said. Five people were also killed and 10 others injured in an airstrike on a home west of Gaza City, the source added. Women and children were among the victims, the source said, without giving an exact figure. Two children were also among four people killed in another strike targeting a refugee tent in al-Mawasi in the southern…
The Kremlin on Monday said the possible use of long-range US missiles on targets in Russia would ultimately lead to a “new round of tension” amid media reports that outgoing President Joe Biden allowed lifting restrictions on their use by Ukraine. On Sunday, many media outlets citing anonymous officials, including The New York Times, reported that Biden has authorized Ukraine’s use of ATACMS missiles for strikes inside Russia, marking a major change in US policy ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump in January 2025. “If such a decision was really formulated and communicated to the Kyiv regime,…
Germany on Monday accused China of providing drone assistance to Russia in its war with Ukraine that began in February 2022 and is about to enter its 1,000th day. “This must and will have consequences,” said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Brussels. The war against Ukraine is also an attack on freedom in Europe and affects the core interests of all European states, she added. The European External Action Service (EEAS) earlier confirmed it was examining indications that drones were being produced in China for Russia’s war efforts. “We have received reports from…
The EU foreign policy chief on Monday stressed the need to “put pressure on the Israeli government” and the Palestinian group Hamas to achieve peace in the Middle East. Josep Borrell recalled that efforts were made to “stop the war in Gaza,” including by the US, by “putting pressure to release the hostages and to stop the war.” “This has not happened yet, and I do not see a hope for this to happen. That is why we have to put pressure on the Israeli government, also, obviously, on Hamas side. Both sides have to be put under pressure,” Borrell…
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil on Monday. The meeting will be the first to take place between a British prime minister and Xi in six years. According to a statement from 10 Downing Street on Monday, Starmer will emphasize the importance of pragmatic partnerships, even with nations that hold differing values, as a means to foster progress on issues such as climate change, economic development, and global security. “As permanent members of the UN Security Council with major economies, the Prime…
Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday attended the session on Social Inclusion and the Fight Against Hunger and Poverty at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brazil. The G20 Leaders’ Summit, held at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, continues. Before the session began, a promotional video of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty was shown. During the summit, President Erdoğan sat next to his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with whom he had a brief conversation. Following the opening speech by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, the session…
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva opened the G20 Leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday by lamenting the growing tensions and armed conflicts plaguing the global stage and launched an initiative to end world hunger. For the first time, the Brazilian leadership held the presidency of the G20, an economic bloc composed of the 20 largest economies in the world. As host, the Brazilian leader placed world hunger and poverty as top priorities in the agenda. “I observe with sadness that the world is worse: we have the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II…