Here is some international news in brief.
Posted at 8:34 a.m.
Updated at 11:33 a.m.
Moscow’s forces have taken control of several villages in eastern Ukraine during an advance towards Pokrovsk. In Afghanistan, 22 men were rescued after a coal mine collapsed.
Russia seizes villages in strategic areas of eastern Ukraine
Russia claimed on Sunday to have conquered villages in two strategic sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine, approaching in particular Pokrovsk, an important city for the logistics of the Ukrainian army.
Moscow forces “liberated” the village of Vesely Gai, south of the industrial town of Kurakhové, and that of Pushkin, south of Pokrovsk, both in the Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Russians seized more Ukrainian territory last November than in any other month since March 2022, according to an AFP analysis based on data from the Institute for the Study of War based in the United States.
The Ukrainian force grouping in Khortytsia on Sunday reported “exhausting confrontations” underway in the surrounding area and in the town of Kurakhové, as well as further north in the stormed hill town of Chasiv Yar.
Agence France-Presse
Afghanistan: 22 men rescued from collapsed coal mine
Twenty-two men trapped in a collapsed coal mine in northern Afghanistan were rescued on Sunday, a provincial official told AFP, lowering the number of people trapped.
The spokesperson for the governor of Samangan, Esmat Muradi, had previously indicated that 32 miners were in the mine in the Dara-i Sof Payin district, which collapsed on Saturday evening.
“Twenty-two people were trapped and they were all rescued,” he then told AFP. The condition of some of them required first aid, which was administered. Excavators and rescue workers had been working since dawn to open the mine and remove the miners.
Agence France-Presse
At least 36 dead in late November landslides in Uganda
The landslides which hit eastern Uganda at the end of November left at least 36 dead, the Ugandan government announced on Sunday according to a new provisional report, specifying that dozens of people are still missing. At least five villages were ravaged by earth and mud slides following heavy rains last month in the East African country.
“So far we have been able to confirm that 36 people died in the landslides” in Bulambuli district, said Lillian Aber, Uganda’s minister of relief and disaster preparedness.
“Several people are still missing and we believe they are dead,” she told AFP.
Agence France-Presse
ECOWAS Heads of State Summit in Abuja
Heads of state and government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meet on Sunday for an ordinary summit in Abuja, with security issues and the departure of military juntas on the agenda of the organization.
But just two days before the summit, the military regimes of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger reaffirmed their “irreversible” decision to leave ECOWAS, claiming that this West African organization is being exploited by France.
The departure of these three countries, which form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), could have significant economic and political implications, notably with the question of the free movement of people and goods in the region, where jihadist groups are gaining ground. of the land.
Agence France-Presse
Germany: the far right calls into question NATO membership
PHOTO ANNEGRET HILSE, REUTERS ARCHIVES
The co-leaders of the Alternative for Germany, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel
Co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) Tino Chrupalla said Germany should reconsider its NATO membership if the US-dominated alliance fails to take into account the interests of European countries, “including the interests of Russia”.
“Europe was forced to implement the interests of the United States. We reject this,” Tino Chrupalla told the German daily Welt.
“NATO is not currently a defense alliance. A defense community must accept and respect the interests of all European countries, including the interests of Russia. If NATO is not able to ensure this, Germany must ask itself to what extent this alliance is still useful to us,” added the AfD co-leader.
The far-right party is credited with 18-19% of voting intentions in the polls before the early general elections which should be held on February 23, following the vote of confidence planned for Monday and which should lead to the dissolution of the Bundestag. Chancellor Olaf Scholz himself kicked off this dissolution by requesting a vote of confidence after the breakup of his government coalition in November.
The AfD is unlikely to form a government as other parties have ruled out cooperation with the far-right party.
Agence France-Presse
Iran: sandstorm causes school closures and flight cancellations
A sand and dust storm hit southwest Iran on Sunday, where schools and public buildings were closed and flights canceled due to low visibility, state media reported.
A thick ocher fog envelops the oil provinces of Khuzestan and Bushehr, bordering Iraq and located more than 400 kilometers as the crow flies from Tehran. Buildings are barely visible in images broadcast by the official Irna news agency, while residents protect themselves with masks.
In southwestern Iran, schools and public services will remain closed on Sunday, a working day, and all flights there are suspended until further notice due to locally reduced visibility to 100 meters, according to the agency. press Tasnim.
In Abadan (South-West), the air quality is considered “dangerous” on Sunday, with an AQI index of 500, which exceeds by more than 25 times the concentration of PM2.5 polluting microparticles in the air considered acceptable. by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Agence France-Presse
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