Al Qaeda affiliate says it killed 70 soldiers in Benin, SITE reports
Al Qaeda affiliate says it killed 70 soldiers in Benin, SITE reports/node/2597775
Al Qaeda affiliate says it killed 70 soldiers in Benin, SITE reports
Military fighters affiliated with former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. (AFP)
Updated 20 April 2025
Al Qaeda affiliate says it killed 70 soldiers in Benin, SITE reports
The West African state and its coastal neighbour Togo have suffered a series of attacks in recent years
Thousands have been killed and millions displaced by the conflict
Updated 20 April 2025
COTONOU: Al Qaeda affiliate JNIM said it killed 70 soldiers in raids on two military posts in north Benin, the biggest death count claimed by jihadists in the country in over a decade of activity in West Africa, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Saturday. The West African state and its coastal neighbor Togo have suffered a series of attacks in recent years as groups linked to Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have expanded their presence beyond the Sahel region to the north. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report independently. Benin’s army spokesman Ebenezer Honfoga did not respond to calls and messages. SITE quoted a statement by Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa Al-Muslimin (JNIM) on Thursday saying 70 soldiers were killed in attacks on two military posts in Benin’s northeastern Kandi province in the Alibori department, more than 500 km (300 miles) from the capital Cotonou. US group SITE tracks online content from militant groups. The Sahel insurgency took root after a Tuareg rebellion in north Mali in 2012 and spread into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger before reaching the north of coastal West African countries such as Benin more recently. Thousands have been killed and millions displaced by the conflict, which contributed to spurring five military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger between 2020 and 2023. Military authorities cut ties with traditional Western allies such as France and the US after the coups and turned to Russia to help in fighting jihadist activity.
Iran celebrates state TV presenter after Israeli attack/node/2604858/middle-east
Iran celebrates state TV presenter after Israeli attack
“This dust you see in the studio...” she began, her finger raised, before being interrupted by the sound of yet another blast
Updated 18 min 10 sec ago
AFP
TEHRAN: Facing the camera with a defiant gaze, her index finger raised in the air, Iranian TV presenter Sahar Emami became an icon in her country after an Israeli attack on the state broadcaster.
“What you can see is the flagrant aggression of the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian broadcaster,” she said on air Monday as several explosions were heard in the background.
“What you just heard was the sound of an aggressor against the motherland, the sound of an aggressor against truth,” added Emami, who is known for her impactful interviews with government officials.
“This dust you see in the studio...” she began, her finger raised, before being interrupted by the sound of yet another blast.
The journalist, clad in a black chador, rushed out of her seat and disappeared from view.
The destruction in the studio, which quickly filled with smoke and dust, was broadcast live before the transmission was cut.
Emami, who Iranian media say is in her 40s, is a familiar face to viewers in the Islamic republic after some 15 years on air with state television.
She resumed the broadcast just a few minutes after the attack, as if nothing unusual had happened.
The broadcaster’s headquarters in the capital Tehran with its recognizable glass exterior was badly damaged in the fire that broke out as a result of the Israeli attack.
Official media shared images of charred offices and studios no longer usable.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday denounced Israel’s “cowardice” in striking the state television building, in an attack that the broadcaster said killed three people.
“The attack against the Iranian broadcaster demonstrates the Israelis’ desperation,” Araghchi said.
Conservative newspaper Farhikhtegan said on its front page on Tuesday: “Female journalist’s resistance until the last moment sends a clear message.”
Ultraconservative publication Kayhan said: “The courage of the lioness presenter surprised friends and foes.”
The government put up a banner in Tehran’s central Vali-Asr Square honoring Emami, showing her image paired with a verse from the Persian poet Ferdowsi that celebrated the courage of women “on the battlefield.”
The state broadcaster has aired the clip of Emami during Monday’s attacks multiple times since then, celebrating its presenter.
State TV meanwhile mocked a reporter for the London-based Iran International TV, which is critical of the Iranian government.
In footage from a live broadcast, the reporter in Israel is seen rushing to a bomb shelter after warnings of incoming missiles from Iran.
Iran asks its people to delete WhatsApp from their devices
Iran has blocked access to various social media platforms over the years but many people in the country use proxies and virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access them
Updated 21 min 58 sec ago
AP
Iranian state television on Tuesday afternoon urged the country’s public to remove the messaging platform WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging the app — without offering specific evidence — gathered user information to send to Israel.
In a statement, WhatsApp said it was “concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.” WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning a service provider in the middle can’t read a message.
“We do not track your precise location, we don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another,” it added. “We do not provide bulk information to any government.”
End-to-end encryption means that messages are scrambled so that only the sender and recipient can see them. If anyone else intercepts the message, all they will see is a garble that can’t be unscrambled without the key.
Gregory Falco, an assistant professor of engineering at Cornell University and cybersecurity expert, said it’s been demonstrated that it’s possible to understand metadata about WhatsApp that does not get encrypted.
“So you can understand things about how people are using the app and that’s been a consistent issue where people have not been interested in engaging with WhatsApp for that (reason),” he said.
Another issue is data sovereignty, Falco added, where data centers hosting WhatsApp data from a certain country are not necessarily located in that country. It’s more than feasible, for instance, that WhatsApp’s data from Iran is not hosted in Iran.
“Countries need to house their data in-country and process the data in-country with their own algorithms. Because it’s really hard increasingly to trust the global network of data infrastructure,” he said.
WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Iran has blocked access to various social media platforms over the years but many people in the country use proxies and virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access them. It banned WhatsApp and Google Play in 2022 during mass protests against the government over the death of a woman held by the country’s morality police. That ban was lifted late last year.
WhatsApp had been one of Iran’s most popular messaging apps besides Instagram and Telegram.
G7 leaders try to salvage their summit after Trump’s early exit effectively makes it the ‘G6’
Trump again offered his often-repeated claims on Monday that there would have been no war if G7 members hadn’t expelled Putin from the organization in 2014 for annexing Crimea
Before leaving, Trump joined the other leaders in issuing a statement saying Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”
Updated 38 min 56 sec ago
AP
KANANASKIS, Alberta: Six of the Group of Seven leaders were wrapping up their summit on Tuesday, attempting to prove that the wealthy nations’ club still has the clout to shape world events despite the early departure of US President Donald Trump.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his counterparts from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte and discussed Russia’s relentless war on its neighbor at what has essentially become just the G6.
Zelensky said of overnight Russian attacks that killed 15 people and injured 150-plus in his country “our families had a very difficult night, one of the biggest attacks from the very beginning of this war.”
“We need support from allies and I’m here,” Zelensky said. He added, “We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional ceasefire. I think it’s very important. But for this, we need pressure.”
Carney said the attack “underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine, with the Ukrainian people” and pledged $2 billion in new aid that would fund drones and other military items.
Numerous meetings continued, and the remaining leaders agreed to jointly attempt to combat what they called non-market policies that could jeopardize global access to critical minerals.
They similarly pledged to limit the potential downsides of artificial intelligence on jobs and the environment while still embracing the potential of the “technological revolution.”
But, notably, the leaders did not release any joint statements on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Zelensky had been set to meet with Trump while world leaders were gathering in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis, but that was scrapped.
The US previously signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources amid Russia’s ongoing war in Zelensky’s country.
The summit opened with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program that could escalate. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran and Iran has hit back with missiles and drones.
Trump departed before the final day began. As conflict between Israel and Iran intensified, he declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately” and has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
Before leaving, Trump joined the other leaders in issuing a statement saying Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.” Getting unanimity — even on a short and broadly worded statement — was a modest measure of success for the group.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he sat next to Trump at Monday night’s summit dinner. “I’ve no doubt, in my mind, the level of agreement there was in relation to the words that were then issued immediately after that,” he said.
Still, Trump’s departure only heightened the drama of a world on the verge of several firestorms — and of a summit now without its most-watched world leader.
“We did everything I had to do at the G7,” Trump said while flying back to Washington.
Things were getting awkward even before he left.
After the famous photo from the G7 in 2018 featured Trump and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel displaying less-than-friendly body language, this year’s edition included a dramatic eye-roll by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as French President Emmanuel Macron whispered something in her ear during a Monday roundtable.
That, and concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war, little progress on the conflict in Gaza and now the situation in Iran have made things all the more geopolitically tense — especially after Trump imposed severe tariffs on multiple nations that risk a global economic slowdown.
Members of Trump’s trade team nonetheless remained in Canada, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council. Bessent sat at the table as other world leaders met Tuesday with Zelensky, representing the US
Trump’s stance on Ukraine puts him fundamentally at odds with the other G7 leaders, who are clear that Russia is the aggressor in the war. Trump again offered his often-repeated claims on Monday that there would have been no war if G7 members hadn’t expelled Putin from the organization in 2014 for annexing Crimea.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the G7 now looks “very pale and quite useless” compared to “for example, such formats as the G20.”
With talks on ending the war in Ukraine at an impasse, Britain, Canada and other G7 members slapped new tariffs on Russia in a bid to get it to the ceasefire negotiating table. Trump, though, declined to join in those sanctions, saying he would wait until Europe did so first.
“When I sanction a country, that costs the US a lot of money, a tremendous amount of money,” he said.
Trump also seemed to put a greater priority on addressing his grievances with other nations’ trade policies than on collaboration with G7 allies. He has imposed 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as 25 percent tariffs on autos. Trump is also charging a 10 percent tax on imports from most countries, though he could raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period set by him would expire.
Trump announced with Starmer that they had signed a trade framework Monday that was previously announced in May, with Trump saying that British trade was “very well protected’ because “I like them, that’s why. That’s their ultimate protection.”
But word of that agreement was somewhat overshadowed when Trump dropped the papers of the newly signed deal on the ground. Starmer stooped to pick them up, explaining Tuesday that he was compelled to ditch diplomatic decorum, since anyone else trying to help risked being shot by the president’s security team.
“There were quite strict rules about who can get close to the president,” Starmer told reporters on Tuesday. “If any of you had stepped forward other than me … I was just deeply conscious that in a situation like that it would not have been good for anybody else to have stepped forward.”
’What are these wars for?’: Arab town in Israel shattered by Iran strike
The level of destruction from the missiles has been unprecedented in Israel, even after 20 months of continuous war in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks
Updated 54 min 24 sec ago
AFP
TAMRA, Israel: An Arab town in northern Israel paid a heavy price for the ongoing air war between Iran and Israel when a ballistic missile slammed into a home there, killing four people and upending life in the small community.
Hundreds of sobbing residents crowded the narrow streets of Tamra on Tuesday to watch as the wooden coffins adorned with colorful wreaths were carried to the town’s cemetery.
To some, the Iranian strike highlighted the unequal protections afforded Israel’s Arab minority, while to others, it merely underscored the cruel indifference of war.
Mourners attend the funeral of victims of an Iranian missile attack which destroyed a three-storey building in the northern Arab-Israeli city of Tamra on the weekend killing four women, in Tamra on June 17, 2025. (AFP)
Raja Khatib has been left to pick up the pieces from an attack that killed his wife, two of his daughters and a sister in law.
“I wish to myself, if only the missile would have hit me as well. And I would be with them, and I wouldn’t be suffering anymore,” Khatib told AFP.
“Learn from me: no more victims. Stop the war.”
After five days of fighting, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds more wounded by the repeated barrages launched from Iran.
Israel’s sophisticated air defense systems have managed to intercept a majority of the missiles and drones targeting the country.
But some have managed to slip through.
Mourners attend the funeral of victims of an Iranian missile attack which destroyed a three-storey building in the northern Arab-Israeli city of Tamra on the weekend killing four women, in Tamra on June 17, 2025. (AFP)
With some projectiles roughly the size of a train carriage and carrying a payload that can weigh hundreds of kilograms, Iran’s ballistic missiles can be devastating upon impact.
A single strike can destroy large swaths of a city block and rip gaping holes in an apartment building, while the shockwave can shatter windows and wreak havoc on the surrounding area.
The level of destruction from the missiles has been unprecedented in Israel, even after 20 months of continuous war in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.
The mother of one of the victims of an Iranian missile attack which destroyed a three-storey building in the northern Arab-Israeli city of Tamra, is comforted during a funeral in the northern Arab-Israeli city of Tamra, on June 17, 2025. (AFP)
Along with Tamra, barrages have also hit residential areas in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa.
As the coffins made their way through Tamra on Tuesday, a group of women tended to a relative of the victims who had become faint with grief, dabbing cold water on her cheeks and forehead.
At the cemetery, men embraced and young girls cried at the foot of the freshly dug graves.
Iran has continued to fire daily salvos since Israel launched a surprise air campaign that it says is aimed at preventing the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran denies.
In Iran, Israel’s wide-ranging air strikes have killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Despite mounting calls to de-escalate, neither side has backed off from the fighting.
In Israel, frequent air raid alerts have kept residents close to bomb shelters, while streets across the country have largely emptied and shops shuttered.
But some in the country’s Arab minority have said the government has done too little to protect them, pointing to unequal access to public shelters used to weather the barrages.
Most of Israel’s Arab minority identify as Palestinians who remained in what is now Israel after its creation in 1948. They represent about 20 percent of the country’s population.
The community frequently professes to face discrimination from Israel’s Jewish majority.
“The state, unfortunately, still distinguishes between blood and blood,” Ayman Odeh, an Israeli parliamentarian of Palestinian descent, wrote on social media after touring Tamra earlier this week.
“Tamra is not a village. It is a city without public shelters,” Odeh added, saying that this was the case for 60 percent of “local authorities” — the Israeli term for communities not officially registered as cities, many of which are majority Arab.
But for residents like Khatib, the damage has already been done.
“What are these wars for? Let’s make peace, for the sake of the two people,” he said.
“I am a Muslim. This missile killed Muslims. Did it differentiate between Jews and Muslims? No, when it hits, it doesn’t distinguish between people.”
Four years with a company counts as loyalty in the modern job market, HR summit hears
Delegates at Human Resources Summit and Expo in Riyadh hear generational diversity and differing views on career progression are challenges that must be addressed
Experts discussed the effects of AI on the job market and explored strategies businesses need to adopt to ‘future-proof’ talent and navigate changing work landscapes
Updated 18 June 2025
Nada Alturki
RIYADH: An employee who remains in the same role for four years is considered loyal in today’s job market, the audience at a human resources conference in Riyadh heard during a panel discussion on Tuesday.
The comment, at the Human Resources Summit and Expo, came from Syed Azharudin, director of learning and organizational development at logistical services company Ajex, who cited a recent study into workforce trends. Generational diversity is a factor that has to be addressed, he added.
“The biggest challenge for the HR industry is that you have different generations working together, like Gen X, baby boomers, millennials, Gen Z, and soon Gen Alpha, so you cannot have a blanket approach,” Azharudin said.
People from the most recent generations are more likely to be “job-hoppers,” he added; a study by global tech consultancy FDM Group found that Generation Z respondents were 13 per cent more likely than their non-Gen Z counterparts to view their current role as a stepping stone to a better career.
In other sessions, HR experts discussed the effects of artificial intelligence on the job market, and explored the strategies companies need to adopt in their attempts to “future-proof” talent and navigate ever-changing work landscapes. As the rapidly evolving technology continues to dominate headlines, they considered a hot-button question: What would the future look like if human labor was replaced by AI?
“We’re not going to lose (our jobs) but we also need to make sure that we go efficiently and with innovative ways to utilize such tools,” said Eid Alkhaldi, succession management director at the Saudi Telcom Company.
During another discussion, Nada Al-Hassan, the Saudi Ministry of Investment’s director of training and development, spoke about ways to advance inclusive leadership in the region.
“There are a lot of success stories and a lot of initiatives in all governmental sectors (in ֱ),” she said, highlighting in particular the Vision 2030 Human Resources Development Program and the Saudization program Tawteen.
The Human Resources Summit and Expo began on June 15 and continues until June 19.
