Ukraine hailed on Monday its advances around frontline Bakhmut and President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in London to seek fresh aid as expectations built over a spring offensive.. - Spring offensive - The timing and focus of an expected Ukrainian offensive are unclear, but Zelensky has made a fresh tour of European capitals in recent days to bolster support.
Japan's top boyband agency has issued an apology over sexual assault allegations against its late founder Johnny Kitagawa, with fans demanding Monday that the firm "fully investigate" the matter.. "We ask for the company to fully investigate and recognise the facts of the matter, to take responsibility as a corporation and apologise to the victims of sexual violence," it said.
A major Myanmar port city remained cut off from contact on Monday after a cyclone tore through the west of the country and neighbouring Bangladesh where it spared sprawling refugee camps.. By late Sunday the storm had largely passed, sparing refugee camps housing almost a million Rohingya in Bangladesh, where officials said there had been no deaths.
The UN's International Organization for Migration chooses its next director general on Monday, with the current IOM chief Antonio Vitorino being challenged for the job by his deputy Amy Pope.. - Amy Pope - The US lawyer, 49, is the IOM's deputy director general for management and reform, one of two deputies working under Vitorino.
After an unusually acrimonious leadership battle, the International Organization for Migration holds an election Monday to determine whether its current chief or one of his deputies should run the UN agency.. But Pope, 49, who if elected would be the first woman to run the agency, insisted to AFP earlier this year that there is "a lot of room for improvement", saying she has the vision needed to take IOM "into the 21st century".
One month since Sudan's conflict erupted, its capital is a desolate war zone where terrorised families huddle in their homes as gun battles rage in the dusty, deserted streets outside.. The battles have killed more than 750 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
Thai voters have delivered a clear rejection of nearly a decade of military-aligned rule, election results showed Monday, backing two pro-democracy opposition parties.. The Move Forward Party (MFP), the newest force in Thai politics that channelled the energy of youth-led pro-democracy protests in 2020, secured the most votes.
At least 13 people were killed when a passenger van and a semi-truck collided on a highway in northeastern Mexico on Sunday, local authorities said.. Images shared by authorities showed the passenger van almost entirely destroyed by fire, with the semi-truck also severely burned.
France on Monday promised Ukraine dozens more light tanks and armoured vehicles after President Emmanuel Macron met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris as Kyiv readies for a widely expected counter-offensive.. "In the coming weeks, France will train and equip several battalions with tens of armored vehicles and light tanks including AMX-10RC," they said in a joint statement afterwards.
A retired civil servant who few outside Turkey have heard of has pushed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan into an election runoff -- the first of the country's post-Ottoman history.. He said the issue was not one of "race" but of "resources" in Turkey during its economic malaise.
