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Spain Denies Port of Call to Ship Carrying Arms to Israel

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares speaks to the media, on the day of a meeting to discuss the post-Brexit future of Gibraltar, at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, April 12, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares speaks to the media, on the day of a meeting to discuss the post-Brexit future of Gibraltar, at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, April 12, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Spain Denies Port of Call to Ship Carrying Arms to Israel

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares speaks to the media, on the day of a meeting to discuss the post-Brexit future of Gibraltar, at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, April 12, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares speaks to the media, on the day of a meeting to discuss the post-Brexit future of Gibraltar, at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, April 12, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Spain has refused permission for a ship carrying arms to Israel to dock at a Spanish port, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said.

"This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port," he told reporters in Brussels.

"This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The foreign ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason. The Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace," he added, AFP reported.

The Spanish minister did not provide details on the ship but Transport Minister Oscar Puente said it was the Marianne Danica which had requested permission to call at the southeastern port of Cartagena on May 21.

El Pais newspaper said the Danish-flagged ship is carrying 27 tonnes of explosive material from Madras in India to the port of Haifa in Israel.

The announcement that permission had been denied comes amid a row between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists and his coalition partners, the hard-left Sumar party, over another ship, the Borkum, which is due to dock in Cartagena on Friday.

Pro-Palestinian groups say the Borkum is carrying arms to Israel, prompting Sumar to demand that it be turned away. But Puente said the Borkum was transporting military material to the Czech Republic, not Israel.

Spain has been one of Europe's most critical voices about Israel's Gaza offensive and is working to rally other European capitals behind the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state.

Spain halted arms sales to Israel after it launched a military onslaught against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

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World

Niger Blames France for Inciting Soldiers’ Mutiny

A military armored vehicle takes position on the street following a mutineers' attack on the airport and the presidency in Niamey, Niger, August 30, 2026. (Reuters)
A military armored vehicle takes position on the street following a mutineers' attack on the airport and the presidency in Niamey, Niger, August 30, 2026. (Reuters)
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Niger Blames France for Inciting Soldiers’ Mutiny

A military armored vehicle takes position on the street following a mutineers' attack on the airport and the presidency in Niamey, Niger, August 30, 2026. (Reuters)
A military armored vehicle takes position on the street following a mutineers' attack on the airport and the presidency in Niamey, Niger, August 30, 2026. (Reuters)

Niger ‌has blamed France for inciting an attack on a key military airbase by mutinous soldiers last week, according to a government statement read on TV on Friday.

Mutinous soldiers in the West African country attacked the airport and the presidency in the capital, Niamey, ‌on August ‌29, the latest threat to ‌the ⁠rule of Abdourahamane ⁠Tiani, who seized power in a 2023 coup.

Explosions and gunfire also rang out at a military airbase, but Niger's army, backed by Russian paramilitary forces, regained control ⁠over it the next ‌day.

The ‌Council of Ministers on Friday concluded ‌that the attack had been incited ‌by a vast network of accomplices led by France, according to the statement.

"A substantial body of evidence has ‌been compiled regarding this attack, and Niger reserves the right ⁠to ⁠bring the matter before international courts," the government said in the statement.

The attack highlighted tensions within Niger's armed forces, which have suffered repeated battlefield losses while fighting an extremist insurgency.

Tiani blamed France and other West African countries for unrest in the capital earlier this year, without providing evidence.

World

Trump Sends Envoys to Moscow, Kyiv with New Plan to ‘End War’

Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, December 2, 2025. (Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via Reuters)
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, December 2, 2025. (Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via Reuters)
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Trump Sends Envoys to Moscow, Kyiv with New Plan to ‘End War’

Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, December 2, 2025. (Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via Reuters)
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, December 2, 2025. (Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said Friday he is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv with a plan to end more than four years of war in Ukraine.

The move marks Washington's latest bid to break a diplomatic stalemate in Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP the envoys were due in Kyiv on Sunday.

US outlet Axios reported they would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, and then President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday. The Kremlin declined to comment.

Trump told reporters that the two negotiators would seek to gauge whether progress towards peace was possible.

Peace efforts have stalled due to Washington's war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range attacks, driving up civilian casualties to levels not seen since the start of fighting.

"I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They've done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we'll do it," Trump said.

"They're bringing with them a proposal to end the war," he said.

The US president would not say whether the plan involved Ukraine ceding territory as he has previously suggested, but added: "We have an idea for peace."

It will be the first time that Trump's businessman friend Witkoff and son-in-law Kushner have visited war-torn Kyiv since Trump returned to office last year with a pledge to resolve the conflict.

Witkoff and Kushner, who have been involved in negotiations for ceasefires in Gaza and Iran, have travelled repeatedly to Moscow in previous attempts at diplomacy.

- Grinding war -

The renewed push for diplomacy comes as Russia and Ukraine pummel each other with long-range missile and drone attacks.

Just hours before Trump's announcement, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service in central Kyiv, according to Zelensky.

The strike, which Zelensky said was aimed at the office of the agency's acting chief, was the first on its headquarters since the start of the invasion.

Despite the unprecedented nature of the strike, the Ukrainian president proposed observing a ceasefire with Russia for the duration of the US envoys' trip.

"There will be no airstrikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire -- without its own airstrikes -- for the duration needed to conduct these talks," he said in his evening address.

Russia did not immediately comment on the proposal.

Hours later, Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said a Russian strike killed four people and wounded five in the southeastern city of Kamianske.

Zelensky had said on Wednesday that Russian airspace would be "completely unsafe" and filled with Ukrainian drones as long as Moscow continued its war.

Witkoff and Kusher's trip comes more than week after a rare visit to Moscow by CIA director John Ratcliffe, who warned Russia against any attack on NATO member states, according to US media.

Earlier this week, the United States welcomed the Russian finance minister at a G20 gathering in North Carolina.

World

One Dead, 11 People Missing After Mudslide in China’s Jiangxi Province

A drone view shows rescue workers evacuating flood-affected residents by boat after heavy rainfall from Typhoon Saudel, in Putian, Fujian province, China September 4, 2026. (China Daily via Reuters)
A drone view shows rescue workers evacuating flood-affected residents by boat after heavy rainfall from Typhoon Saudel, in Putian, Fujian province, China September 4, 2026. (China Daily via Reuters)
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One Dead, 11 People Missing After Mudslide in China’s Jiangxi Province

A drone view shows rescue workers evacuating flood-affected residents by boat after heavy rainfall from Typhoon Saudel, in Putian, Fujian province, China September 4, 2026. (China Daily via Reuters)
A drone view shows rescue workers evacuating flood-affected residents by boat after heavy rainfall from Typhoon Saudel, in Putian, Fujian province, China September 4, 2026. (China Daily via Reuters)

One person has been confirmed dead and 11 others remain missing after torrential rains triggered a mudslide ‌early Saturday ‌morning in ‌a ⁠town in China's Jiangxi ⁠Province, local authorities said.

Due to heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Saudel, ⁠the mudslide struck around ‌4 ‌a.m. (2000 GMT ‌Friday) Saturday in Gaoping ‌Town of Jiangxi's Suichuan County, damaging 12 houses, the county ‌said in a statement.

State broadcaster ⁠CCTV ⁠also reported more than 10 people were trapped after the landslide hit the same town, state broadcasters CCTV reported.