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Niger Says 17 of its Soldiers Killed in Ambush Near Burkina Faso Border 

Nigerien soldiers are seen in Niamey during pro-coup rallies. (AFP file photo)
Nigerien soldiers are seen in Niamey during pro-coup rallies. (AFP file photo)
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Niger Says 17 of its Soldiers Killed in Ambush Near Burkina Faso Border 

Nigerien soldiers are seen in Niamey during pro-coup rallies. (AFP file photo)
Nigerien soldiers are seen in Niamey during pro-coup rallies. (AFP file photo)

Niger's defense ministry said that 17 of its soldiers had been killed in an ambush on Tuesday in a southwest region bordering Burkina Faso.

Attacks in Niger have been falling since 2021 but security remains a major problem, especially in the southwest near the border with neighboring Mali.

On the Malian side, the departure of French troops last year left a security vacuum that groups linked to ISIS and Al-Qaeda have expanded into.

A detachment of Niger's army was attacked in an ambush next to Torodi commune, the defense ministry said in a statement. It added that more than a hundred "terrorists" were neutralized.

"The swift reaction of the soldiers and the air-land response at the scene of the skirmish enabled the enemy to be dealt with," the statement said.

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World

Strikes Near Iran, Israel Nuclear Sites Risk ‘Unmitigated Catastrophe’, Says UN

A drone view shows a damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dimona, southern Israel March 22, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows a damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dimona, southern Israel March 22, 2026. (Reuters)
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Strikes Near Iran, Israel Nuclear Sites Risk ‘Unmitigated Catastrophe’, Says UN

A drone view shows a damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dimona, southern Israel March 22, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows a damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dimona, southern Israel March 22, 2026. (Reuters)

Strikes around Iran and Israel's nuclear sites risk unleashing an "unmitigated catastrophe", the United Nations rights chief said Wednesday, warning that the Middle East war had created an "extremely dangerous" situation.

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, where countries were holding an urgent debate on Tehran's attacks across the Gulf, Volker Turk warned that many of the strikes in the weeks-long war "raise serious concerns under international law".

In particular, Turk cautioned that "recent missile strikes near nuclear sites in both Israel and Iran underscore the immense danger of further escalation".

"States are flirting with unmitigated catastrophe."

His comments came after the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had informed it that "another projectile hit the premises" of the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday, without damaging it.

Over the weekend, an Iranian strike hit the southern Israeli town of Dimona, home to a nuclear facility, in what Tehran said was in response to an earlier attack on its nuclear site at Natanz.

"The situation is extremely dangerous and unpredictable, and has created chaos across the region," Turk said, insisting that "we cannot go back to war as a tool of international relations".

The UN rights chief also warned that "this conflict has an unprecedented power to ensnare countries across borders and around the world".

"The complex dynamics could ignite further national, regional or global crises at any moment, with an appalling impact on civilians and people everywhere."

World

Hungary Says Will ‘Progressively’ Stop Gas Deliveries to Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during an assembly of European far-right parties with Orban’s Patriots for Europe group, in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during an assembly of European far-right parties with Orban’s Patriots for Europe group, in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP)
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Hungary Says Will ‘Progressively’ Stop Gas Deliveries to Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during an assembly of European far-right parties with Orban’s Patriots for Europe group, in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during an assembly of European far-right parties with Orban’s Patriots for Europe group, in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP)

Hungary's prime minister said on Wednesday that Budapest would phase out gas deliveries to Ukraine, the latest salvo in a feud between the two countries over a damaged oil pipeline.

"To break the oil blockade and guarantee the security of Hungary's energy supply, new measures are now necessary," Viktor Orban said in a video posted on Facebook.

Hungary has locked horns with Ukraine over damage to the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline through Ukraine, which has choked the flow of cheap Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia.

World

Iran Speaker Warns US Not to Test 'Resolve to Defend Our Land'

FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
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Iran Speaker Warns US Not to Test 'Resolve to Defend Our Land'

FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
FILED - 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa

Iran's parliament speaker on Wednesday warned Washington not to test Tehran’s determination to defend its territory after the United States was reported to be sending more troops to the Middle East.

"We are closely monitoring all US movements in the region, especially troop deployments.

What the generals have broke, the soldiers can't fix; instead, they will fall victim to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's delusions," said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in an X post in English.

"Do not test our resolve to defend our land."

At least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to the Mideast in the coming days, three people with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.

The Pentagon is also in the process of deploying two Marine units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region.