Headline

Ukraine Worries Iran-Israel War Will Boost Russia’s Aggression

Published

4 months ago

June 19, 2025

Fighting between Iran and Israel could deflect global attention from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and even bolster Kremlin’s war effort, Ukrainian officials say.

Israel launched a massive bombing campaign on Iran last week that prompted Tehran — a close ally of Russia — to strike back with missiles and drones.

The conflict has pushed up the price of oil — a key revenue stream funding Russia’s invasion.

“For Ukraine, the challenge is the price of oil, because if prices remain high for a long time, the Russians will earn more,” a senior Ukrainian political source told AFP.

However, Kyiv has welcomed Israeli attacks on a country that has directly aided and provided weapons to Moscow for its own strikes on Ukraine.

The campaign has left several high-ranking Iranian military officials dead and put pressure on Tehran’s military capacity that is likely to limit the practical support it can provide to Russia.

“The Iranian regime is Russia’s ally, so the more they lose, the better,” the Ukrainian source said.

“Overall, Israel is doing the whole world a favour. That is a fact,” the source added.

The possibility of weaker support and attention from Washington, however, concerns Kyiv.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, Israel’s closest ally, has made it clear that its security priorities are the Middle East and Asia, with Europe lower on the list.

– ‘Iran is our enemy’ –

This could mean further Russian advances on the battlefield or deadly aerial attacks will meet with a muted reaction from a White House that already sees the Ukraine conflict mainly as a European problem.

Kyiv’s efforts to lobby for more support from Washington have been complicated by tense relations between Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader.

Zelensky recently conceded to journalists that war between Iran and Israel carried risks for Kyiv.

“No one is claiming to have a relationship more important than America and Israel, but we would like to see the aid to Ukraine would not be reduced because of this,” he said.

He referred to Israel’s war in Gaza that was sparked by a deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas, as a precedent for this.

“It was a factor that slowed down assistance to Ukraine,” he added.

In an interview with US media, the Ukrainian leader said at the beginning of this month that Washington could send “20,000” missiles needed by for Ukraine to shoot down Russian drones to the Middle East instead.

Senior officials in Zelensky’s office told AFP after the outbreak of the war in Gaza that it had spurred Ukraine to focus on developing its own arms industry.

Russia has rained down thousands of drones and missiles on Ukraine since it launched its full-scale invasion early in 2022, including Iranian-made and -designed projectiles.

Israel has claimed to have attacked production sites in Iran, which has also launched silos of missiles at Israel that now cannot be sent to Russia for attacks on Ukraine.

“Let’s hope that the corresponding production or transfer (of weapons) to the Russians will decrease. This helps Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

The British defence ministry said Iran’s supply of weapons to Russia could slow as a result of Tehran’s war with Israel.

But it said global focus on the Middle East could overall help Moscow.

“Russia almost certainly perceives some benefit in the conflict as it distracts international focus from its war against Ukraine,” it said on social media.

Moscow also produces its own drones and missiles, and has received projectiles from North Korea.

Ukrainian military analyst and blogger Sergiy Sternenko was among voices to issue caution against celebrating the attacks on Iran.

“Do not rush to get too excited about the strikes on Iran. Of course, Iran is our enemy, and we wish these pigs the worst. But fighting in the Middle East will inevitably lead to higher oil prices,” he wrote.

AFP

Headline

UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

Published

8 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.

London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.

Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.

His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.

Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.

“He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.

Kebatu is now expected to be deported.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.

The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.

Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.

A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.

The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”

“He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.

The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”

Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.

He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.

He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.

AFP

Headline

Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

Published

9 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.

According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.

The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.

French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.

The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.

Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.

It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.

The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.

Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.

Headline

Kamala Harris Hints At Running For President Again

Published

9 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

Former US vice president Kamala Harris said in a British television interview previewed in Saturday that she may “possibly” run again to be president.

Harris, who replaced Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump, told the BBC that she had not yet decided whether to make another White House bid.

But the 61-year-old insisted she was “not done” in American politics and that her young grandnieces would see a female president in the Oval Office “in their lifetime, for sure”.

“I have lived my entire career a life of service, and it’s in my bones, and there are many ways to serve.

“I’ve not decided yet what I will do in the future, beyond what I am doing right now,” Harris told the British broadcaster in an interview set to air in full on Sunday.

The comments are the strongest hint yet that Harris could attempt to be the Democratic Party nominee for the 2028 election.

The interview follows the release of her memoir last month, in which she argued it had been “recklessness” to let Biden run for a second term as president.

She also accused his White House team of failing to support her while she was his deputy, and at times of actively hindering her.

AFP