Saudi-backed forces make advances in Yemen’s Hadramawt

Saudi-backed troops on Saturday made advances in Yemen’s resource-rich Hadramawt province, military officials said, as confrontations between forces backed by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi deepened a rift between the two Gulf allies.The Saudis and Emiratis have for years supported rival factions in Yemen’s fractious government. But a recent offensive by the UAE-backed secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) to capture Hadramawt angered Riyadh and left the oil-rich regional powers on a collision course.In a statement, the military of the Saudi-aligned government announced that “all military and civilian facilities” in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, had “been secured” by Riyadh-backed forces.Later two government military officials told AFP neighbouring Mahra province and its armed forces, which had also fallen in with the STC during its December advance, had switched their loyalty to Saudi-backed forces without any resistance.One of the two officials said the Mahra forces had “lowered the separatist flag and raised the Yemeni flag”.The Saudi-led coalition has launched repeated warnings and air strikes over the past week, including one on an alleged Emirati arms shipment to the STC.On Friday, a strike on the Al-Khasha military camp in Hadramawt left 20 dead, according to the separatist group.On Saturday, a military official with the STC told AFP Saudi warplanes had carried out “intense” air strikes on another of the group’s camps at Barshid, west of Mukalla.- ‘Retreat of forces’ -The official said the strike had resulted in fatalities, without giving a number of those killed.Footage aired by the Aden Independent Channel showed the moment one strike hit the STC forces, igniting a massive orange fireball and sending a plume of black smoke into the sky.According to an AFP journalist, gunfire could be heard in Mukalla early Saturday. While residents described a security breakdown there accompanied by looting, Saudi-backed forces appeared to advance with little resistance.Hani Yousef, a Mukalla resident, said he “saw retreating forces using their military vehicles to transport motorbikes and household items, including refrigerators and washing machines”.In the province’s city of Seiyun, 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of Mukalla, a government military official said pro-Saudi forces had taken control of the airport, targeted in Friday’s strikes, as well as administrative buildings.”We are working to secure them,” the military official said. The STC military official said: “There has been a retreat of our forces and we are resisting the attacking forces in Seiyun.” “We carried out a complete withdrawal from the areas of Al-Khasha… as a result of pressure from Saudi air strikes on us,” he added.Residents in Seiyun also said they heard gunfire and clashes. Saudi Arabia on Saturday called for dialogue between factions in southern Yemen.  – Call for dialogue -In a statement posted to social media, the Saudi foreign ministry called for “a comprehensive conference in Riyadh to bring together all southern factions to discuss just solutions to the southern cause”.Riyadh said the Yemeni government had issued the invitation for talks.Also on Saturday, the UAE urged Yemenis to “halt escalation and resolve differences through dialogue”. In separate statements, the Gulf states of Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain voiced their support for dialogue in Riyadh. Egypt’s foreign ministry also urged dialogue and voiced its support for the “unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Yemen”. The STC is now pushing to declare independence and form a breakaway state, which would split the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest state in two.On Friday the separatists announced the start of a two-year transitional period towards declaring an independent state and said the process would include dialogue and a referendum on independence.STC president Aidaros Alzubidi said the transitional phase would include dialogue with Yemen’s north — controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels — and a referendum on independence.But he warned that the group would declare independence “immediately” if there was no dialogue or if southern Yemen was attacked again.The Saudi-backed coalition was formed in 2015 in an attempt to dislodge the Houthi rebels from Yemen’s north. But after a brutal, decade-long civil war, the Houthis remain in place while the Saudi and Emirati-backed factions attack each other in the south.

Joshua returns to Britain after fatal crash in NigeriaSat, 03 Jan 2026 16:05:37 GMT

Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has reportedly flown back to Britain after a fatal car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his close friends.The Sun newspaper said the British boxer landed at London’s Stansted Airport in a private jet on Friday evening. His return comes after Nigerian police charged the driver of the vehicle, Adeniyi Mobolaji …

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US military seizes Maduro in bombing raid on Venezuelan capital

President Donald Trump said Saturday that US special forces seized Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro during a nighttime bombing raid on the capital Caracas and were taking him to face trial in New York.A months-long standoff ended swiftly and violently in a high-risk operation that Trump touted as an “amazing” success.US-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, posted on social media: “the hour of freedom has arrived.”She called for the opposition’s candidate in the 2024 election, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to “immediately” assume the presidency.But the United Nations chief said he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.”China, a backer of Maduro’s hard-left regime, said it “strongly condemns” the US attack, while France warned that a solution for troubled Venezuela cannot “be imposed from outside.”Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters around 2:00 am (0600 GMT). Airstrikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour, AFP journalists said.The bombing turned out to be only part of a more ambitious plan to topple 63-year-old Maduro and bring him to US soil to face narco-trafficking charges.A triumphant Trump told Fox News that US troops had snatched Maduro from “a fortress” and that no US personnel were killed, although “a couple of guys were hit.””I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show,” Trump said, expressing astonishment at “the speed, the violence.””It was an amazing thing,” he said.Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and a smell of smoke drifting through the streets.- Maduro to New York -Trump said Maduro was initially extracted by helicopter and was being held on the Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship that is part of a large US naval presence in the Caribbean. From there, he will be sent to New York.Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife will face the “full wrath” of the courts on drugs and terrorism charges.Maduro — in power since 2013 after taking over from Hugo Chavez — long accused Trump of seeking regime change in order to control Venezuela’s huge oil reserves.Trump said the extraordinary snatching of a foreign country’s leader was justified because of his claim that Venezuela is responsible for mass death from drugs in the United States.What happens next in Venezuela remained unclear.”We’re making that decision now. We can’t take a chance at letting somebody else run and just take over where he left, left off,” Trump told Fox News. “We’ll be involved in it very much.”The US and numerous European governments already did not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy, saying he stole elections both in 2018 and 2024.But Trump did not say whether he wanted Machado to take over.- ‘They’re bombing!’ -Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, massed off the coast.Fort Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, situated in the south of Caracas, and Carlota airbase in the north were among the targets of the strikes.Francis Pena, a 29-year-old communications professional living in eastern Caracas, told AFP that he was sleeping and his girlfriend said: “They’re bombing!”La Guaira, north of the capital, where Caracas’s main airport and port are located, was also struck. “I felt like (the explosions) lifted me out of bed, and I immediately thought, ‘God, the day has come,’ and I cried,” Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of La Guaira, told AFP.The defense ministry accused the United States of targeting residential areas and announced a “massive deployment” of military resources.No casualty figures were immediately available.- Oil, drugs, migrants? -Trump has given a variety of justifications for the military build-up around Venezuela, at times stressing illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and the country’s oil industry, in which US companies have long played a major role.He had not openly called for regime change — likely mindful of his nationalist political base’s dislike for foreign entanglements.However, he told Fox News on Saturday that he had spoken with Maduro just last week and told him “You have to give up. You have to surrender.”Several members of Congress quickly questioned the legality of the operation. Trump’s key ally Mike Johnson, Republican speaker in the House of Representatives, said it was “decisive and justified.”As part of an escalating pressure campaign, Washington informally closed Venezuela’s airspace, imposed more sanctions and ordered the seizure of tankers loaded with Venezuelan oil.US forces have also carried out numerous strikes on boats in both the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September — targeting what Washington says are drug smugglers — that have killed more than 100 people, according to the US military.Among other international reactions, Iran, Cuba and Colombia’s leftist leader Gustavo Petro condemned the attacks, while the EU’s top diplomat urged restraint. Spain offered to mediate.burs-sms/des

‘Like a television show’: Trump revels in Maduro capture

President Donald Trump struck a triumphant note over the capture of Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, saying he had watched live as US forces seized the Venezuelan leader from a “fortress.””I’ve never seen anything like this. I was able to watch it in real time,” the 79-year-old Republican said in a telephone interview with Fox News.”I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show. And if you would have seen the speed, the violence.”Trump said no US troops were killed in the dramatic operation, adding that the Venezuelan president and his wife had been taken to a ship and would then be sent to New York, where they face drug and terrorism charges.The US president, who is at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, said he had spoken to Maduro a week ago and told him “you have to surrender.”He added that the United States would not allow anyone to take over where Maduro “left off” — while skirting around whether he backed Nobel Peace laureate Maria Machado to be the next president.Trump gave a detailed description of the operation that saw the United States launch airstrikes on Venezuela before special forces captured the leftist leader, in the climax to a months-long pressure campaign.He said that he originally gave the all clear for the operation to capture Maduro four days ago but that it was held up because of the weather, until Saturday.”It was just amazing,” Trump said. “He was in a very highly guarded… like a fortress actually. He was in a fortress.”It had steel doors, it had what they call a safety space where it’s solid steel all around. He didn’t get that space closed, he was trying to get into it, but he got bum-rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that.”We were prepared with massive blowtorches to get through the steel, but we didn’t need them.”- ‘Not going to be pushed around’ -Trump added that it was “amazing” that no US forces were killed, adding that a “couple of guys were hit, but they came back and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape.”A US helicopter was also damaged but flown out, he added.Trump said the raid on Venezuela “sends a signal we’re not going to be pushed around as a country anymore” and warned Mexico that it too needed to crack down on drug traffickers.US officials joined in the triumphalism, while brushing off concerns about whether the operation to capture a foreign leader was legal.”You don’t get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas,” Vice President JD Vance said on X.He said Trump had given the Venezuelan leader “multiple off ramps” and added that Maduro was the “newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says.”US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges including “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy,” conspiracy to import cocaine, and charges related to machineguns.”They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said on X.The indictment against Maduro was lodged in 2020 while the indictment against his wife was not previously known.Trump’s administration in August doubled a reward for information leading to his capture to $50 million, accusing him of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns” drug trafficking organization.Trump has given differing arguments for his campaign against Venezuela, including the claim that the country is a major drug exporter to the United States and that Venezuela seized US oil interests.Secretary of State Marco Rubio reposted a social media message from earlier this year in which he said Maduro was not the legitimate president of Venezuela following elections that international observers said were riddled with irregularities.The Maduro capture — along with US strikes on Nigeria on Christmas Day — also come despite Trump billing himself as a “peace president” who should win the Nobel Prize.Asked by reporters on New Year’s Eve what his resolution for 2026 was, Trump replied: “Peace on Earth.”

Les principales interventions des Etats-Unis en Amérique latine

Les Etats-Unis, qui ont annoncé samedi avoir lancé une “attaque de grande envergure” contre le Venezuela, ont une longue histoire d’interventions militaires et de soutien à des dictatures en Amérique latine.A plusieurs reprises, le défunt président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez, puis son successeur Nicolas Maduro, ont accusé Washington de soutenir des tentatives de coup d’Etat, dont celle qui …

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Venezuela : Nicolas Maduro, chute d’un homme du peuple à la poigne de fer

Successeur d’Hugo Chavez en 2013, investi il y a moins d’un an pour un troisième mandat contesté par l’opposition, le président du Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, dont Donald Trump a annoncé samedi la capture et l’exfiltration par les Etats-Unis, avait su se maintenir d’une main de fer à la tête de ce pays pétrolier.Il a fallu …

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Sudanese flee across border and back to escape overrun oil townSat, 03 Jan 2026 14:22:59 GMT

When paramilitary fighters closed in on the Sudanese border town and oil field of Heglig, paraplegic Dowa Hamed could only cling to her husband’s back as they fled, “like a child”, she told AFP.Now, the 25-year-old mother of five — paralysed from the waist down — lies shell-shocked on a cot in the Abu al-Naga …

Sudanese flee across border and back to escape overrun oil townSat, 03 Jan 2026 14:22:59 GMT Read More »

Sudanese flee across border and back to escape overrun oil town

When paramilitary fighters closed in on the Sudanese border town and oil field of Heglig, paraplegic Dowa Hamed could only cling to her husband’s back as they fled, “like a child”, she told AFP.Now, the 25-year-old mother of five — paralysed from the waist down — lies shell-shocked on a cot in the Abu al-Naga displacement camp, a dusty transit centre just outside the eastern city of Gedaref, nearly 800 kilometres (500 miles) from home.But her family’s actual journey was much longer, crossing the South Sudan border twice and passing from one group of fighters to another, as they ran for their lives with their children in tow alongside hundreds of others.”We fled with nothing,” Hamed told AFP. “Only the clothes on our backs.”Hamed and her family are among tens of thousands of people recently uprooted by fighting in southern Kordofan — the latest front in the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted in April 2023.Since capturing the army’s last stronghold in Darfur in October, the RSF and their allies have pushed deeper into neighbouring Kordofan, an oil-rich agricultural region divided into three states: West, North and South.In recent weeks, the paramilitary group has consolidated control over West Kordofan, seized Heglig — home to Sudan’s largest oil field — and tightened its siege on Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan, where hundreds of thousands now face mass starvation.- ‘Chased to the border’ -On the night of December 7, the inhabitants of Heglig — many of them the families of oil technicians, engineers and soldiers stationed at the field — got word an attack would happen at dawn.”We ran on foot, barefoot, without proper clothes,” said Hiyam al-Haj, 29, a mother of 10 who says she had to leave her mother and six siblings behind as she ran around 30 kilometres to the border.”The RSF chased us to the border. The South Sudan army told them we were in their country and they would not hand us over,” she told AFP.They were sheltered in South Sudan’s Unity State, but barely fed.”Those who had money could feed their children,” al-Haj said. “Those who didn’t went hungry.”They spent nearly four weeks on the move, trekking long distances on foot and spending nights out in the open, sleeping on the bare ground.”We were hungry,” she said. “But we didn’t feel the hunger, all we cared about was our safety.”Eventually, authorities in South Sudan put them in large trucks that carried them back across the border to army-controlled territory where they could head east, away from the front lines.Hamed, who was paralysed during childbirth, said that “during the truck rides, my body ached with every movement”. But not everyone made it to Gedaref.Between the canvas tents of the Abu al-Naga camp, 14-year-old Sarah is struggling to take care of her little brother, alone.In South Sudan, their parents had put them on one of the trucks, “then they said the truck was full and promised they would get on the next one”.But weeks on, the siblings have received no word as to where their mother and father might be.- Camps under pressure -Inside the tents, children and mothers sleep on the ground, huddled together for warmth, while outside children dart across the cracked soil, dust clinging to their bare feet.According to camp director Ali Yehia Ahmed, 240 families, or around 1,200 people, are now taking refuge at Abu al-Naga.”The camp’s space is very small,” Ahmed told AFP, adding that food was in increasingly short supply.Food is handed out from a single distribution point, forcing families to wait for limited rations.Some women haul water from a single well, pouring it into plastic buckets to cook, wash and clean with, while others wait in a long line outside a makeshift health clinic, little more than a large canvas tent.Asia Abdelrahman Hussein, Gedaref state’s minister of social welfare and development, said shelter was one of the most urgent needs, especially during the winter months.”The shelters are not enough. We need support from other organisations to provide safe housing and adequate shelter,” she told AFP.In one of the tents, Sawsan Othman Moussa, 27, told AFP how she had been forced to flee three times since fighting broke out in Dilling.Now, though she might be safe, “every tent is cramped, medicine is scarce, and during cold nights, we suffer”.