Reassurance, not peacekeeping: What Ukraine coalition force will and won't do
James Landale
The potential Western troop deployment to Ukraine being discussed in London should be described as a "reassurance force" rather than a "peacekeeping force", defence and diplomatic sources say.
Currently dubbed the Multinational Force Ukraine or MFU, it would be sent to the country to cement any ceasefire and encourage long-term confidence in the country.
The focus would be on providing Ukraine with air cover to keep its skies safe and a naval presence in the Black Sea to encourage trade.
M23 rebels capture strategic mining hub of Walikale in eastern DRC
Town in North Kivu province is the farthest west the group has reached since the start of its advance in January
Thu 20 Mar 2025 13.12 GMT
M23 rebels have captured a strategic mining hub in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, defying calls from the presidents of Rwanda and the DRC for an immediate ceasefire.
A Congolese army spokesperson said M23 was in control of the town of Walikale. An officer separately told Agence France-Presse its forces were about 20 miles (30km) away in the town of Mubi.
Walikale, in North Kivu province, is the farthest west that M23 has reached during its lightning advance that started in January.
France cancels modern 'Beauty and the Beast' for schoolkids
France's education ministry has cancelled an order for "Beauty and the Beast" with modern illustrations, saying a cartoonist's 21st-century version including a police sniffer dog and smartphones was inappropriate for tweens.
Julien Berjeaut, whose pen name is Jul, had been asked to illustrate an 18th-century version of the famous fairy tale for a government scheme to give 800,000 primary school graduates a revamped classic to read for the summer holidays.
A digital copy of the book intended for publication showed the original 1756 text by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.
Jul's accompanying cartoons depicted the heroine with dark Mediterranean features, the Beast as a comic toothy hair ball, and her selfish sisters as addicted to their smartphones.
Pentagon considers halting plan to beef up U.S. forces in Japan: reports
The United States could stop a planned expansion of its forces in Japan as part of efforts to slash Defense Department spending, CNN reported Wednesday.
If the administration of President Donald Trump goes ahead, it could undermine the ongoing process to upgrade the role of Japan-based U.S. forces amid rising security challenges posed by China and North Korea.
CNN and NBC News, which was first to report that the administration was reconsidering the plan, based on a Pentagon briefing document, said the cancellation could save about $1 billion.
The ‘ghost reporters’ writing pro-Russian propaganda in West Africa
Al Jazeera finds that an influence campaign using nonexistent writers is spreading anti-France sentiment across West and Central Africa.
Eight pallbearers – some wearing tracksuits emblazoned with the FIFA logo – carried a coffin on their shoulders. Alongside them, referee whistles echoed the tune of a song being sung by the funeral procession.
It was September 2020, and hundreds of people had gathered at a sports stadium in the Central African Republic (CAR) to bid farewell to Jean Claude Sendeoli.
Sendeoli was a teacher at a secondary school in the capital, Bangui, and a referee for the country’s football federation. After his death, students posted messages on the school’s Facebook page to remember their much-loved teacher while FIFA named him in its 2020 obituaries, closing the book on his journey.
Israeli outposts have proliferated in the West Bank since Oct. 7, analysis shows. Palestinians fear annexation could be next.
Jihad Suleiman Al-Sawafta, 46, has lived on his farm in the occupied West Bank village of Bardala his entire life. But when Israeli settlers showed up in December, Al-Sawafta said his land, and his livelihood, shrank to a fraction of its former self.
“The settlers brought another settler here and placed him in our area. The Israelis built a road that separates us from grazing and agricultural areas, and the settlers don’t allow us to farm on them,” he told CNN.
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