Latest news with #armedconflict
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Israel-Iran crisis climbs ladder of financial risk: podcast
Follow on Apple or Spotify. Listen on the Reuters app. Read the episode transcript. The outbreak of armed conflict between the two nations is a perilous new front in the ongoing Middle East hostilities. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss the dissonance between a mild market response and the manifold paths to further escalation. Follow Jonathan Guilford on X and LinkedIn (The hosts are Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own.) FURTHER READING Gulf risk goes beyond a blocked Strait of Hormuz Iran attack shunts Gulf into more volatile realm Beijing has more at stake in Iran besides just oil Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit to opt-out of targeted advertising.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
State Department elevates travel advisory for Israel to "do not travel," highest level
Washington — The State Department on Monday raised its travel advisory for Israel to Level 4, the highest level, and warned U.S. citizens not to travel to the country due to "armed conflict, terrorism and civil unrest." The escalated warning from the State Department comes on the fourth day of attacks exchanged between Israel and Iran, which has launched retaliatory strikes against Israel after its sweeping attacks targeting military and nuclear infrastructure late last week. Tehran said at least 224 people have been killed in the assault since last Friday. At least 24 people in Israel have died in Iranian ballistic missile launches that have managed to make it through Israeli air defenses, its military said. "The security situation in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is unpredictable, and U.S. citizens are reminded to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and armed UAV intrusions and missiles, can take place without warning," the State Department said in its travel advisory. The department also warned Americans against traveling "for any reason" to the West Bank due to "terrorism and civil unrest" and to Gaza because of "terrorism and armed conflict." It told those who decide to go to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to take certain precautions, including drafting a will and securing food, supplies and medicine for an "extended or indefinite period" because of closed border crossings with Israel and Egypt. "The U.S. government is unable to provide routine or emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Gaza as U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling there," the advisory states. "The security environment within Gaza and on its borders is extremely dangerous and volatile." The State Department said that the security environment in the region is "complex and can change quickly," and warned that violence can take place in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza without warning. Additionally, it said "terrorist groups, lone-actor terrorists and other violent extremists continue plotting possible attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza," and may target tourist locations and transportation hubs, as well as areas popular with civilians like markets and shopping malls. The elevated travel advisory comes after the Department of State on Saturday allowed family members of government employees and some non-emergency government workers to leave the region "due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation." The U.S. Embassy had directed all U.S. government employees and their families to shelter-in-place. The U.S. Embassy in Israel was closed Monday because of the continued shelter-in-place, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said. He wrote on social media that the American consulate in Tel Aviv sustained "minor damage from concussions" of an Iranian missile that hit nearby, but no U.S. personnel were injured.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Thousands of children recruited by armed groups in Colombia
When Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in the head on 7 June, it shocked the international community. After years of growing peace, the attack was a callback to Colombia's most violent years, when cartel-ordered assassinations were a common the identity of the alleged shooter proved even more shocking - a 15-year-old child. A video, shared widely online, shows police arresting a young man with a boyish face and hair over his shoulders, wearing blue jeans and a green has reported that after he was swiftly arrested, he cried out: "I did it for money for my family." He subsequently pleaded not guilty, the prosecutor's office said. Turbay has remained in critical condition at a clinic in Bogotá since last Saturday. Authorities are now searching for the people behind this crime, who allegedly used the boy to carry out the if it proves to be true, the boy's story is all too common. According to the Colombian Ombudsman's Office, 409 children and teenagers were recruited by armed groups in 2024, an increase from the 342 cases reported in acknowledge that the data is of armed conflict and organised crime have left thousands of children victims of violence in the years, many have been recruited by now-extinct drug organizations like the Medellin cartel led by Pablo Escobar and left-wing guerrillas, paramilitary forces and new armed and criminal groups."Minors were even used by public forces in undercover missions. Every single actor of the conflict has recruited minors," Max Yuri, director of the Institute of Political Studies at Antioquia University, told BBC Mundo. The child hitmen hired by Escobar In the 1980s, many youngsters and minors were picked up by Escobar to carry out hits."It was known as the practice of 'Los suizos'. Many youngsters and minors joined suicidal missions," Jorge Mantilla, a criminologist and security consultant and security coordinator for the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development, told BBC of the most infamous was John Jairo Arias Tascón, known as 'Pinina,' considered to be one of the hitmen closest to is linked to several high-profile crimes, such as the assassination of the minister of justice Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in 1984; the attack on Avianca Flight 203, in which 110 people died in 1989; as well as several murders of politicians, journalists, civilians, and criminal died aged 29 in a shoot-out with police in 1990 in Medellin. It is believed he started as a hitman as young as 22 March 1990, another 14-year-old boy named Andrés Arturo Gutiérrez Maya shot and killed presidential candidate Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa at Bogotá's El Dorado there was Gerardo Gutierrez, "Yerry", another young man who ended up being the main suspect in the killing of presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro Leongomez in was initially blamed for the crime, but he denied any to the Historical Memory Center in Colombia, "Yerry" was shot dead by a bodyguard. Years later, the leader of the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, Carlos Castaño, admitted that he trained the hitman and planned the crime along with corrupted Colombian this day, the murder of Pizarro has not been fully solved. Minors as war weapon Recruited children usually share a common come from low-income urban areas or isolated rural territories where the Colombian state has a limited is a difference, however, between rural and urban minors in urban areas often seek to improve their economic and social status, many rural youths are forcibly recruited by armed groups, who also harass and threaten their families."It is a cheap labour force, easy to replace. Because of their malleability, they are often assigned acts of terror such as dismemberment," Mr Yuri said."It is common for them in cities to also be involved in the transportation of weapons, drugs, drug dealing, extortion collection, hitmen work, and murders," he Special Jurisdiction for Peace estimates that more than 18,000 children were recruited by Farc guerrilla between 1996 and 2016, when this left-wing group signed a peace deal with the continued clashes between Colombian forces and other guerrilla groups mean that the demand for child hitmen has not gone the recruitment methods have become more June 2024, the BBC reported how armed groups are using tools such as TikTok to reach youngsters in isolated areas in Colombia. Rising numbers A report by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo states that 1,953 minors were reported missing in 2024, more than half of whom are still unaccounted information is based on data provided by the National Institute of Legal Medicine, and one of the theories behind the disappearances is that the children may have been forcibly who live in impoverished regions are especially vulnerable. Of the 409 minors the Ombudsman's Office identified as having been recruited, about 300 were detected in Cauca, a troubled part of Colombia where coca is grown to make cocaine, that has become a frequent site of military hotspots for recruitment were Putumayo and Cauca Valley, where the conditions of violence are Mantilla said that some recent data indicated forced recruitment may have skyrocketed by 1,200% in the last few years since the pandemic. The rise is attributed to economic decline in vulnerable areas post-pandemic, and the territorial expansion of armed groups, Mr Yuri said. He also said public institutions are better at tracking these youths than they once were, leading to a rise in the overall official numbers. "Child recruitment has been possible because of the existence of unprotected, abandoned and marginalised children, and legal loopholes in the Colombian justice system," Mr Mantilla said.
Asharq Al-Awsat
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Study: Highest Number of Conflicts Worldwide in 2024 Since 1946
The world saw the highest number of armed conflicts in almost 80 years in 2024, dethroning 2023 as a record year, a Norwegian study published Wednesday showed, highlighting the risks linked to a US disengagement. Last year, 61 conflicts were registered in the world across 36 countries, with some countries experiencing several simultaneous conflicts, the report by the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (Prio) said. In 2023, there were 59 conflicts in 34 countries, AFP reported. "This is not just a spike -- it's a structural shift," said Siri Aas Rustad, the main author of the report which covers trends in armed conflicts in the period 1946-2024. "The world today is far more violent, and far more fragmented, than it was a decade ago," she said. Africa remained the most ravaged continent, with 28 conflicts involving at least one state, followed by Asia with 17, the Middle East with 10, Europe with three and the Americas with two. More than half of these countries experienced two or more conflicts. The number of deaths resulting from fighting remained around the same level as in 2023, at about 129,000, making 2024 the fourth-deadliest year since the end of the Cold War in 1989, the study said. The death toll was led by the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, as well as clashes in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. "Now is not the time for the United States -– or any global power -– to retreat from international engagement," Rustad said. "Isolationism in the face of rising global violence would be a profound mistake with long-term human life consequences," she said, a reference to US President Donald Trump's "America First" campaign. "It is a mistake to assume the world can look away. Whether under President Trump or any future administration, abandoning global solidarity now would mean walking away from the very stability the US helped build after 1945," she said. The study is based on data compiled by Sweden's Uppsala University.
Khaleej Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Highest number of conflicts worldwide in 2024 since 1946: Study
The world saw the highest number of armed conflicts in almost 80 years in 2024, dethroning 2023 as a record year, a Norwegian study published Wednesday showed, highlighting the risks linked to a US disengagement. Last year, 61 conflicts were registered in the world across 36 countries, with some countries experiencing several simultaneous conflicts, the report by the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (Prio) said. In 2023, there were 59 conflicts in 34 countries. "This is not just a spike -- it's a structural shift," said Siri Aas Rustad, the main author of the report which covers trends in armed conflicts in the period 1946-2024. "The world today is far more violent, and far more fragmented, than it was a decade ago," she said. Africa remained the most ravaged continent, with 28 conflicts involving at least one state, followed by Asia with 17, the Middle East with 10, Europe with three and the Americas with two. More than half of these countries experienced two or more conflicts. The number of deaths resulting from fighting remained around the same level as in 2023, at about 129,000, making 2024 the fourth-deadliest year since the end of the Cold War in 1989, the study said. The death toll was led by the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, as well as clashes in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. "Now is not the time for the United States -– or any global power -– to retreat from international engagement," Rustad said. "Isolationism in the face of rising global violence would be a profound mistake with long-term human life consequences," she said, a reference to US President Donald Trump's "America First" campaign. "It is a mistake to assume the world can look away. Whether under President Trump or any future administration, abandoning global solidarity now would mean walking away from the very stability the US helped build after 1945," she said. The study is based on data compiled by Sweden's Uppsala University.
