Ethiopia and Sudan accuse each other of attacks

Ethiopia and Sudan traded accusations on Tuesday that each had violated the other's territory and were supporting insurgent forces.

A civil war has engulfed Sudan since 2023, while neighbouring Ethiopia faces multiple insurgencies across its territory.

Analysts say the conflicts are increasingly overlapping and drawing in external actors from the wider region.

On Tuesday, Ethiopia's foreign ministry accused Sudan's army of supporting "mercenaries" with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, whose armed wing fought a civil war against the federal government from 2020 to 2022.

Relations between the TPLF and the government remain tense.

"Sudan is serving as a hub for various anti-Ethiopian forces," the foreign ministry in Addis Ababa said on X, accusing Tigrayan forces of serving as mercenaries in Sudan.

"The Sudanese armed forces have also provided arms and financial support to these mercenaries, thereby facilitating their incursions along Ethiopia's western frontier," it added.

A senior official with the TPLF, Amanuel Assefa, dismissed the federal government's remarks and told AFP: "We have no connections with the Sudanese authorities."

He said the government was blaming everyone "but themselves for their failures".

Prior to the Ethiopian foreign ministry's comments, Sudan announced it would recall its ambassador to Addis Ababa "for consultation" following drone strikes.

Army spokesperson Assim Awad alleged at a press conference in Khartoum that drone attacks were being launched from Ethiopia in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates.

- UAE accused -

The UAE is seen as the primary backer of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group which has been at war with the Sudanese government since 2023, though it denies the accusations.

It did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on Tuesday's accusations.

Awad said Sudan had "conclusive evidence" that UAE-made drones launched from Ethiopia's northeastern Bahir Dar airport region struck Sudanese army positions across several states on March 1 and 17.

They also targeted sites in Khartoum since Friday, including Khartoum airport on Monday, he said.

He said data recovered from a drone shot down in El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, showed it belonged to the UAE and had taken off from Bahir Dar.

"Based on this documented evidence, we affirm that what the two states of Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates have carried out constitutes direct aggression against Sudan and will not be met with silence," Awad said.

He said Sudanese forces were "at the highest level of readiness".

At the same press conference, Sudan's army-aligned foreign minister, Mohieddin Salem, said his country was ready to "enter into an open confrontation" with Ethiopia "if it becomes necessary".

Ethiopia's foreign ministry dismissed the allegations as "baseless".

In March, the Sudanese military alleged drone attacks were launched "from inside Ethiopian territory", the first public claim of Ethiopian involvement in the conflict.

The UAE has been widely accused of arming the RSF but has repeatedly denied the allegations, while Ethiopia has denied hosting RSF and UAE forces on its territory.

- Drone attacks -

Drone attacks by both Sudan's army and the RSF have intensified across the country in recent months.

On Tuesday, a drone strike hit a fuel station in Kosti, White Nile state, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of Khartoum.

It killed three civilians and wounded two others, security and medical sources told AFP.

The RSF carried out a series of drone strikes on Khartoum last year, largely targeting military sites, power stations and water infrastructure.

Although the capital had seen relative calm in recent months, attacks resumed last week.

They killed five civilians in southern Omdurman, across the Nile from central Khartoum, and damaged a hospital in the southern Jebel Awliya area.

On Sunday, a paramilitary drone strike hit the home of army-aligned Sudan Shield Forces commander Abu Aqla Kaykal in central Sudan, killing nine relatives, militia sources told AFP.

Kaykal defected to the army in October 2024 and his fighters later helped recapture parts of central Sudan, including Al-Jazirah state and Khartoum.

Another senior RSF commander, al-Nour al-Guba, defected late last month and was received in Khartoum by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Fighting meanwhile persists across much of the country, including western Darfur and southern Kordofan.

It has spread to southeastern Blue Nile state, bordering Ethiopia and South Sudan, raising fears of a prolonged and fragmented conflict.

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British mobile phone giant Vodafone announced Tuesday it has agreed a £4.3 billion ($5.8 billion) deal to take full ownership of the country's biggest mobile phone operator, VodafoneThree. 

Under the agreement, Vodafone will buy out Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison's 49-percent stake in the company through a share cancellation.

VodafoneThree was formed last year by a meger between Vodafone UK and Three, the UK division of CK Hutchison, creating Britain's largest mobile operator in terms of customer numbers. 

"Now is the right time to take full ownership of VodafoneThree, enabling us to move at an even faster pace to transform the UK's digital infrastructure," Vodafone said in a statement on Tuesday.

The group said the deal is set to be completed in the second half of 2026. 

"The transaction signals a new lease of life for a business that was bloated with debt and struggled with low growth," said AJ Bell head of markets Dan Coatsworth.

"There are now tentative signs of improvement both operationally and financially, putting it in a better position to mount a comeback," he added.

Vodafone has been undergoing a sweeping restructuring under chief executive Margherita Della Valle since 2023, including thousands of job cuts and the sale of its operations in Italy and Spain.

The company gave a positive outlook in November after an unexpected revenue rebound in its main market Germany in its first half and following its UK merger with Three. 

Vodafone will publish its annual results next week. 

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An overnight attack by suspected Boko Haram jihadists on a Chadian military base has killed at least 24 people, a military official and regional administrator told AFP on Tuesday.

The Barka Tolorom base is on the shores of Lake Chad, which straddles Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria and whose islands provide a refuge for jihadists from Boko Haram and other radical Islamist groups. 

The raid late on Monday "left 25 dead and 46 wounded on the Chadian army side", the army source told AFP.

The administrative official gave a toll of "24 dead and several wounded". 

Both attributed the attack to Boko Haram, with the administrator insisting that "the situation is under control". 

"Once again, the nebulous Boko Haram terrorist group carried out a cowardly attack last night on our military base at Barka Tolorom," Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said on Tuesday in a Facebook post.

"We will continue the fight with renewed determination until this threat is completely eradicated," he pledged, offering his condolences to the bereaved families.

Soldiers have come under increasing fire from Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, with an October 2024 attack leaving some 40 dead in the Chadian army's ranks. 

Recent months have also seen a surge in attacks by the group's JAS faction, including kidnappings and attacks on advanced army positions, especially on the islands and along Niger's portion of the lake's shores. 

In response to the October 2024 attack, Deby launched a counter-offensive which he vowed to "personally" lead on the ground for two weeks.

After that offensive ended in February 2025, the army insisted that Boko Haram had "no more sanctuary on Chadian territory". 

Lake Chad's islands and marshes also serve as a haven for Boko Haram's rival splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). 

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The US trade deficit grew slightly less than expected in March, government data showed Tuesday, as spending linked to the artificial intelligence buildout boosted imports.

But US exports of crude oil and petroleum products also jumped after war in the Middle East began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran. This could narrow the gap in the following month, analysts said.

Oil prices have surged since Tehran's retaliation in virtually blocking off the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for energy transit.

In March, the trade deficit in the world's biggest economy widened 4.4 percent to $60.3 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The uptick came in the month after the Supreme Court struck down a swath of President Donald Trump's global tariffs, while businesses pushed to get refunds.

Trump has moved quickly to impose a temporary 10-percent duty under separate authorities since, and his administration has taken steps towards rolling out more lasting levies.

The US leader's fast-changing tariff policies after he returned to the White House last year have caused wide swings in trade flows, as firms rushed to import the goods they needed before hikes in duties.

But Tuesday's data provides a glimpse of trade since the high court forced a shift in Trump's tariff agenda.

- Energy risks -

"The rise in imports outpaced the increase in exports, in part due to a jump in vehicle imports," said US economist Grace Zwemmer of Oxford Economics.

"Capital goods imports, including computers, computer accessories, and semiconductors, remain strong thanks to ongoing demand for AI hardware," she added in a note.

ING economist James Knightley told AFP: "It confirms what we saw in last week's GDP report, that imports tied to the tech AI roll out point to sustained investment through 2026."

The rise in consumer and auto-related imports also suggest "that the household sector remained buoyant in March."

"We will see if that remains the case in the face of higher energy costs," he said.

The overall deficit was slightly narrower than the $60.9 billion figure expected from economist surveys by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

In March, US imports rose 2.3 percent to $381.2 billion, with increases seen in autos and parts, alongside consumer goods and industrial supplies.

Exports climbed by 2.0 percent to $320.9 billion with growth seen in crude oil and other petroleum products.

Exports of foods, feeds and beverages also jumped.

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The United States is "not looking for a fight" over the Strait of Hormuz and its ceasefire with Iran still holds, but any attack on commercial shipping will be met with a "devastating" response, the Pentagon chief said Tuesday.

The warning from Pete Hegseth came on the second day of a US effort to facilitate the transit of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed in response to the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

"We're not looking for a fight. But Iran also cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway," Hegseth told reporters.

"If you attack American troops or innocent commercial shipping, you will face overwhelming and devastating American firepower," the Pentagon chief said.

Top US military officer General Dan Caine meanwhile said US forces are ready to resume major combat operations against Iran if ordered to do so.

"No adversary should mistake our current restraint with a lack of resolve," said Caine, who spoke alongside Hegseth.

Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander responsible for US troops in the Middle East, said Monday that Washington's forces had intercepted missiles and drones fired by Iran and also destroyed six small Iranian boats that threatened shipping.

But both Caine and Hegseth downplayed those hostilities, with the general describing it as "low harassing fire" and the Pentagon chief saying that "right now, the ceasefire certainly holds."

US and Israeli forces launched the war against Iran on February 28, after which the Islamic republic closed the Strait of Hormuz -- a vital route for oil and gas exports -- while American forces later launched a blockade of Iranian ports.

President Donald Trump has indefinitely extended what was initially a two-week ceasefire, but the conflict -- and its widespread economic fallout -- remains unresolved.

Caine said there are currently "22,500 mariners embarked on more than 1,550 commercial vessels trapped in the Arabian Gulf, unable to transit."

Cooper said Monday that the United States is not directly escorting ships but rather had cleared a safe path through the Strait of Hormuz and then put in place multi-layered defenses including ships, aircraft and electronic warfare to respond to any threats.

Hegseth made clear in his remarks that the operation will not be open-ended.

"We're stabilizing the situation so commerce can flow again, but we expect the world to step up. At the appropriate time, and soon, we will hand responsibility back to you," he said.

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(The Center Square) − Louisiana lawmakers can immediately begin drawing a new congressional map after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday night put into effect its ruling striking down the state's current map. 

Normally, the Supreme Court waits 32 days before formally sending its ruling back to the lower court, so the losing side can ask for rehearing. Until that happens, the lower court can’t act. With election deadlines approaching, the Court sent the ruling down immediately so the lower court can move forward on a new map.

The move comes less than a week after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Louisiana v. Callais that the state’s 2024 congressional map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. That map created two majority-Black districts after earlier litigation found that Louisiana’s prior map, which had only one majority-Black district out of six, likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The decision had immediate practical effects. Gov. Jeff Landry has already suspended Louisiana’s May 16 closed congressional primaries for U.S. House races, arguing the state cannot hold elections under a map the court has deemed unconstitutional. The suspension applies only to U.S. House contests; other elections and ballot measures scheduled for May 16 will proceed.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that the court’s decision had “spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana.” She noted that ballots had already been mailed to overseas, military and absentee voters before Landry suspended the congressional primaries. She wrote that granting the request was “tantamount to an approval of Louisiana’s rush to pause the ongoing election in order to pass a new map.”

Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, rejected that criticism. In a concurring opinion, Alito said waiting 32 days could itself create the appearance of favoritism by allowing elections to proceed under a map the court had already struck down.

“The dissent’s rhetoric lacks restraint,” Alito wrote. He added that Jackson's arguments were "baseless and insulting." 

Health authorities were racing to find a port for a cruise ship battling a suspected hantavirus outbreak Tuesday, as it remained off Cape Verde with passengers isolating after three people died.

The MV Hondius will head to Spain's Canary Islands, the World Health Organization said, though Spanish authorities said no decision would be made on which port would receive the ship until epidemiological data on board had been analysed. 

The priority is to evacuate two crew members who require urgent care -- potentially to the Netherlands -- and "then the ship can move", the WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters in Geneva.

So far, two hantavirus cases have been confirmed and there have been five other suspected cases among the 147 people who were on the cruise from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde off west Africa, the WHO said.

Three of those people had died, while one was critically ill and three others had reported mild symptoms, it said.

Two of those who had died and one who was sickened had left the ship, with one woman flying to Johannesburg before dying on April 26, spurring a search for people she may have come in contact with on the flight.

Passengers and crew have meanwhile been in isolation on the Hondius, operated by Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions, after Cape Verde authorities barred the ship from docking.

- Human-to-human transmission? -

The WHO is working with Spanish authorities who "have said that they will welcome the ship to do... a full epidemiologic investigation," Van Kerkhove said.

They would also conduct a "full disinfection of the ship and of course, to assess the risk of the passengers that are actually on board," she added.

Spain's health ministry said a decision on where to send the boat would be taken based "on the epidemiological data collected from the ship during its stopover in Cape Verde".

The United Nations' health agency was scrambling for answers about how hantavirus had emerged on the Hondius, which set off from from Ushuaia on April 1.

Human hantavirus infection is a rare but potentially deadly disease that is primarily spread via infected rodents, the WHO said.

However, human-to-human transmission has also been reported in previous outbreaks involving one specific species of hantavirus called Andes virus, which circulates in South America.

Van Kerkove said the species of virus had yet to be confirmed.

"The sequencing is currently under way by the South Africans, and we hope to have a result soon," she said, adding though that "our working assumption is that it is the Andes virus".

Although investigation was required, she said "we do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that is happening among the really close contacts".

- Contact-tracing -

Among those close contacts was likely the first two people to die: a Dutch couple -- a husband who died on board on April 11 and his wife who died after she disembarked the boat in Saint Helena to accompany his body.

The WHO said that the wife, who left the ship with her dead husband on April 24, had been suffering from "gastrointestinal symptoms".

"She subsequently deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg" on April 25, it said, adding that she died a day later.

Now, Van Kerkhove said, "contact tracing has been initiated" for anyone the woman may have come in contact with on the flight.

She stressed that human-to-human transmission of hantavirus typically only happened "among very close contacts".

Passengers from Britain, Spain and the United States, as well as crew from the Philippines, were among 23 nationalities aboard the MV Hondius.

The ship's operator said a British passenger was in intensive care in Johannesburg. The two crew members needing urgent care were British and Dutch, it said.

- Likely infected off-ship -

Van Kerkhove said the typical incubation period for the hantavirus was between one and six weeks, leading the WHO to believe that the Dutch couple, who had joined the boat in Argentina, "were infected off the ship".

The Hondius, she highlighted, was an expedition vessel, with passengers going ashore on a number of islands in the Atlantic Ocean to do birdwatching and other activities -- meaning there could be "some source of infection on the islands".

The WHO has the risk to the global population from outbreak as "low".

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Romania's parliament on Tuesday voted to oust liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in a motion of no confidence initiated by the Social Democrats and the far right, deepening political turmoil in the EU and NATO country bordering Ukraine.

The move by the left wing Social Democrats (PSD), Romania's biggest party, to join with the far right to file the motion drew criticism that they were legitimising a surging far right.

The motion received 281 votes in the 464-seat parliament. Bolojan's liberals (PNL) and his USR allies were present, but did not vote.

The PSD quit the government last month and teamed up with the AUR, Romania's main far-right party, for the motion.

The AUR has passed the PSD in surveys since the last parliamentary elections, sitting at around 37 percent.

By joining with the AUR, the PSD has turned it "into a significant political player, from a party that was isolated, ostracised and kept on the margins of the political system", political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP.

AUR leader George Simion posted on X after the vote that "the voice of the people was heard today," calling for "national reconciliation".

- 'Find solution' -

Tensions with the PSD escalated as Bolojan, 57, pushed for unpopular austerity measures to reduce the deficit, the biggest in the European Union.

PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said after the vote that Bolojan should resign while it is "the duty of responsible parties to find a solution".

"I want us to form a government quickly," he said.

Pro-EU President Nicusor Dan has given assurances that the eastern European country of 19 million people will keep its pro-Western direction, ruling out the possibility of a far-right government.

"Political discussions will be difficult, but it is my responsibility as president -- and that of the political parties -- to steer Romania in the right direction," he told reporters on Monday.

In parliament ahead of the vote, Bolojan defended his push for reforms, slamming the motion as "deceitful, cynical, and contrived."

"I chose to do what was urgent and necessary for our country," he said.

- 'Anxiety' -

Bolojan's liberals, the PSD and two other pro-EU parties formed a government last year following elections in which the far right won an unprecedented third of parliamentary seats.

The deal ended political tumult marked by the annulment of presidential elections over allegations of Russian interference in December 2024.

The no-confidence motion against Bolojan now threatens to revive the turmoil.

Ciobanu, a researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark, said that weeks of political negotiations were likely, which could see a new government of the same four pro-EU parties but with a different premier.

"We're seeing this existential anxiety within the Social Democratic Party" which "doesn't know what it should do right now to get back to where it used to be", Ciobanu added.

Since the crisis erupted, the interest rates at which Romania borrows have risen, and the lei currency has depreciated against the euro, which reached an all-time high of 5.21 Romanian lei on Tuesday.

Romania, which had a deficit of 7.9 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter of last year, has been subject to an EU excessive deficit procedure since 2020.

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The EU and Armenia laid the groundwork for closer ties at a summit in Yerevan Tuesday, marking another step in the former Soviet nation's cautious pivot away from Russia and towards Brussels.

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the capital, resulting in several deals and pledges.

"With this summit, we take a leap forward in a new level of cooperation," von der Leyen said at the gathering -- the first of its kind.

Relations between Yerevan and its traditional ally Moscow have become strained in recent years, in part because Russian peacekeepers failed to intervene during military conflicts with neighbouring Azerbaijan.

Under Pashinyan, Armenia has formally pursued a strategy of what he calls "diversification", in which the landlocked country pursues ties with both Russia and the West.

But analysts argue that really amounts to a tilt towards Brussels, given the country is currently a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union and the Moscow-led CSTO security alliance, although it froze its membership of the latter in 2024.

"If we are accepted into the EU, we will be happy and satisfied," Pashinyan said Tuesday, adding that Yerevan was working towards meeting the bloc's strict membership standards. 

In another sign of its westward turn, the Armenian capital on Monday hosted more than 40 European leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte, for a meeting of the European Political Community (EPC).

The EU summit coincided with a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is home to Europe's largest Armenian community and who received a hearty welcome in Yerevan.

"I believe deeply that Armenia's calling lies in Europe," Macron told a forum in Yerevan Tuesday.

"Europe is the most natural partner for Armenia and the South Caucasus at this period in time," he said.

- 'Regional hub' -

The nation of three million people between Europe and Asia signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with the European Union in 2017, deepening its cooperation in trade and other areas.

Last year, it adopted a law formally declaring its intention to apply for EU membership and is seeking to secure better visa access to the 27-nation bloc for its people.

On Tuesday it signed a "connectivity partnership" to strengthen transport, energy, and digital links with Brussels. 

The EU also urged European firms to invest in the country, underscoring the fresh opportunities created by a peace process with neighbouring Azerbaijan. 

"We have never before heard such a call, such a message," Pashinyan said, noting Armenia was previously seen as "a high-risk destination for investment".

The arch-foes have fought two wars over the Karabakh region in recent years. Azerbaijan finally seized the mountainous territory in a lightning offensive in 2023, ending three decades of rule by Armenian separatists.

A reset in ties was fostered last year by a deal brokered by the United States, which has been playing a larger role in the region, with Vice President JD Vance visiting Armenia earlier this year.

"Armenia sits on the shortest route between Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and Europe and in the past, because of war and geopolitics, this route was closed, but now you are changing this," von der Leyen told Pashinyan.

"Armenia can become a regional hub for new global trade routes, particularly in the crucial area of critical raw materials. And Europe is ready to support you."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared himself "completely calm" about Armenia's overtures to Europe, but also warned that belonging to both the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union was "simply impossible".

In April, the EU established a mission to help Yerevan tackle foreign interference, with Russia suspected of a disinformation push ahead of elections in June.

Opinion polls show most Armenians are in favour of European integration, while support for Russia has plummeted. But many are sceptical about whether joining the EU is realistic and worried about further provoking Moscow.

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