denies

The Kremlin has rejected claims that President Vladimir Putin asked prominent business figures to contribute funds to help shore up Russia’s finances as the war in Ukraine continues. According to reports from unnamed sources, the independent Russian outlet The Bell and the Financial Times said the allegations stemmed from a closed-door meeting Mr Putin held with business leaders yesterday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “It’s not true that Putin made such a request.” He added that one attendee at the…

France has rejected claims that it shelved an invitation to South Africa for the June G7 leaders' summit under pressure from Washington, saying instead that Kenya was chosen as a guest in advance of President Emmanuel Macron’s planned visit there. Paris previously said the summit at Evian-les-Bains will host the leaders of India, South Korea, Brazil and Kenya as special invitees. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, making his first trip abroad since the Middle East war began, will attend alongside senior ministers from…

Namibia has shut the door on Elon Musk’s satellite internet venture, Starlink, denying its bid to secure a local licence. The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) turned down the application on the grounds that the company failed to meet the country’s local ownership requirements. Under Namibian law, at least 51% of any telecommunications provider must be held by citizens or locally owned entities. While Starlink’s network now spans roughly 25 African nations, it has hit similar regulatory roadblocks…

Wednesday March 25, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Reports of a Somali National Army (SNA) helicopter going down in Baidoa spread quickly this week, but both federal military leaders and Southwest State officials say the story is baseless. The SNA command said Tuesday that no helicopter crash had occurred in Baidoa — the interim capital of Southwest State — or in nearby areas, calling the claims false and unverified. “There is no truth to the reports circulating about a helicopter crash in Baidoa,” the statement said. “We call on…

Taliban say hundreds killed in strike on Kabul hospital; Pakistan denies civilian toll The Taliban government said an air strike killed at least 400 people and wounded 250 at a Kabul drug rehabilitation hospital, a claim Pakistan rejected as false, saying it precisely targeted militant sites with no collateral damage. At least 400 people were killed and 250 injured in an air strike on a rehabilitation hospital in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, a spokesman for the Taliban government said. Pakistan dismissed the allegation as…

BAIDOA, Somalia — Southwest State’s information minister on Monday denied social media reports that fighting erupted overnight in Baidoa, insisting the regional capital remains calm despite unverified accounts of a mortar incident near a military installation. Minister says “no shooting” occurred and daily life is normal in Baidoa Unconfirmed online claims alleged a mortar round landed near a Southwest State base Officials accuse unnamed groups in Mogadishu of spreading misinformation Denial comes amid broader political…

NATO intercepts ballistic missile allegedly launched from Iran en route to Turkish airspace; Tehran denies Thursday March 5, 2026 A Turkish F16 fighting jet flies over naval ships during an annual NATO naval exercise on Turkiye's western coast on the Mediterranean NATO air and missile defense systems stationed in the eastern Mediterranean destroyed a ballistic munition detected after launch from Iran and tracked across Iraqi and Syrian airspace toward Turkiye, Ankara said Wednesday. Iran’s Armed Forces denied firing any…

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. — Former President Bill Clinton on Friday denied any wrongdoing in a closed-door deposition before a Republican-led House committee investigating links to Jeffrey Epstein, as Democrats pressed to turn the spotlight onto former President Donald Trump’s connections to the late sex offender. “I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong,” Clinton said in an opening statement shared on social media. He said he severed ties with Epstein well before the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses. House Oversight…

CAIRO — Egypt on Tuesday denied reports that it was prepared to grant Ethiopia access to the Red Sea in return for flexibility from Addis Ababa over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), calling the claims “entirely baseless,” according to the state-run Middle East News Agency. An official source, quoted by MENA, “categorically rejected” the circulating reports, stressing that “such reports are entirely baseless and unfounded.” The source added that “Egypt’s stance on water security and the GERD remains firm and…

The Kremlin has dismissed as “baseless” a joint assessment by five European countries that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the potent toxin epibatidine, a claim that resurfaced as supporters marked two years since his death in an Arctic prison colony. Britain, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands said in a joint statement Saturday they believe Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic opponent, was killed with epibatidine, a rare alkaloid found in poison dart frogs. The…