blockade

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Russia Blames Drone Strikes for Resuming Grain Blockade

Black Sea traffic had resumed this summer after UN helped cut a deal

(Newser) - Russia said Saturday it's again blocking Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea, a suspension of an agreement the UN helped mediate in July. The Russian Defense Ministry blamed drone strikes against its warships near Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, the Washington Post reports, which it called an...

Cops Show Up at Dawn at Ambassador Bridge

Trucker protest seemed to dissolve peacefully as police moved in to enforce injunction

(Newser) - A tense standoff at a US-Canadian border crossing crucial to both countries' economies appeared to be dissolving peacefully Saturday as Canadian police moved in to disperse the nearly weeklong blockade, and demonstrators began leaving without resistance. Many protesters drove away from the Ambassador Bridge spanning the river between Detroit and...

For Cuba, Miami Protesters Block a Highway
Cuba Protests
Boil Over Into Miami

Cuba Protests Boil Over Into Miami

Protesters also blocked a road in Orlando on Tuesday

(Newser) - Florida protesters marching in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Cuba blocked major roads for about an hour on Tuesday. Traffic was halted in both directions along Miami's Palmetto Expressway, also known as State Road 826, near Coral Way at 1:35pm local time Tuesday, as dozens of marchers failed...

Libya Army Traps Militia Blamed for Stevens' Death

But Ansar al-Sharia remains 'very dangerous': commander

(Newser) - Libya's army has blockaded the militia blamed for Ambassador Chris Stevens' death, squeezing Ansar al-Sharia into an eastern wooded region. But the fight is far from over, officials say: "They have 150 to 200 men and 17 vehicles, Toyotas, and four-by-fours," notes a commander. "These people...

Relief Flows as Egypt Opens Gaza Border

Four-year-old blockade ends

(Newser) - After a four-year blockade, Egypt today permanently opened the Gaza Strip's main gateway to the outside world, bringing long-awaited relief to the territory's Palestinian population and a significant achievement for the area's ruling Hamas militant group. The reopening of the Rafah border crossing eases an Egyptian blockade...

Pakistan: Blockade Only Temporary

Foreign minister blames blockade on public outrage

(Newser) - Pakistan doesn't intend to keep up its Afghanistan blockade forever. In an interview with the AP today, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said that the route was closed thanks to public outrage over NATO strikes in the border region, and would reopen once things normalized. "The supply has been...

NATO Supply Trucks Torched in Pakistan

Attack comes a day after blockade

(Newser) - Gunmen set fire to more than two dozen NATO supply trucks this morning in southern Pakistan, just a day after Pakistani authorities blocked the main supply route into Afghanistan. Attacks on supply trucks are fairly common, but the blockade made the trucks especially easy targets this time. “Around 20...

Pakistan Blocks NATO Supply Route

Move seems to be in retaliation for morning's helicopter strikes

(Newser) - Pakistan blocked a major NATO supply line into Afghanistan today, in apparent retaliation for a cross-border helicopter attack. A pair of NATO helicopters opened fire on a border village in Pakistan’s Kurram region this morning, killing three Frontiers Corps troops, Pakistani security tells Reuters . Within hours, roughly 100 NATO...

Israel Relents, Allows Potato Chips Into Gaza

Palestinians are underwhelmed by the gesture on snacks

(Newser) - Israel has released a revised list of goods it will allow into Gaza, one immediately denounced by Palestinians as a joke. Cement, for instance, is still a no-no, but potato chips, soft drinks, and jam are OK, reports Reuters . "They will send the first course. We are waiting for...

Sadr City Fight Kills 13; Insurgents Vow to Fight On

Authorities ease blockade in Iraqi slum

(Newser) - US and Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite insurgents in fierce fighting overnight near Baghdad’s Sadr City, Reuters reports, as authorities lifted a blockade in some areas that had been stifling the region. At least 13 militiamen loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were killed in the clashes in the Iraqi...

Gaza Exodus in 4th Day as Egypt Fails to Seal Border

Israel has new security concerns over flow of Palestinians into Egypt

(Newser) - Thousands of Palestinians continued to flood into Egypt for a fourth day today, despite Egyptian attempts to close the border using water cannons, barbed wire and a human chain of riot police. Hamas bulldozers smashed new holes in the fence, and cars joined the stream of traffic, the BBC reports;...

Gaza, Israel Spar Over Power Outage, Embargo

Israel resolute amid condemnations, worries situation could spin out of control

(Newser) - Gazans awoke to a second day without its main power plant or fuel as international leaders condemned the “collective punishment of the people of Gaza,” and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert resolutely said Gazans "will walk, without gas for their cars" until their "murderous regime's" rocket attacks...

Gaza Loses Fizz in Face of CO2 Blockade

Attempt to bottle up economy idles soft drink plant

(Newser) - The Israeli and international blockade of Gaza means Ammar Yagezi, a third-generation soft drink bottler, has been unable to supply Palestinians with Pepsi and 7Up. Tel Aviv says the freeze on imports of cement, fertilizer and—in this case—CO2 is for “security reasons,” but Time says the...

13 Stories