Abdiwahab Ahmed

Russian drones struck critical infrastructure at Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa overnight, in an attack that damaged key facilities but, according to early reports, caused no injuries. Berths, warehouses, railway infrastructure and facilities used by port operators were hit in the assault, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. A cargo ship was also caught in the attack, with Ukraine’s seaports authority saying a strike hit the vessel’s hold and sparked a fire. Preliminary…

Facing renewed scrutiny over its past contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, the Gates Foundation said it launched an external review earlier this year into how the organisation engaged with the late financier and convicted sex offender. The foundation has remained under pressure because of Chairman Bill Gates’ ties to Epstein. That pressure intensified in January, when emails released by the US Justice Department showed exchanges between Epstein and Gates Foundation staff. "Early this year, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman…

Lufthansa is trimming 20,000 short-haul flights from its schedule through October as the carrier moves to blunt the impact of soaring jet fuel costs. The airline said the reduction amounts to less than 1% of total capacity across the group. According to Lufthansa, the cuts will save roughly 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, whose price has doubled since the outbreak of the Iran conflict. The company said the revised timetable is aimed at reducing the number of loss-making short-haul services across the Lufthansa Group…

A new exhibition of African women artists opened in Addis Ababa this week, putting the winners and finalists of the African Women in Art Award (AWAA) 2025 on public display ahead of the World Public Summit Africa. The Golla Gallery in Ethiopia’s capital hosted the show, a collaboration between the World Peoples Assembly, the "Her Voice Foundation", and the I-A Gallery of Contemporary African Art. Works by artists from six countries — Angola, Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia — are gathered for the presentation.…

Live Second French peacekeeper killed in Lebanon attack Middle East Stay with us for live coverage from the Middle East after US President Donald Trump said he would extend the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to make room for additional peace talks.

Kevin Warsh, Donald Trump's pick to run the US Federal Reserve, used his confirmation hearing to draw a firm line: if confirmed, he said, the White House would not dictate his decisions. Facing pointed questions about his personal wealth and the Fed's autonomy, Mr Warsh said he would safeguard the central bank's freedom to set monetary policy without political interference. A former Fed governor, Mr Warsh moved quickly to underscore what he called his commitment to "ensuring that the conduct of monetary policy remains…

Pressure from Downing Street to install Peter Mandelson in Washington was relentless, with security concerns seemingly treated as an obstacle to be pushed aside, a dismissed senior official told MPs today. Olly Robbins, until last week the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, said Keir Starmer's team showed a "dismissive attitude" toward the security vetting process for the government's choice of ambassador to the United States. He appeared before a parliamentary watchdog committee as the prime minister continued…

El Salvador has opened one of the largest mass prosecutions of President Nayib Bukele’s anti-gang campaign, putting 486 alleged gang members on collective trial as his government continues to wield contentious emergency powers in its fight against violence. According to prosecutors, the case against the alleged Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, members covers more than 47,000 crimes carried out between 2012 and 2022, including a weekend that became the country’s deadliest since the end of its civil war. Those allegations include…

In a surprise move that underscored the volatility of the conflict, US President Donald Trump said he would extend the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to make room for more peace talks, though it remained unclear whether Iran or Israel, Washington’s ally in the two-month war, would accept the arrangement. In a social media statement, Mr Trump said the US had accepted a request from Pakistani mediators “to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified…

Pressure is mounting on Eurovision 2026 after more than 1,100 musicians and cultural figures, including Kneecap, Paloma Faith, Massive Attack and Paul Weller, backed a call to boycott the contest over Israel’s inclusion. The appeal, organised by campaign group No Music For Genocide (NMFG), has also drawn support from artists such as David Holmes, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and Macklemore. Paul Weller In the letter, signatories urge countries to take the same course sought from the national broadcasters of Ireland, Iceland,…