Somalia’s Federal Government Reaffirms Right to Peaceful Assembly and Warns Against Violent Political Mobilization

The Federal Government of Somalia says it supports citizens’ constitutional rights to peaceful assembly, free expression, and political participation — but warns that planned actions in Mogadishu threaten to cross that line. Peaceful protest, the government insists, is a legitimate democratic tool and will be permitted when conducted lawfully and orderly. To enable demonstrations while protecting public safety and the capital’s normal functions, authorities designated Engineer Yarisow Koonis Stadium as the appropriate…

Iran Nuclear Agreement Appears Back at Square One

Out of the wreckage of the US-Israel-Iran war, one issue is almost certain to dominate whatever settlement follows: Iran’s nuclear programme. And if a deal does emerge, it is likely to bear a striking resemblance to the accord President Trump abandoned in 2018 — the awkwardly titled Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. Signed in 2015, the agreement is widely seen as the defining foreign policy achievement of Barack Obama’s second term. It was also detested by Donald Trump, much of the Republican Party and Israeli…

Iran questions seriousness of US diplomacy following attack

Fresh tension in the Gulf has cast new doubt over US-Iran diplomacy, with Tehran openly questioning Washington’s credibility even as the White House awaits an answer to its latest proposal. US President Donald Trump said yesterday he expected Iran to respond to Washington’s most recent offer for an agreement aimed at prolonging a fragile truce and opening the door to peace talks — “supposedly tonight”. Yet if Pakistani mediators did receive an Iranian reply, no public indication of it emerged. In a call with his Turkish…

Putin’s regime is throttling the internet in Russia

Russia’s campaign to tighten its grip on the internet took a sharper turn last month, as the Kremlin moved closer to a long-standing objective: cutting off access to online information beyond the state’s control. Authorities gradually blocked the country’s most widely used messenger app, Telegram, which had previously been used by more than 100 million Russians, after banning WhatsApp in February. Russia had already outlawed many Western websites and news services after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in…

Putin Says He Believes Russia-Ukraine War Is Nearing an End

With the war in Ukraine still grinding on, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he believed the conflict was nearing its conclusion, a striking comment delivered only hours after he had promised victory at Moscow's most subdued Victory Day parade in years. "I think that the matter is coming to an end," Mr Putin told reporters, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war, the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. He also said he was open to discussing a new European security framework, adding that his preferred…

Russia holds scaled-back Victory Day parade amid renewed calls for truce

Under the shadow of possible Ukrainian strikes, Russia staged its most stripped-down Victory Day parade in years, a stark departure from the grand military spectacles that once defined 9 May as Moscow still struggles to secure the triumph it promised in the deadliest war in Europe since World War II. The parade on Red Square marks Russia’s most important national holiday, commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany and honoring the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in the war, including many from Ukraine. Long…

South Sudan’s humanitarian needs continue to rise across the country

On the frontlines of a deepening humanitarian emergency, the South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) and its more than 19,000 volunteers continue to deliver life-saving aid across the country — a relentless effort that the Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement is marking today by honoring the volunteers and staff who show up for people in crisis. "South Sudanese people continue to face severe humanitarian consequences, driven by relentless conflict and violence, climate shocks, disease outbreaks and a struggling economy in a…

WHO says six hantavirus cases have been confirmed so far

A hantavirus outbreak tied to a cruise ship has left three people dead and six others confirmed infected, prompting a World Health Organization warning and plans to fly American passengers back to the United States. "As of 8 May, a total of eight cases, including three deaths (case fatality ratio 38%), have been reported. Six cases have been laboratory-confirmed as hantavirus infections, with all identified as Andes virus (ANDV)," it said in a statement. "WHO assesses the risk to the global population posed by this event as…

Wales First Minister loses seat in Senedd election

Wales’ political landscape has been jolted by a landmark defeat: First Minister Eluned Morgan has lost her Senedd seat in a crushing election for Welsh Labour. Her defeat makes history as the first time a sitting Welsh leader has been unseated in an election to the Welsh parliament. Labour has governed Wales since the Senedd was created as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, and the party has remained the country’s largest political force for more than 100 years. Ms Morgan’s exit caps a punishing day for Labour in Wales…