leader

Jesse Jackson, the Baptist minister and civil rights leader who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and elevated Black political power for more than six decades, died peacefully this morning at 84, his family said in a statement. “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the family said. “His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he…

Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Magyar vowed at a Budapest rally to end corruption, restore civil liberties and revive a stalled economy, sharpening his challenge to Prime Minister Viktor Orban ahead of the April 12 parliamentary election. Magyar, head of the Tisza party, has emerged as the most potent threat to Orban since the nationalist leader returned to power in 2010. Tisza has led Orban’s Fidesz party in opinion polls for months, turning the race into the most competitive contest in more than a decade. “Not only has…

Australia’s centre-right Liberal Party has elected Angus Taylor as its new leader, replacing Sussan Ley after less than a year in the job, local media reported. The move elevates a prominent conservative who lobbied to drop the party’s commitment to net zero emissions, signaling a sharpened debate over the opposition’s direction on climate policy and its broader appeal to voters. Taylor, a former energy minister, emerges from the party’s “national right” faction and was seen as a key proponent of the Liberals’ decision in…

Egypt’s Sisi heads to UAE after talks with Somali leader in Cairo CAIRO — Egypt’s presidency said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is traveling to the United Arab Emirates for a fraternal visit to meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with talks focused on developments in the Horn of Africa. The trip comes shortly after al-Sisi hosted Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Cairo, underscoring how shifting alignments in the Horn are drawing intensified attention from key Arab and African partners. In a…

Hamas will not surrender its weapons or accept foreign oversight in Gaza, senior leader Khaled Meshal said in Doha, rejecting U.S. and Israeli demands as a U.S.-brokered Gaza cease-fire moves into a phase that envisions demilitarization and an Israeli withdrawal. “Criminalizing the resistance, its weapons, and those who carried it out is something we should not accept,” Meshal told a conference in the Qatari capital. “As long as there is occupation, there is resistance. Resistance is a right of peoples under occupation ……

John Steenhuisen, the leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance since 2019, has stepped aside from the party’s leadership race and will devote his attention to managing a severe foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that has drawn heavy criticism of his handling of the crisis, the party and his office said Friday. Steenhuisen — who, according to party sources, also served as agriculture minister — had been expected to run unopposed for another term but withdrew amid internal disputes and lingering controversies that party…

Somalia arrests alleged son of ex–al-Shabab leader after street-robbery video in Mogadishu MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency has arrested a man identified as the son of former al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, accusing him of involvement in street crime and insecurity in the capital, officials said Tuesday. The suspect, named by authorities as Abdifitaah Ahmed Godane, was detained after security cameras captured him and another man robbing a mobile phone from a young girl in a…

JIGJIGA, Ethiopia — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud held talks Saturday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh in Jigjiga, a meeting officials said was aimed at sharpening regional security coordination and expanding economic cooperation across the Horn of Africa. Mohamud was received at Garaad Wiil-Waal Airport before convening discussions centered on political and security challenges facing the region. Somali officials said the president emphasized diplomacy as the…

Somalia court lifts arrest warrant for Jubbaland leader Ahmed Madobe, clearing path to Mogadishu talks MOGADISHU — A court in Mogadishu has annulled an arrest warrant for Jubbaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe, removing a key legal barrier ahead of a national political dialogue that the federal government plans to open on Feb. 1. In a decision finalized Jan. 29 and communicated in an official letter released Thursday, the Banadir Regional Court revoked all arrest and production orders tied to a criminal case…

Somalia’s NISA kills Al-Shabaab finance chief in targeted operation MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency, working with international partners, killed Abdullahi Hassan Abdi Cosoble — widely known as Abdullahi Wadaad — in a planned operation on Jan. 23 in the Kuunyo Barrow area of the Lower Shabelle region, the agency said. NISA identified Wadaad as the militant group’s chief financial commander, overseeing the collection and management of money illegally extracted from Somali citizens.…