Boeing said China agreed to buy 200 aircraft during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, marking a breakthrough for the aerospace manufacturer in a deal that could eventually expand to include orders for another 750 jets. "We achieved our main objective of reopening the China market to orders for Boeing aircraft during a highly successful trip to China," the company said in a statement. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg joined the US delegation to China. "That included an initial commitment for 200 aircraft, and we expect…

Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster, once treated as an internal Labour headache, now looks like a direct test of Keir Starmer’s authority. It is easy to see why. The Greater Manchester Mayor remains one of Labour’s most bankable figures with the wider public, and he continues to command real affection across a large section of the parliamentary party. A 2021 YouGov poll found 69% of Labour members preferred him as leader over Mr Starmer. By comparison, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who resigned yesterday but did not go…

by Frankline Oduor Friday May 15, 2026 President William Ruto has laid out the reasons the Kenya-Somalia border remains sealed 15 years after it was first shut, even after he said earlier this year that reopening would begin in April. In an interview with France 24 on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Ruto said the plan was thrown off course by a fresh wave of instability inside Somalia. He said Kenya had initially made headway with the Somali federal government, but the process unraveled as tensions…

Monday May 11, 2026 FC Barcelona sealed the 2025-26 La Liga title in emphatic fashion on Sunday, beating Real Madrid 2-0 at home to claim the championship in front of their own fans. Marcus Rashford put Barcelona in command early with a thunderous free kick in the ninth minute, before Ferran Torres struck again in the 18th after a slick exchange involving Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo. Real Madrid never looked like getting back into the game, and Barcelona was able to control the match in the second half. Thibaut Courtois kept…

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who became the face of the city’s response to the September 11 attacks, remained in critical condition as he recovered from pneumonia, according to a spokesman. Giuliani, 81, a one-time close ally of US President Donald Trump, has been removed from a mechanical ventilator and is now breathing on his own, spokesman Ted Goodman said on X. Goodman did not say where the former mayor — once dubbed “America’s mayor” after the September 11 attacks — is being treated or when he was admitted…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Abdiasis Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, the former South West state leader, broke weeks of silence on Monday with a forceful declaration: he still regards himself as the legitimate president of the regional administration and intends to return later this month. Laftagareen said he would head back to the Southwest area 13 days after the current term of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ends, insisting that he plans to resume his duties despite the political standoff surrounding his ouster. “If May 15…

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOSunday May 3, 2026 Residents of Mwingi barricade the Busy Nairobi-Garissa road in Mwingi town./STEPHEN ASTARIKO Leaders from Garissa are urging restraint as insecurity continues to stir fear and deepen friction between communities in Garissa and Kitui counties. The unrest has already begun to choke trade, disrupt travel and strain livelihoods across the region. On Monday, bus operators suspended services on the Garissa–Mwingi–Nairobi route after a string of attacks and rising tension between pastoralists…

Writer Charles KingSaturday May 2, 2026 Charles King, the UK ambassador to the Federal Republic of Somalia, takes readers inside the routines and risks that define one of the world’s most challenging diplomatic assignments. In most capitals, the day begins with an alarm clock. In Mogadishu, my mornings lately have often started instead with the thunder of an F-16 fighter jet overhead. From there, it is a two-minute walk from my armoured pod to the chancery — a brief crossing under Somalia’s fierce sun that is a world away…

Four decades after Reactor 4 exploded at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster is once again shadowed by danger. At 01:23am on 26 April 1986, an explosion tore through the reactor during a failed safety test, blasting apart the roof and sending a vast cloud of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Radiation spread west and north across Europe for days, while neighbouring Belarus absorbed the heaviest share of the fallout. Soviet authorities waited 36 hours…

Fresh uncertainty gripped the Gulf as the Strait of Hormuz remained shut in the escalating standoff between Iran and the United States, with Iran's powerful parliament speaker making clear that, despite signs of progress, any final peace agreement was still a long way off. With mediation efforts continuing after high-level talks in Pakistan ended without a breakthrough, Tehran said the vital maritime chokepoint would stay closed unless Washington lifts its blockade of Iranian ports. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the…