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  • China has now dropped tariffs on imports from every African country except 1

    China has now dropped tariffs on imports from every African country except 1

    CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – A landmark Chinese trade policy that grants duty-free market access to Africa’s largest economies for a two-year period officially entered into force on Friday, launching at a moment of stark contrast with the United States’ ongoing push for protectionist trade measures under former President Donald Trump.

    The new tariff exemption framework covers the 20 biggest economies across the African continent, including regional powerhouses South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Kenya. Prior to this update, China had already eliminated import tariffs for 33 low-income African nations, bringing the total number of African countries eligible for full tariff-free treatment for their exports to 53 out of the continent’s 54 sovereign states. The sole exception is the small southern African kingdom of Eswatini, which remains the only African country to maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as part of its own territory.

    Chinese authorities frame the policy as a concrete step toward shared bilateral growth. The Customs Tariff Commission of China’s State Council emphasized that the initiative will advance mutually beneficial development between China and African trading partners. According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, the first shipment to benefit from the new rules cleared customs in the southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen in the early hours of Friday: a 24-metric-ton consignment of fresh apples sourced from South African orchards.

    China’s Ministry of Commerce noted that the policy will deliver particular gains for high-demand African agricultural exports that previously faced import duties ranging from 8% to 30%. These include cocoa from top global producers Ivory Coast and Ghana, coffee and avocados from Kenya, and citrus fruits and wine from South Africa. Combined, Ivory Coast and Ghana control more than half of the world’s total cocoa supply, while South Africa ranks as one of the world’s top exporters of citrus produce.

    The policy rollout comes as many leading African economies have been actively diversifying their export markets away from the U.S., after the Trump administration implemented steep reciprocal tariffs on African goods roughly a year ago. At the height of those measures, South Africa, Africa’s most industrialized economy, faced tariffs as high as 30%, while some other African nations saw rates exceed 40%.

    “South Africa looks forward to working with China in a friendly, pragmatic and flexible manner,” South African Trade Minister Parks Tau stated during bilateral trade talks held in Beijing this past February. Though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Trump’s broad global tariffs unconstitutional and struck them down in the same month, the former president quickly announced that his administration held “very powerful alternatives” and immediately enacted new temporary import taxes to replace the invalidated measures.

    Today, China already holds the position of Africa’s largest single trade partner, at a time when the continent’s demographic footprint is expanding rapidly: the United Nations projects Africa’s current population of 1.5 billion will nearly double to 2.5 billion by 2050, accounting for more than a quarter of the global population at that time.

    Despite Beijing’s framing of the deal as a win-win for development, analysts point to persistent structural imbalances in the China-Africa trade relationship, alongside billions of dollars in outstanding African sovereign debt owed to Beijing. In 2025, total bilateral trade hit a record high of $348 billion. However, Chinese exports to Africa grew roughly 25% to reach $225 billion over the period, while African exports to China rose only around 5% to $123 billion, widening the existing trade deficit for African nations.

    For decades, the core of the trade relationship has centered on China importing raw materials from Africa and exporting finished manufactured goods back to the continent. Thierry Pairault, a leading China-Africa researcher at France’s National Center for Scientific Research, points out that most African raw material exports – including crude oil and industrial minerals – already enjoyed tariff-free access to Chinese markets before the new policy. While Pairault acknowledges the policy will deliver modest benefits for African agricultural exporters, he argues its broader geopolitical purpose is deliberate.

    “Xi Jinping is positioning China as the antithesis of Western protectionism. This gesture is intended to appeal to both African public opinion and global markets,” Pairault explained in an analysis published by the China Global South Project, a research initiative focused on China’s engagement with low and middle-income nations. Even so, he added, the policy “only applies where it costs China almost nothing.”

  • King Charles III wins praise for deft handling of Trump on his US state visit

    King Charles III wins praise for deft handling of Trump on his US state visit

    LONDON — Following King Charles III’s high-stakes four-day state visit to the United States this week, former U.S. President Donald Trump has heaped praise on the British monarch, announcing a rollback of select tariffs on Scotch whisky as a goodwill gesture tied to the royal tour. The trip, which brought the King and Queen Camilla to Washington D.C., New York and Virginia, was crafted as a carefully calibrated diplomatic mission to patch growing rifts between the Trump administration and the U.K. government, timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.

    Against a backdrop of deep trans-Atlantic divisions over Washington’s push for military action against Iran — divisions that have left U.S. relations with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government severely strained — the King delivered a performance widely hailed as a masterclass in quiet diplomacy. He balanced warm overtures to his U.S. host with carefully measured, implicit criticism of Trump’s policy priorities, leaving experts debating whether the visit can deliver long-term improvement to an alliance already frayed by policy disagreements.

    Kristofer Allerfeldt, an American history professor at the University of Exeter, assessed that while the trip was unlikely to resolve long-running trans-Atlantic tensions in the long run, it had successfully reaffirmed the British monarchy’s standing at home. “He’s done us proud,” Allerfeldt noted, crediting the King’s confident performance for restoring much of the institution’s prestige.

    The mission unfolded against significant political friction even before the King arrived in the U.S. Trump has repeatedly lambasted Starmer, whom he once praised, for refusing to join U.S. military strikes on Iran, dismissing the British prime minister as unfit to bear the legacy of Winston Churchill — the World War II leader who coined the phrase “special relationship” to describe the U.K.-U.S. bond. This criticism is part of a broader rift between Trump and NATO allies, whom he has publicly labeled “cowards” and “useless” for declining to join the Iran campaign. That tension, however, has not eroded Trump’s long-standing admiration for the British monarchy, a sentiment he says was deepened during his unprecedented second state visit to the U.K. last September.

    Some British opposition lawmakers had even called for the reciprocal U.S. visit to be canceled entirely, warning that unpredictable statements or actions from Trump could leave the monarch in an awkward, embarrassing position. In the end, though, the four-day tour was marked by widespread warmth and very few awkward moments — with one notable exception: Trump broke with long-standing convention that private conversations with the monarch remain confidential, sharing unprompted remarks attributed to Charles during a white-tie state dinner at the White House.

    In those public remarks Tuesday, Trump claimed Charles “agrees with me, even more than I do” that Iran must never be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons, and added that “if that were up to him,” the King “would have followed the suggestions we made with respect to Ukraine.” Buckingham Palace responded calmly to the disclosure, noting only that “the king is naturally mindful of his government’s longstanding and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation.”

    Publicly, the King left no ambiguity about his policy priorities — and the differences between his position and that of the Trump administration. In the centerpiece address of his visit, a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, Charles stressed the need for “unyielding resolve” in supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russian invasion, a sharp implicit rebuke of Trump’s “America First” agenda that has cast doubt on long-term U.S. support for Kyiv. The speech was packed with subtle, regal pushback on Trump administration priorities: the King reaffirmed the indispensable role of NATO, emphasized the critical value of checks on executive power, highlighted the urgent threat of climate change, and celebrated the strength of “vibrant, diverse and free societies.” He also referenced his own service in the Royal Navy, a branch of the British military that Trump has previously disparaged.

    Historian Anthony Seldon told *The Guardian* that the King could not have struck a better balance in his remarks. “It’s difficult to imagine he could have gone much further in what he said and what he didn’t say,” Seldon said. “He judged it incredibly well: very brave, very smart, very clever.”

    Allerfeldt pointed to the unusual cross-partisan reception the speech received, with multiple standing ovations from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. “Apart from the section on the natural world and the environment, both Republicans and Democrats stood up and applauded,” he noted. In a lighter moment at the White House state dinner, the King even won laughs from the crowd with a self-deprecating joke about British troops burning down the White House during the 1812 war.

    Organizers judged the trip a notable success even with the lingering shadow of Prince Andrew, the King’s younger brother who has been stripped of his royal titles, exiled from public royal life, and is currently under investigation over his long-standing ties to disgraced convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing connected to Epstein’s crimes. Victims of Epstein had publicly called on the King to meet with them during the visit; while the King did not hold a formal meeting, he referenced their experience indirectly in his congressional speech, noting the need to “support victims of some of the ills that, so tragically, exist in both our societies today.” Andrew Lownie, author of the Andrew biography *Entitled*, called the address “the best defense of the monarchy in years.”

    Shortly after the royal couple departed the U.S. to return to the U.K., Trump made the surprise announcement that he would lift select tariffs on imported Scotch whisky, framing the move as a tribute “in honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom.” Buckingham Palace welcomed the decision, saying in a statement that the King “sends his sincere gratitude for a decision that will make an important difference to the British whisky industry and the livelihoods it supports.”

    Trump doubled down on his praise for the monarch in an interview with Sky News after the visit, calling Charles “a phenomenal representative” for the United Kingdom, before returning to his familiar criticism of Starmer. “Your prime minister has to learn to deal the way he deals, and he’ll do a lot better,” Trump told the outlet.

  • Ukraine says a strike hit Tuapse oil terminal, the fourth attack on the region in 2 weeks

    Ukraine says a strike hit Tuapse oil terminal, the fourth attack on the region in 2 weeks

    In a sharp escalation of cross-border military strikes amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukrainian forces have carried out a new attack on an oil terminal located in Tuapse, a Russian city on the Black Sea coast, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed Friday. This strike marks the fourth assault on Russian oil infrastructure in the Black Sea region in just over two weeks.

    Ukraine’s top military body confirmed that explosions and a large fire broke out at the terminal site following the strike. Russian local authorities clarified that the blaze was triggered by an incoming Ukrainian drone, and noted that no fatalities or injuries have been reported from the incident.

    Records of repeated attacks show this same Tuapse oil facility was targeted three times earlier this month, on April 16, April 20, and April 28. In a coincidence that underscores the pace of strikes in the region, Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia’s Krasnodar Krai which administers Tuapse, announced just 24 hours before Friday’s strike that crews had fully extinguished a fire at the city’s oil refinery from a previous attack.

    The strike on Russian infrastructure came as Russian forces launched a wave of large-scale drone attacks across multiple regions of Ukraine Friday, causing civilian casualties and widespread damage to public infrastructure.

    Serhii Nadal, mayor of Ternopil, a major city in western Ukraine, reported that Russia launched more than 50 drones at the city. Strikes hit local industrial sites and key public infrastructure, leaving at least 10 people wounded and cutting power to multiple residential neighborhoods, Nadal said.

    In southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, overnight Russian drone strikes caused damage to two multi-story residential apartment buildings and local port infrastructure, local emergency management officials confirmed. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that one apartment in a 16-story residential building was completely destroyed by the strike, and the building’s roof caught fire. In a second nearby high-rise, flames engulfed the entire 12th floor.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post Friday that the Odesa strikes left at least five people injured. He added that damage from overnight Russian attacks was also documented in two other Ukrainian regions: the central city of Kryvyi Rih, and the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Russian strikes hit critical railway infrastructure.

    In his statement, Zelenskyy emphasized the scale of Russia’s recent aerial campaign, noting that Russian forces had carried out 210 total drone strikes against Ukraine in recent days, with roughly 140 of those strikes conducted using Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, the most commonly used loitering munition in Russia’s cross-border strikes. “Russia continues to attack our energy infrastructure, critical infrastructure, and civilian objects,” Zelenskyy wrote.

  • Georg Baselitz, German artist known for provocation and upside-down paintings, dies at 88

    Georg Baselitz, German artist known for provocation and upside-down paintings, dies at 88

    Legendary German Neo-Expressionist master Georg Baselitz, whose provocative, boundary-pushing practice and iconic inverted paintings cemented his legacy as one of contemporary art’s most transformative figures, has passed away at the age of 88. His representative gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, confirmed the artist’s peaceful death on Thursday in a statement released on behalf of his family, though no cause of death was disclosed.

    Born Hans-Georg Kern in January 1938 in the village of Deutschbaselitz, located in eastern Germany’s Saxony region, the artist adopted the professional name Georg Baselitz in tribute to his hometown. Raised amid the total collapse of German society and landscape following World War II, he fled rising political repression in East Germany for West Germany in 1957, a move that would shape the rebellious, questioning core of his artistic identity. In a pre-85th birthday interview with German news agency dpa, Baselitz reflected on his formative experience, saying, “I was born into a destroyed order, into a destroyed landscape, into a destroyed people, into a destroyed society.”

    Baselitz’s career was defined by provocation and innovation from its earliest days. His first solo exhibition in 1963 sparked public outrage when vice squad officers seized two of his works, labeling them pornographic. For this lifelong willingness to upend convention, he was often dubbed an “artist of rage,” and he adopted “contradiction” as his personal artistic motto. By the 1960s, he earned his first major critical acclaim for his “Golden Heroes” series, which drew inspiration from fictional characters in Russian Civil War novels. The series depicted war-ravaged, broken figures in ragged uniforms, distorted with oversized hands and undersized heads, and his 1966 work *Der Hirte (The Shepherd)* quickly became an internationally celebrated staple of the series.

    In 1969, Baselitz debuted his most recognizable artistic trademark: the inverted canvas. His first upside-down work, *Der Wald auf dem Kopf (The Forest on its Head)*, flipped the natural imagery of trees on its head, a technique he would revisit throughout his decades-long career to force audiences to abandon traditional modes of seeing and engage with paint and form first. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier summed up the innovation of this signature approach in a tribute, noting, “Georg Baselitz did not just turn his paintings upside down; he also turned our thinking routines upside down. Having experienced the destruction and suffering of the Second World War as a child, the collapse of all order forced him to question everything around him.”

    Rejecting conventional naturalistic painting, Baselitz once mused on his practice in a recent video interview: “Typical painting has never appealed to me. I actually wanted to be more of a black-and-white painter, and above all, I didn’t want to work spatially, perspectively, with shadows and light and such things that arise with the imitation of nature. I must say that throughout my life, I was not aware that I was a painter of color, even though I am constantly told that I have such wonderful colors.” He explained that his core goal as an artist was to “construct my connection to the world, to myself and to my wife,” using the most “simple and ordinary” means possible. The interview was recorded at Venice’s Giorgio Cini Foundation, which is currently running an exhibition of his “Golden Heroes” series through September 27, 2024.

    Over his 60-plus year career, Baselitz built an extraordinary body of work spanning painting, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking. Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery honored him in its statement, calling him “a titan of contemporary painting, sculpture, drawing and printmaking” and “one of the most important artists of our time,” whose work reshaped practice for generations of later artists across the global art world. His works are held in the collections of the world’s most prestigious museums, and his pieces regularly sell for millions of dollars at auction. In 2017, German police made headlines when they recovered 15 stolen Baselitz works valued at approximately 2.5 million euros (US$2.9 million). In 2023, a major retrospective titled “Naked Masters” at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum examined five decades of his career, pairing his controversial nude works — many featuring the artist and his wife Elke — alongside canonical nude paintings by old masters to draw unexpected connections across art history.

    Baselitz is survived by his wife Elke and his two sons, Daniel Blau and Anton Kern.

  • Watch: Supporters and critics react as Trump visits retirement ‘utopia’

    Watch: Supporters and critics react as Trump visits retirement ‘utopia’

    As former President Donald Trump traveled to central Florida this week, all eyes turned to The Villages — a sprawling, 20,000-acre master-planned community marketed as a retirement utopia for active seniors, and one of the most reliably Republican voting blocs in the critical swing state of Florida. For decades, this massive retirement hub, which boasts more than 150,000 permanent residents and a dense network of golf courses, recreation clubs, and social gathering spots, has delivered lopsided victories for GOP candidates in every major election. But ahead of Trump’s highly anticipated visit, new divides have emerged within the community that signal a potential political shift, a BBC on-the-ground investigation found.

    During the visit, Trump was met with raucous, enthusiastic crowds of loyal supporters, many of whom lined the streets hours in advance to catch a glimpse of the former president, waving campaign flags and voicing strong support for his 2024 presidential comeback bid. Longtime residents who align with the GOP told reporters that Trump’s policy agenda, particularly his stances on Social Security, healthcare costs, and cultural issues, align closely with the priorities of most retirees in The Villages. Many emphasized that they see Trump as the only candidate capable of pushing for the changes they want to see in Washington.

    But contrary to the community’s reputation as a uniformly conservative stronghold, a growing group of local residents — including some who have voted Republican for most of their lives — have emerged as vocal critics in the lead-up to the visit. These critics raised concerns about Trump’s past policy decisions that have impacted senior citizens, as well as his ongoing legal battles and polarizing political style that many say has divided the country. Some local residents even organized small, peaceful protests ahead of the visit to make their opposition visible, breaking with the longstanding unbroken support for GOP candidates that has defined The Villages for generations.

    Political analysts note that any shift in voting sentiment in The Villages could have major implications for the 2024 general election. Florida is widely expected to be one of the most competitive battleground states in the nation, and senior voters make up a disproportionately large share of the electorate in communities across the state. The growing divide within this traditionally solid GOP base suggests that even the most loyal Republican strongholds are not immune to shifting attitudes toward Trump, adding a new layer of uncertainty to the upcoming presidential race.

  • Iran offers new proposal amid stalled US peace talks

    Iran offers new proposal amid stalled US peace talks

    Nearly two months into a ceasefire between US-led coalition forces and Iran, hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough have moved forward slightly after Tehran delivered a new negotiating proposal to Washington via Pakistani mediators, Iranian state media confirmed Friday.

    According to Iran’s official IRNA news agency, the full text of the proposal was transferred to Islamabad for onward transmission to US officials on Thursday evening. This development comes after the only completed round of direct peace talks between the two parties ended without progress, even as a cessation of active hostilities has held since April 8. The conflict, launched on February 28 via a surprise joint strike campaign by the United States and Israel, has paused on the battlefield but left a tangled web of economic blockades that are roiling global markets.

    A key point of ongoing friction remains control of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for 20% of the world’s daily oil trade. Iran has continued its restrictions on commercial shipping through the strait, cutting off millions of barrels of oil, natural gas, and fertilizer supplies from global markets. In response, Washington has enforced a full counterblockade of Iranian ports. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that US President Donald Trump has instructed national security officials to prepare for the standoff to extend through coming months, a revelation that immediately pushed up global crude prices.

    Speaking in a video published by Iran’s judiciary website Mizan Online, top Iranian judicial official and senior cleric Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei reaffirmed Tehran’s position on negotiations this week. “The Islamic Republic has never shied away from negotiations,” he said, while adding that Iran would never accept externally imposed terms for a peace deal. Ejei also stressed that Tehran has no interest in resuming full-scale conflict. “We do not welcome war in any way; we do not want war, we do not want its continuation,” he added.

    Even with the ceasefire holding, global markets have remained roiled by the uncertainty of the prolonged standoff. Crude oil prices remain more than 50% higher than pre-conflict levels, as traders price in extended disruption to Hormuz shipping. The European Central Bank opted this week to hold interest rates steady, driven by new concerns that sustained energy price hikes could reignite global inflation.

    Domestically, the conflict has amplified political and economic pressure on both sides. In Washington, a bitter legal debate over war powers has broken out, centered on a 60-day deadline for the president to secure congressional authorization for military action under the War Powers Resolution. Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, argue that the ceasefire has paused the clock on the deadline, claiming active hostilities that began on February 28 have formally ended for the purposes of the law. But critics have pushed back on the claim, and Trump faces growing discontent over the conflict, which has coincided with rising domestic inflation, slower-than-expected economic growth, and looming November midterm elections. US government data released Thursday put national inflation at 3.5%, well above policymakers’ target levels.

    For Iran, the conflict has compounded economic hardship that built up over years of harsh international sanctions. The US Pentagon reported this week that its counterblockade has prevented Iran from exporting $6 billion worth of oil since the conflict began. Iran’s national statistics center shows that domestic inflation, already above 45% before the war, has climbed to 53.7% in recent weeks.

    “For many people, paying rent and even buying food has become difficult, and some have nothing left at all,” Mahyar, a 28-year-old Iranian resident who spoke to AFP on condition of safety, said. He added that the private company he works for has laid off 34 staff, roughly 40% of its total workforce, amid the economic downturn.

    On the diplomatic front, Washington has moved forward this week with plans to launch a new international shipping coalition, branded the “Maritime Freedom Construct”, to restore commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has repeatedly criticized US allies for dragging their feet on coalition efforts to reopen the waterway. Previously, France and Britain had organized a broader international coalition that pledged to support reopening Hormuz only after a diplomatic peace deal is reached.

    After the US announcement of its separate coalition, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot sought to downplay tensions between the two initiatives during a visit to the Gulf this week. Barrot said the two coalitions have different mandates and will complement rather than compete with one another. “The US mission is not of the same nature as the one we established… it comes as a sort of complement,” he explained.

  • Rebels take key military camp in Mali’s north

    Rebels take key military camp in Mali’s north

    In a major escalation of armed opposition to Mali’s ruling military junta, a coordinated alliance of Tuareg separatists and al-Qaeda-linked jihadists has captured a key strategic military outpost in the country’s far north, after junta-aligned forces withdrew without major resistance.

    The fall of the Tessalit military base — a strategically critical installation nicknamed a “super-camp” located just kilometers from the Algerian border — was confirmed by multiple independent sources speaking to Agence France-Presse, following a wave of large-scale coordinated attacks across the West African nation that have already killed a top junta leader and left at least 23 other people dead.

    A senior official with the Tuareg-dominated separatist Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA), the group leading the rebel advance, confirmed that all remaining Malian army troops and their Russian mercenary allies surrendered the camp and retreated southward ahead of rebel forces entering the area. A security source based in Gao, the largest city in northern Mali located south of Tessalit, confirmed no significant armed clashes broke out during the capture, as regular Malian forces had fully evacuated the base before rebel fighters arrived. A locally elected official in the region further confirmed that Russian mercenary personnel, who have been embedded with Malian troops across the country to counter insurgent movements, also abandoned their positions at the outpost.

    Geopolitical and military analysts have underscored the outsize strategic importance of the Tessalit base. Originally constructed by French colonial authorities, the installation features a well-maintained airstrip capable of accommodating military helicopters and larger fixed-wing aircraft, and its isolated position in the far northern Sahara offers unobstructed monitoring of cross-border movement across the entire Sahara region. Prior to its capture, the base hosted a large contingent of Malian army troops and Russian mercenary allies, and stocked a substantial arsenal of military equipment.

    The capture of Tessalit comes as the culmination of a series of coordinated rebel offensives that mark the most significant armed challenge to Mali’s junta in nearly 15 years. Last weekend, separatist FLA fighters and jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) — an al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group — launched coordinated large-scale fatal attacks across multiple key junta strongholds across the country. The attacks included a car bombing at the residence of Mali’s defense minister Sadio Camara, a core leader of the 2020 junta, in the garrison town of Kati near the capital Bamako. Camara, 47, died of his wounds from the attack, and the junta held an official state tribute for him earlier this week. During the weekend offensive, rebel forces also seized full control of the major northern city of Kidal, and FLA leaders have publicly predicted their alliance will soon take control of all of northern Mali and topple the junta entirely.

    Just one day before the fall of Tessalit, JNIM launched a full road blockade of the capital Bamako, permitting only exit for residents already inside the city and cutting off most inbound supply routes. This is not the first time the group has targeted the Malian economy with blockades: late in 2024, JNIM imposed widespread blockades on imported gasoline and diesel trucked into the country from neighboring Ivory Coast and Senegal, in an attempt to cripple government revenue and basic services.

    Mali’s current political trajectory has been shaped by its 2020 military coup, which brought the current junta to power. In the years following the coup, Mali joined neighboring junta-led Burkina Faso and Niger in cutting all diplomatic and security ties with former colonial power France, and aligned closely with the Russian government. Russia has deployed thousands of mercenary fighters to the three Sahel states to support counter-insurgency operations against jihadist groups. Earlier this year, the three nations formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a joint security bloc with a stated combined force of 15,000 troops. Late Thursday, the government of Niger announced that the AES had launched intensive air campaigns across Mali in response to last weekend’s rebel attacks.

  • Turkish police fire tear gas, arrest hundreds at Istanbul May Day rallies

    Turkish police fire tear gas, arrest hundreds at Istanbul May Day rallies

    On Friday, thousands of workers and activists across Turkey took to the streets for annual May Day demonstrations, with the most intense confrontations unfolding in Istanbul, where security forces deployed tear gas and detained hundreds of participants seeking access to a iconic protest site.

    Taksim Square, a public space that has long been a flashpoint for anti-government demonstrations in Turkey, was locked down by police overnight ahead of the planned rallies. Two groups of protesters had explicitly announced their intention to march to the sealed square on the city’s European side, triggering a swift, heavy-handed response from law enforcement.

    AFP journalists on the ground confirmed that riot police used vehicle-mounted tear gas launchers to disperse crowds gathered in Istanbul. Data collected by the CHD Lawyers’ Association, which had legal observers present at the demonstrations, puts the number of arrests in the city at a minimum of 370 as of 11:00 GMT, a figure that approaches the 400+ detentions recorded at 2023’s Istanbul May Day protests. Footage broadcast by opposition broadcaster HALK TV showed Turkish Workers’ Party leader Erkan Bas directly targeted with pepper spray during the clashes.

    Speaking before the confrontation, Bas emphasized the core purpose of the demonstration: “Those in power already speak 365 days a year, so let workers talk about the hardships they face at least one day a year.”

    Shortly after publicly condemning the closure of Taksim Square to demonstrators, Basaran Aksu, a senior union official, was taken into custody by police. In remarks before his arrest, Aksu criticized the unequal access to the central public space, saying “You can’t close off a square to the workers of Turkey. Everyone uses Taksim, for official ceremonies, for celebrations. Only the labourers, the workers, the poor find the square closed to them.”

    May Day protests have drawn heavy police deployment in Turkey for years, with authorities routinely sealing off large swathes of central Istanbul around Taksim Square to prevent unauthorised gatherings. On Friday this year, the city’s central neighbourhoods were blocked off by metal barricades, with thousands of officers in full riot gear positioned to block access.

    In Istanbul’s Mecidiyekoy district, AFP reporters witnessed police use tear gas against a group that included members of the leftist HKP party, who attempted to break through police lines while chanting anti-government and anti-American slogans. In the Besiktas neighbourhood, officers surrounded demonstration zones and intervened violently whenever protesters began chanting, with multiple demonstrators seen being tackled and thrown to the ground by security forces.

    The 2024 demonstrations were organized by a coalition of trade unions and civil society groups under the unifying slogan “Bread. Peace. Freedom”, a call rooted in the country’s ongoing severe cost-of-living crisis. Official data puts Turkish inflation at 30 percent, but independent economic analysts estimate the real rate is closer to 40 percent, squeezing working-class households across the country.

    In the capital city of Ankara, around 100 coal miners joined the May Day march after staging a nine-day hunger strike to demand payment of long-overdue wages. The march in Ankara drew a notably large, young crowd, and was also closely monitored by a heavy police deployment, an AFP correspondent reported.

    The crackdown on Friday came days after Turkish authorities issued arrest and search warrants for 62 people, 46 of whom include working journalists, trade union leaders, and opposition figures. Authorities labeled the group “likely to carry out attacks” ahead of the May Day demonstrations.

  • Family of ‘senior lieutenant’ in Kinahan gang write letters to court

    Family of ‘senior lieutenant’ in Kinahan gang write letters to court

    Ahead of a high-profile sentencing hearing scheduled for June 8 at Dublin’s non-jury Special Criminal Court, family members of Sean McGovern, an alleged senior leader of the internationally sanctioned Kinahan organised crime gang, have submitted personal character testimonies to the presiding judges.

    McGovern has already entered guilty pleas to two serious criminal charges brought by the state. The first charge centres on his role directing criminal organisation activities between October 2016 and December 2016 linked to the murder of Noel Kirwan. The second charge covers his direction of organised criminal activity from October 2015 to April 2017, which involved surveilling James Gately, a member of the rival Hutch gang, as part of preparations for a major planned offense.

    Since McGovern chose to plead guilty rather than proceed to a full trial, the state has presented its full body of evidence during two pre-sentencing hearings held last Monday and Friday. Senior defence counsel Michael Bowman confirmed to the court that multiple personal testimonials from McGovern’s immediate and extended family have been officially entered into the court record.

    Testimonial letters were submitted by McGovern’s mother, his partner, his partner’s father, and his uncle. In her submission, McGovern’s mother highlighted his past involvement in youth soccer, reflected on the impact of his father’s death on his life, and described her son as a dedicated, committed father to his children. McGovern’s partner’s father, who is grandfather to the couple’s two children, similarly stated that McGovern has consistently presented himself as a caring and generous parent to his kids.

    McGovern’s partner outlined the history of their relationship and detailed the ongoing state of turmoil that his criminal charges have brought to their family life. His uncle acknowledged the poor choices and decisions that led McGovern to this point, but argued that these actions do not define the whole of his character. The uncle emphasized that rehabilitation is always possible, and expressed hope that McGovern will one day be able to rejoin the community to resume his roles as a father, partner, and son.

    The court has formally recognized Noel “Duck Egg” Kirwan’s family as the primary victims in this murder case. It was also confirmed during hearings that McGovern wishes to issue a formal apology for his criminal actions.

    Prior to his extradition back to Ireland, McGovern served a period of detention in a United Arab Emirates prison, and he is currently incarcerated at Ireland’s Portlaoise Prison. A behavioural report submitted by the prison’s governor noted that McGovern has not presented any disciplinary issues during his detention, and he is actively participating in available inmate support services.

    Bowman has requested that the judges deduct the time McGovern spent in Dubai custody from his final sentence, arguing that prison conditions in the UAE are far more onerous and difficult than those in Irish correctional facilities, and that this experience should be considered as a mitigating factor.

    During the evidence presentations, the court outlined the full extent of McGovern’s role in the plot against Kirwan: prosecutors confirmed that McGovern planned, oversaw, and directed the entire operation that led to Kirwan’s murder. Forensic evidence recovered from a Kinahan cartel safe house apartment found McGovern’s fingerprints on multiple items, including a bag of Cadbury’s Buttons chocolate, a laptop, and a document containing instructions for operating a tracking device. The court also confirmed that McGovern was responsible for passing on intelligence collected from a tracker that had been installed on Kirwan’s car. McGovern has been remanded in custody and will receive his final sentence on June 8.

  • Superdry cofounder James Holder convicted of rape after a night of drinking

    Superdry cofounder James Holder convicted of rape after a night of drinking

    In a landmark ruling delivered Friday at Gloucester Crown Court, 54-year-old James Holder, the married co-founder of renowned British fashion label Superdry and father of two, has been found guilty of one count of rape. The guilty verdict came after a weeks-long trial that laid out graphic details of the May 2022 incident, while the jury acquitted Holder on a second separate charge of assault by penetration.

    According to testimony presented during the trial, the encounter unfolded after the accuser and Holder both spent an evening drinking at a bar in the Gloucestershire town of Cheltenham. After the pair left the venue, Holder followed the woman into her taxi without invitation, then accompanied her back to her private residence. The complainant told the court that Holder took a short nap at her home, and launched a sexual assault against her immediately after waking.

    The accuser testified that she repeatedly begged Holder to stop his attack through the incident, breaking down in tears as he continued his assault despite her clear protests. Throughout the trial, Holder maintained his innocence, firmly arguing that all sexual activity between the two was entirely consensual.

    Following the jury’s guilty verdict, Judge Ian Lawrie QC remanded Holder into custody immediately. He is set to receive his formal sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on May 7, leaving the fashion industry and local community reeling from the conviction of one of Britain’s most high-profile fashion entrepreneurs.