World – Goldcoast Newsline

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
June 9, 2025
0 Comments
2 minutes Read

Russia says plan to boost role in Africa includes ‘sensitive’ security ties

Russia plans to step up cooperation with African countries, including in “sensitive areas” such as defence and security, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Russian mercenary group Wagner said last week it was leaving Mali after helping the military junta there in its fight with Islamist militants. But the Africa Corps, a Kremlin-controlled paramilitary force, said it would remain in the west African country.

Asked what this meant for Russia’s role in Africa, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The Russian presence in Africa is growing. We really intend to comprehensively develop our interaction with African countries, focusing primarily on economic and investment interaction.

“This also corresponds to and extends to such sensitive areas as defence and security. In this regard, Russia will also continue interaction and cooperation with African states.”

Russia’s growing security role in parts of the continent, including in countries such as Mali, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea, is viewed with concern by the West, and has come at the expense of France and the United States.

Russia’s Africa Corps was created with the Russian Defence Ministry’s support after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed mutiny against the Russian army leadership in June 2023 and were killed two months later in a plane crash.

About 70-80% of the Africa Corps is made up of former Wagner members, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters.

Source: reuters.com

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
June 9, 2025
0 Comments
2 minutes Read

US-China trade, minerals talks in London set to extend to second day

U.S.-China trade talks were set to extend to a second day in London as top economic officials from the world’s two largest economies sought to defuse a bitter dispute that has widened from tariffs to restrictions over rare earths, threatening a global supply chain shock and slower economic growth.

Talks at Lancaster House, an ornate UK government mansion, wrapped for the night on Monday and were set to resume at 10 a.m. BST (0900 GMT) on Tuesday, a U.S. source familiar with the negotiations said.

Washington and Beijing are trying to revive a temporary truce struck in Geneva that had briefly lowered trade tensions and calmed markets.

Since then, the U.S. has accused China of slow-walking its commitments, particularly around rare earths shipments.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the talks were going well and he was “only getting good reports” from his team in London.

“We’re doing well with China. China’s not easy,” Trump said, offering no details on the substance of the discussions.

Asked about lifting export controls, Trump told reporters at the White House: “We’re going to see.”

The London talks come at a crucial time for both economies, which are showing signs of strain from Trump’s cascade of tariff orders since his return to the White House in January.

Customs data showed that China’s exports to the U.S. plunged 34.5% year-on-year in May in value terms, the sharpest drop since February 2020, when the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic upended global trade.

In the U.S., business and household confidence has taken a pummeling, while first-quarter gross domestic product contracted due to a record surge in imports as Americans front-loaded purchases to beat anticipated price increases.

Source: reuters.com

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
June 9, 2025
0 Comments
2 minutes Read

US State Dept resumes processing Harvard student visas after judge’s ruling

he U.S. State Department directed all U.S. missions abroad and consular sections to resume processing Harvard University student and exchange visitor visas after a federal judge in Boston last week temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on foreign students at the Ivy League institution.

In a diplomatic cable sent on June 6 and signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department cited parts of the judge’s decision, saying the fresh directive was “in accordance with” the temporary restraining order.

Under that order granted to Harvard late on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs blocked Trump’s proclamation from taking effect pending further litigation of the matter.

Trump had cited national security concerns as justification for barring international students from entering the U.S. to pursue studies at Harvard.

The Trump administration has launched a multi-pronged attack on the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding and proposing to end its tax-exempt status, prompting a series of legal challenges.

Harvard argues the administration is retaliating against it for refusing to accede to demands to control the school’s governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students.

In response to a request for comment, the State Department said it does not comment on internal communications.

In the cable, the State Department added that all other guidance regarding student visas remained in effect, including enhanced social media vetting and the requirement to review the applicants’ online presence.

Source: reuters.com

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
June 9, 2025
0 Comments
2 minutes Read

Politicians accused of Liberia parliament arson bailed

Liberia’s former speaker and three other members of the House of Representatives have been released from prison after paying a bond of £325,000 ($440,000).

Jonathan Fonati Koffa, Abu Kamara, Dixon Seboe and Jacob Debee were charged over their alleged role in the burning of the Capitol building last December.

All four men face several charges, including arson, criminal mischief, attempted murder and other alleged offences.

The huge blaze broke out at the parliament building a day after plans to remove Koffa as speaker sparked protests in the capital, Monrovia. Police value the damage at $8.6m.

On Friday, Liberian police said there were “credible links” to suggest Koffa was “strategically involved” in the incident. Koffa has previously denied any connection to the fire.

Lawmakers Kamara, Seboe and Debee – who are all members of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party – were detained alongside Koffa on Friday in connection with the case.

They spent a night in detention at the national police headquarters, before being transferred to the Monrovia Central Prison on Saturday, where they were held for two nights.

Representative Priscilla Cooper has also been charged, but was not detained due to ill-health.

The court has placed a travel ban on the accused pending the conclusion of the case.

The blaze on 18 December last year destroyed the entire joint chambers of the West African nation’s legislature. No one was inside the building at the time.

The day before had seen tense protests over the plans to remove Koffa, with demonstrators including an aide to former President George Weah arrested.

Several individuals, including Koffa and Representative Frank Saah Foko, were brought in for questioning by police.

Foko, a prominent figure in the House of Representatives, allegedly uploaded a video to Facebook in which he said: “If they want us to burn the chambers, we will burn it.”

Liberia’s House of Representatives has been beset by a long-running power struggle.

Koffa had been locked in a stand-off with his political opponents, with dozens of lawmakers voting for his impeachment last October over accusations of poor governance, corruption and conflicts of interest.

Although the bid to impeach him fell short of the two-thirds majority required, the group of 47 lawmakers who had voted for the move unilaterally appointed their own speaker.

Last month, Koffa resigned as speaker after months of political deadlock.

Source: bbc.com

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
June 9, 2025
0 Comments
2 minutes Read

Families of missing Ukrainians gather as prisoner exchange begins

The families of missing Ukrainian soldiers gathered close to the border with Belarus on Monday, as a planned prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine took place.

As the bus carrying prisoners of war arrived, a crowd of relatives surged forward, many brandishing photos of missing fathers, brothers and sons.

Faces were filled with apprehension. Few expected to be reunited, and most were just desperate for information after waiting years for any news.

During the latest round of direct talks in Turkey last week, the two warring sides agreed to exchange sick and heavily wounded prisoners of war, those aged under 25, and the bodies of 12,000 soldiers.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the exchange would unfold “in several stages” over the coming days.

Writing on Telegram, he said: “The process is quite complicated, there are many sensitive details, negotiations continue virtually every day.”

Russia’s defence ministry said “the first group of Russian servicemen under the age of 25 were returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime” and that a “similar number” had been returned to Ukraine. Neither side provided an exact figure of how many people had been exchanged.

As with past exchanges, Moscow said the repatriated Russian soldiers were receiving psychological and medical assistance in Belarus.

Officials in Kyiv said some of the Ukrainian prisoners who returned on Monday had been in Russian captivity since the beginning of the war.

Source: bbc.com

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
June 9, 2025
0 Comments
2 minutes Read

Curfew and internet shutdown in India’s violence-hit Manipur state

Authorities have imposed a curfew and shut down the internet in parts of the troubled north-eastern Indian state of Manipur after protests erupted over the arrest of leaders from an ethnic group.

On Sunday, police arrested five leaders of Arambai Tenggol, an armed Meitei radical group, including their chief Asem Kanan Singh.

India’s top investigation agency said Singh was arrested at Manipur’s Imphal airport for his involvement in “various criminal activities” related to the violence that broke out in the state in 2023.

Manipur has been rocked by periodic violence since 2023 after ethnic clashes between the two largest groups, the majority Meitei and minority Kuki, over land and influence.

More than 250 people have been killed in the conflict, with tens of thousands displaced.

Arambai Tenggol identifies itself as a social outfit and wields considerable influence in the state, enjoying support from the Meitei community.

The latest round of tensions began on 7 June, when India’s top investigation agency arrested Singh and four other leaders of Arambai Tenggol, following which he was taken to Guwahati city in the neighbouring state of Assam.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating cases related to violence in Manipur, said that the trial for these had been shifted from Manipur to Guwahati in Assam “in view of the law and order situation in Manipur”.

After the arrests, protesters demanding the release of members of Arambai Tenggol stormed a police post, set fire to a bus and blocked roads in parts of Imphal.

Some protesters also clashed with security personnel, The Hindu newspaper reported.

Source: bbc.com

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
June 9, 2025
0 Comments
3 minutes Read

Italian citizenship referendum void after low turnout

A referendum in Italy on easing citizenship rules and enhancing workers’ rights has been declared invalid.

Around 30% of voters participated – well short of the 50% threshold required to make the vote binding – in the poll, which began on Sunday and ran until 15:00 (14:00 BST) on Monday.

The ballot featured five questions covering different issues, including a proposal to halve the length of time an individual has to live in Italy before they can apply for citizenship from 10 to five years.

The referendum was initiated by a citizens’ initiative and supported by civil society groups and trade unions, all of whom campaigned for the Yes vote.

For them, the outcome – which saw turnout levels as low as 22% in regions like Sicily and Calabria – will come as a blow.

Reaching the 50% threshold was always going to be a struggle – not least because the Italian government, led by hard-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, largely ignored the referendum or actively discouraged people from voting.

“Whether just above 30% or just below 30%, this is a low figure, below the expectations and targets set by the promoters,” Lorenzo Pregliasco, the founder of political polling company YouTrend, told Italy’s SkyTG24.

Last week, Meloni announced she would boycott the vote, declaring Italy’s existing citizenship law as “excellent” and “very open”. She visited a polling station in Rome on Sunday but did not cast a vote.

But activists argued that a 10-year wait to apply for citizenship was far too long, and that reducing the requirement to five years would bring Italy in line with many of its European neighbours.

Shortly after polls closed, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) party posted an image of opposition leaders on Instagram with the caption: “You’ve lost!”

“The only real objective of this referendum was to topple the Meloni government. In the end though Italians toppled you,” the post read.

Pina Picierno of the opposition Democratic Party (PD), said the referendum had been a “deep, serious and avoidable defeat,” and called the failure to reach the 50% threshold a “huge gift to Giorgia Meloni and the right”.

Half a million signatures are required to call a referendum in Italy. However, there are now calls for that threshold to be increased to reduce the number of votes put to the public.

“We spent a lot of money sending… millions of ballots abroad for Italian [expats] to vote, and they’ve been wasted,” said foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Monday.

Only about half of the 78 referendums held in Italy since World War Two have attracted enough votes to make them binding.

The first one, held on 2 June 1946, saw 89% of Italians go to the polls and just over half of those vote to replace the monarchy with a republic.

In later years, referendums on abortion and divorce were also held successfully.

The last referendum to reach the required threshold was a 2011 vote against a law privatising water services.

Source: bbc.com

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
April 21, 2025
0 Comments
3 minutes Read

Pope Francis passes on aged 88

Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died aged 88

There’s palpable shock at the Vatican, where the Pope had addressed crowds at an Easter Sunday service.

Tributes pour in from world leaders, including from King Charles, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, and JD Vance, who briefly met the Pope on Sunday

The Vatican confirmed the pontiff died at 07:35 local time on Monday; he was recently discharged from hospital after weeks of treatment for an infection.

The pontiff, who was Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church, became pope in 2013 after his predecessor Benedict XVI resigned.

In recent years, his papacy had been marked by several hospital visits and concerns about his health.

On 14 February, the Pope was admitted to hospital for bronchitis treatment. In the days that followed, the Vatican said he had been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and that he had blood transfusions after tests revealed he had low levels of platelets in his blood, which is associated with anaemia.

On 22 February, it said the Pope was in a critical condition after a “prolonged respiratory crisis” that required a high flow of oxygen, and the next day the Vatican said Francis was showing an “initial, mild” kidney failure.

In the following days, thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square to pray for his recovery, as others went to the Rome hospital where he was staying to leave flowers and cards.

On 6 March, his voice was heard for the first time since being admitted to hospital in an audio message, in which he thanked well-wishers, before adding: “I am with you from here.”

On Sunday, he greeted crowds at the Easter Sunday Service.

His 38-day hospital stay ended on 23 March when he made his first public appearance in five weeks on a balcony at Gemelli where he smiled and gave a thumbs up to the crowds gathered outside.

He returned to the Vatican, making a surprise stop at his favourite basilica on the way home, before beginning two months of prescribed rest and recovery.

Doctors said Francis would have access to supplemental oxygen and 24-hour medical care as needed – adding that while the pneumonia infection had been successfully treated, the pontiff would continue to take oral medication for quite some time to treat the fungal infection in his lungs and continue his respiratory and physical physiotherapy.

BBC with excerpts from Sky News

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
March 22, 2025
0 Comments
2 minutes Read

One million malnourished children in Nigeria and Ethiopia risk losing aid- UNICEF says

The United Nations children’s agency said on Friday it will run out of its supply of lifesaving food to treat children suffering from acute forms of malnutrition in Ethiopia and Nigeria within the next two months due to lack of funding exacerbated by Trump administration cuts to foreign aid.

Some 1.3 million children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition risk losing access to lifesaving support this year in Ethiopia and Nigeria, UNICEF says.

“Without new funding, we will run out of our supply chain of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food by May, and that means that 70,000 children in Ethiopia that depend on this type of treatment cannot be served,” Kitty Van der Heijden, UNICEF’s deputy executive director, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Abuja on Friday. “Interruption to continuous treatment is life-threatening.”

In Nigeria, UNICEF said it may run out of supplies to feed 80,000 malnourished children as soon as the end of this month. Van der Heijden described recently being in a hospital in Maiduguri with a child who was so malnourished that her skin was falling off.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

International donors have in recent years reduced contributions to UN agencies, including UNICEF. Its funding woes were accelerated when the United States, its top donor, imposed a 90-day pause on all U.S. foreign aid on the first day of President Donald Trump‘s return to the White House in January.

That action, and ensuing orders halting many programmes of the U.S. Agency for International Development worldwide, have jeopardised the delivery of lifesaving food and medical aid, throwing into chaos global humanitarian relief efforts.

“This funding crisis will become a child survival crisis,” warned Van der Heijden, adding that the sudden nature of the cuts did not give the agency the ability to mitigate the risks.

Funding cuts have also hit health programmes offering nutrition and malaria care for pregnant women and children in Ethiopia. Twenty-three mobile health clinics were taken out of operation in the region of Afar, with only seven left operating due to funding cuts, according to UNICEF.

Source: Reuters

World

goldcoastnewsline@gmail.com
March 22, 2025
0 Comments
4 minutes Read

Heathrow flights resume after fire forced shutdown

Flights have resumed at Heathrow Airport and a full service is expected on Saturday following an “unprecedented” loss of power caused by nearby a substation fire.

About 200,000 passengers were affected as flights were grounded throughout Friday, with inbound planes being diverted to other airports in Europe after flames ripped through the North Hyde plant in Hayes, west London, on Thursday evening.

The airport’s chief executive Thomas Woldbye apologised to stranded passengers and said the disruption was “as big as it gets for our airport” and that it could not guard itself “100%”.

The Met Police confirmed the fire was not believed to be suspicious.

The investigation will focus on the “electrical distribution equipment”, the force said.

British Airways announced eight of its long-haul flights had been cleared to leave Heathrow during Friday evening and it was “urgently contacting customers to let them know”.

Restrictions on overnight flights have also been temporarily lifted to help ease congestion, the Department of Transport said. Passengers have been advised to contact their airlines for the latest updates.

Mr Woldbye said that a back-up transformer had failed meaning systems had to be closed down in accordance with safety procedures so that power supplies could be restructured from two remaining substations to restore electricity enough to power the airport.

Several airlines announced they would restart scheduled flights both to and from Heathrow, including British Airways, Air Canada and United Airlines.

An airport spokesperson said the first flights were focused on “repatriating the passengers who were diverted to other airports in Europe… and relocating aircraft”.

Mr Woldbye said: “I’d like to stress that this has been an incident of major severity. It’s not a small fire.

“We have lost power equal to that of a mid-sized city and our backup systems have been working as they should but they are not sized to run the entire airport.”

Asked if there is a weak point in Heathrow’s power system, he said: “You can say that but of course contingencies of certain sizes we cannot guard ourselves against 100% and this is one of them.

“I mean, short of anybody getting hurt, this is as big as it gets for our airport.”

“This is unprecedented,” he added.

Mr Woldbye went on to say the airport expected to return to “100% operation” on Saturday.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she believed airport bosses “stood up their resilience plan swiftly, and they’ve collaborated closely with our emergency responders and the airline operators; they do have backup energy supplies, they have generators, diesel generators.

“None of that failed on this occasion because that backup supply is designed to protect the critical key systems within the airport and not to provide power to the whole airport.”

Alexander added that she was in close contact with the energy secretary, the home secretary and with Heathrow to “make sure that any lessons we need to learn from the systems that the airport has in place are learned”.

Ofgem, the energy regulator, earlier announced it would commission a review “to understand the cause of this incident and what lessons can be learned”.

Emergency services were first called to the scene at 23:20 GMT on Thursday.

Some 120 aircraft heading to the airport at that time were forced to either divert or return to their point of origin.

Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze, LFB said, with the fire being brought under control by 06:30.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said the fire involved a transformer containing 25,000 litres (5,500 gallons) of cooling fluid that had been set alight.

A large cordon was put in place as a precaution and about 150 people were evacuated from their homes. Most of those had returned home by 17:00, according to LFB.

Hillingdon Council said it was assisting 12 people with hotel accommodation until it was safe for them to return to their homes.

More than 65,000 homes in the area were left without power as a result, as well as the airport, although the National Grid said power was restored by 14:00.

Source: BBC