“South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Roelf Meyer, who served in the last government of the apartheid era, as his new ambassador to the US, his office has said. The country has not had a top envoy in the US since Ebrahim Rasool was expelled last year after he accused President Donald Trump of trying to ‘project white victimhood as a dog whistle.’ This worsened already strained relations between the nations, which took a downward spiral after Trump’s return to office last year. … Meyer, 78, played a key role as one of the chief mediators, alongside Ramaphosa, during the talks to end the racist system of white-minority rule known as apartheid in South Africa in the 1990s.” (04/15/26)
“On April 7, the United States, Israel, and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. By the afternoon of the same day, it was already unraveling. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who mediated the deal, announced it would cover ‘everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewher, —effective immediately’. Within hours, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office contradicted him: The ceasefire ‘does not include Lebanon’. Israel’s military said it ‘continues fighting and ground operations’ against Hezbollah. Missile alerts sounded across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait. A gas facility in Abu Dhabi was ablaze. Iran and Israel each accused the other of violating a truce that neither had fully agreed to in the first place. This is not a diplomatic miscommunication. This is a structural diagnosis.” (04/15/26)
“Australia’s wealthiest person Gina Rinehart must part with some of her riches, a court has ruled in a high-profile dispute over her mining empire. Worth an estimated A$38bn (£20bn; $27bn), Rinehart inherited the iron ore ventures of her father in 1992, before going on to develop mines in the mineral-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia (WA). Two of her children and the heirs of her late father’s business partners argued they were entitled to a significant share of royalties and mining rights. On Wednesday, more than 13 years after the legal battle began, a Supreme Court judge ruled that Rinehart must pay past and future royalties to her rival heirs but that the mining rights remain hers. The legal battle centres around Hope Downs, one of Australia’s largest and most lucrative iron ore projects.” (04/15/26)
“Bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill is rare these days. But it has been in evidence in recent weeks among a handful of congresswomen concerned about allegations of sexual misconduct by a few House members. They have called for Congress to expel three representatives and to publicly release records of its recent investigations (a motion voted down in early March). ‘Women deserve to be safe,’ Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said last month. ‘And the American people deserve to know’ when elected officials are ‘abusing power instead of serving their constituent.’ On Monday, two House members announced they would step down – Democrat Eric Swalwell of California, who denies allegations of sexual assault by a former staff member and three other women, and Republican Tony Gonzales of Texas, who has admitted to an affair with an aide.” (04/14/26)
“Federal prosecutors made an unannounced visit this week to a construction site at Federal Reserve headquarters that is the focus of an investigation into a $2.5 billion renovation project, according to two people familiar with the visit. Two prosecutors and an investigator from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office were turned away on Tuesday by a building contractor and referred to Fed attorneys, one of the people said. The two people familiar with the visit spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation. The visit indicates that the Trump administration is not backing down in its investigation of the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, even though the probe has delayed the confirmation of a new chair nominated by President Donald Trump.” (04/15/26)
“Sri Lanka has repatriated 238 Iranian sailors stranded in the South Asian country after one of their warships was torpedoed by a US submarine, a minister told AFP on April 15. Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara said 32 sailors rescued from the IRIS Dena – a frigate attacked on March 4 just off Sri Lanka – and another 206 from the IRIS Bushehr left on April 14. … The attack on the IRIS Dena brought the Middle East conflict into the Indian Ocean, killing 104 sailors in the early days of the US and Israeli war against Iran, according to Iranian authorities. The bodies of 84 victims were recovered and have been repatriated.” (04/15/26)
“On the evening of September 11, 2025, a user called zealous_monkey_55095 told the members of one of his Discord chats that he had ‘bad news.’ ‘It was me at UVU yesterday. Im sorry for all of this. im surrendering through a sheriff friend in a few moments. thanks for all the good times and laughs, you’ve all been so amazing. thank you all for everything.’ Exactly five minutes later, at 8:02 p.m., former Washington County sheriff Nate Brooksby recalled a few days later in a press conference, he received a phone call from an old colleague, a former Washington County deputy sheriff. ‘His voice is kinda shaky so my first thought is, who died?’ Brooksby said. ‘He says, hey I know who Charlie Kirk’s shooter is.'” (04/15/26)
“Guards severely beat and pepper-sprayed [abductees] at a state-run immigration detention center known as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in the Florida Everglades this month, according to a lawyer for two detainees. The guards targeted Katherine Blankenship’s clients and other detainees at the facility after they complained about not having phone access on April 2, Blankenship said in a court declaration. The phones, which weren’t functioning, are the primary way for detainees to communicate with family and their attorneys while in the detention center. The guards began taunting the detainees, who were in a cell, then became ‘more aggressive and were yelling and threatening to enter the cage,’ Blankenship wrote. When one detainee approached a guard, he was punched in the face. The guards then started beating other detainees in the cell. One of Blankenship’s clients was punched in the right eye, thrown to the floor and beaten by several guards.” (04/15/26)
“With one question, Rep. Elise Stefanik became the general of a war against antisemitism on college campuses across America: ‘Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your university’s code of conduct?’ The Ivy League presidents she questioned in December 2023 — just weeks after the atrocities of Oct. 7 led to an explosion of antisemitism at their schools — couldn’t answer it. The viral video of her query became the most-watched congressional hearing clip in history. Stefanik’s new book Poisoned Ivies explains how elite universities arrived at that moment — and why it was no flash-in-the-pan controversy, but an indicator of a long decline. The story she tells is about everything that led up to that hearing, and everything that followed — as reactions and responses came pouring into her office over weeks and months.” (04/15/26)
“A Chinese national has been sentenced to a year in prison for attempting to smuggle thousands of live queen garden ants out of Kenya. The court in Nairobi on Wednesday also fined Zhang Kequn 1m Kenyan shillings (£5,713; $7,737). Judge Irene Gichobi described Zhang as not ‘entirely honest’ and lacking in remorse. Last month, he was charged with illegally dealing in wildlife species after being arrested at Nairobi’s main airport while attempting to travel to China with more than 2,000 ants in his luggage. Kenyan authorities have warned of a growing demand for the ants in Europe and Asia, where they are prized by collectors. They can be worth around $220 (£170) each. ‘There is need for a stiff deterrent sentence,’ Judge Gichobi said, noting the ‘rising cases of dealing in large quantities of garden ants and the negative ecological side effects.'” (04/15/26)
