Foreign

*Trouble Looming As He Prepares To Fight Dirty To Keep Office Cabinet Ministers loyal to British Prime Minister (PM) Keir Starmer have told him he faces being forced out of office by his party if he does not set a timetable for his departure by the end of the weekend. Andy Burnham, who won a compelling majority in the Makerfield by-election overnight, is expected to travel to London on Monday to meet MPs in the expectation of becoming PM within weeks. One Cabinet Minister – who has not previously told the PM to go – said his departure was now…

*'Accommodating A Regime That Flogs Women For Their Voices And Kills Citizens For Demanding Their Rights Only Emboldens It To Continue Down Its Tyrannical Path' The Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi and eight members of a production team, including musicians, have been reportedly sentenced to 74 lashes for performing in a concert livestreamed on Ahmadi’s YouTube channel in 2024. According to court documents, the Criminal Court of Qom Province sentenced the artists to flogging, a two-year ban on leaving the country and a two-year ban on engaging in artistic activities on charges that include offending public decency through the production and…

*Some Republicans Joined In Too US House of Representatives on Wednesday delivered a stunning rebuke to President Donald Trump over his war on Iran, as representatives backed a move to force him to seek approval from Congress or withdraw US forces. The House voted 215 to 208 in favor of the war powers resolution, as four Republicans voted with Democrats. The dissident Republicans were Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Tom Barrett of Michigan. The vote came nearly two weeks after House Republicans cancelled an earlier scheduled vote, on the grounds that they…

Since taking power in Cameroon 44 years ago, Paul Biya has done without a Vice-President. In 1972, a decade before he first won the presidency, the role had been scrapped as the Central African country transitioned from a federal to unitary state. Now, at the age of 93, people close to the world’s oldest head of state appear to have had a change of heart, and – according to their critics – they have one thing on their mind: the creation of a dynastic system that would transfer power to his son or his stepson. In April, Parliament voted to…

The new policy memo issued last week by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), requiring many foreigners in the US to leave the country and obtain green cards through their home countries, has sparked confusion and fear among hundreds of thousands of visa holders and families, as well as immigration advocates and lawyers. Speaking anonymously out of fear, many readers told the Guardian UK that the memo threatens to upend lives they have spent years building in the US – from careers and homes to marriages and long-term plans for stability. Foreigners seeking permanent residency in the US can typically…

*Nigeria Impacted By Continued Closure Of Strait United States (US) President Donald Trump has threatened to “blow up” Oman if it fails to “behave". He spoke in a casual aside during a cabinet meeting, Wednesday, as the US scrambled to reopen the Strait of Hormuz shut by Iran. The President made the threat after reports of talks between Iran and Oman about jointly charging a toll for ships passing through the crucial waterway, which has been all but closed since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran. After Tehran shut the vital waterway, it reportedly resorted to charging, for…

*'I Was Frightened, Because I Had Never, Ever Seen Joe Like That Before Or Since. Never' Jill Biden said she had been “frightened” as she watched Joe Biden’s faltering performance during his 2024 presidential debate, and thought her husband might have suffered a stroke. “I was frightened, because I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” the former First Lady said in an interview with CBS set to air on Sunday. “As I watched it, I thought: ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke'," she said. “And it scared me to death.” Biden’s poor debate performance…

*Supreme Leader Speaks *Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Says American Drone Shot Down Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said the US broke the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region close to the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports. The Ministry said Iran will respond and will not hesitate in defending itself. The US military carried out strikes on Monday in southern Iran against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, in what it described as defensive actions. The developments triggered a slight rise in global oil prices with the Brent crude moving up by three per cent. It remains to…

Foreigners seeking to adjust their immigration status in the United States (US) to secure green cards will have to do so from outside the country via the State Department, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Friday. USCIS announced the move in a policy memo, which directed officers to consider relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether extraordinary relief is warranted. The green card process had been unchanged for more than 60 years, marking the latest significant move by the Trump administration on immigration policy. “An alien who is in the US temporarily and…

*Given Lifeline After Health Secretary Streeting's Challenge Fails To Materialize Keir Starmer was increasingly confident that he had seen off the immediate threat to his job on Tuesday after a challenge from Health Secretary Wes Streeting failed to materialise despite several of the latter's allies quitting the government. Downing Street insiders suggested that the Health Secretary did not yet have the required support from the 81 MPs he needed to formally launch a leadership bid after Starmer issued a “put up or shut up” ultimatum to his cabinet. Streeting was due to hold talks with Starmer on Wednesday, at which…