Foreign

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Saturday declared the Strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States (US) “corrects its behavior,” issuing new demands that could shake up talks on a deal to manage the waterway and traffic on it. Iran’s state broadcaster published the statement by the Council’s Secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a Commander in the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The US must never threaten Iran again, the statement said, and must permanently end the war with Iran and its armed allies in the region. The US must lift the naval blockade…

Former US President Joe Biden's prostate cancer has spread to other parts of his body and is causing him pain, even as he continues to speak out on public issues, his son Hunter said in an interview. In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC broadcast late on Friday, Hunter Biden grew emotional as he discussed his father’s condition, describing it as very sad to watch. “The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” he said. “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects.” Biden, 83, was the oldest man to serve as US President and his…

Apparently seeking fast wealth through criminal means, two human traffickers in Tema, Ghana, have been convicted and sentenced to 20 years each in prison. Kingsley Ndifon, aged 29, and Emmanuel Akong, aged 25, were convicted for human trafficking and causing harm. They were arrested in August 2023 at Sebrepor, a suburb of Tema following a distress call by some of their victims to the police. At the time, 11 Nigerian nationals who were being kept in a house against their will, were freed by the police. Police investigations revealed that the victims had been recruited from Nigeria to Ghana under…

*Injures Several The suspect in a school shooting in the Bang Kruai district of Nonthaburi province in Thailand killed eight people in total today (Friday), police said. First he shot his grandparents dead, using his grandfather’s handgun, then went to his school, the Debsirin Nonthaburi School on Bangkok’s outskirts, and killed three teachers and three students, according to national police. The school is one of a network of Debsirin secondary schools, which were founded by the Thai royal family. Alumni include Prime Ministers, scholars and writers. The Nonthaburi Provincial Police Commander, Lt. Col. Dechrapee Kongdee, confirmed that the ⁠suspected gunman…

*Urge Independent Inquiry Authorities of the University of Cambridge’s deserve blame for the “grotesque racism unleashed” by Jason Arday’s appointment as Professor, according to academics calling for the university to hold an independent inquiry. Senior dons at Cambridge are circulating a joint letter calling for an inquiry into the processes and circumstances around Arday being given the position, with many suggesting the university wanted a “quick fix” to improve the diversity of its staff. The controversy around Arday, who was compelled to resign his appointment yesterday (Wednesday) to pave the way for a probe into swirling allegations of plagiarism levelled…

*Denies Claim, Says 'Even Past Panels Had Cleared Me' *Experienced Difficult Childhood, Couldn't Speak Till Age 11, Among Others Jason Arday, the Cambridge Professor accused of plagiarism and embellishment, has resigned after the university announced he was to face new investigations into his qualifications and career. Arday, who had been dogged by a growing series of questions over his academic work and credentials, issued a statement on Wednesday night, saying the “relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love." Arday has denied all accusations of plagiarism, saying: “There have been…

Hundreds of people living on the slopes of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano have evacuated their homes after a huge eruption spewed lava and plumes of ash. By yesterday (Tuesday), rivers of lava were streaming down the 3,763-metre (12,346-foot) volcano, which is located less than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Guatemala City. Ash rose six kilometres (3.73 miles) into the red sky. Central America’s most active volcano erupted on Monday morning, with conditions intensifying by nightfall and prompting authorities to issue the country’s second-most severe alert warning. In 2018, 215 people were killed and a similar number left missing when rivers of…

*Reshuffles Army Leadership *Prolonged Sickness Leaves Governance In Limbo Cameroon's veteran leader Paul Biya - who has not been seen in public for nearly two months - has reshuffled the country's military amid growing concerns over his prolonged stay abroad. The 93-year-old President appointed officials to key positions within the Army and promoted five Colonels to the rank of Brigadier-General. One of the newly promoted Brigadier-Generals is Raymond Jean Charles Beko'o Abondo, who was immediately reappointed as Commander of the elite presidential guard - responsible for protecting Biya - a position he has occupied since 2013. Such shake-ups are not…

*Last Time We Were Like Sheep Led To Slaughter, This Time It'll Be Fire For Fire, Plotter Says *It'll Be Final, Decisive Blow, Journalist Working Underground Reveals *'Revolution Can Happen Any Moment, People Want Revenge' The streets of Iran are near a breaking point over public executions, economic collapse and a war that’s been raging on for more than five months, anti-regime figures in Tehran told The New York Post. “A revolution can happen any day now — people want revenge,” a protest leader said, referring to the regime’s brutal January crackdown that US President Donald Trump claimed killed 52,000…

United States (US) President Donald Trump brought his cabinet together at the Camp David retreat in Maryland, today, to try to chart a path forward for the war against Iran as the mid-term elections loom. White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said at a briefing last week that the cabinet meeting would be “a lot of fun and something different for the cabinet to experience together." Top of the agenda will be the war, which Trump promised would last a few weeks but has now dragged on for five months. The US Senate narrowly rejected a symbolic vote to express…