South Sudan, South Africa finalizes petroleum deal

In a bid to boost peace and recover the economy, South Sudan and South Africa have signed a new petroleum deal. The landmark oil deal is yet another achievement for Africa’s growing energy investments and will provide further boost to South Sudan’s economic revival. The signing of the new exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) … Read more

41 Believed Dead In Russian Plane Disaster

Forty-one people are believed to have died after a Russian passenger plane made an emergency landing at Moscow’s busiest airport and caught fire, investigators said on Sunday. “There were 78 people including crew members on board the plane,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement. “According to the updated info which the investigation has as … Read more

One dead as plane erupts into flames during an emergency landing in Moscow

At least one person has died after a passenger plane erupted into flames during an emergency landing in Moscow, Russia. The Aeroflot aircraft burst into flames at Sheremetyevo airport after hitting the runway this evening.     Video shared on Russian news channel Rossiya-24 showed the plane, a Sukhoi SSJ-100 regional jet, landing with large flames … Read more

Pressure on for Brexit compromise after polls debacle

Brexit

Britain’s two biggest parties said there was renewed impetus Saturday to find a compromise on Brexit after taking a battering in local elections from voters exasperated by the impasse. Prime Minister Theresa May’s governing centre-right Conservatives had a disastrous result, losing more than a thousand seats in the English local authority polls. But the left-wing … Read more

Erdogan calls for Istanbul vote to be re-run

Erdogaan

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for the opposition’s local election victory in Istanbul to be declared invalid and the vote re-run, increasing the pressure on the country’s electoral authorities. “Clearly, there were irregularities and corruption,” Erdogan said in a speech at a business leaders’ meeting. “If the Supreme Electoral Council could dissipate … Read more

UN Security Council to hold first meeting on Cameroon

UN Council

The UN Security Council will hold a first informal meeting on Cameroon this month to discuss a worsening humanitarian crisis that has left three million people struggling for food. The United States is organizing the May 13 meeting after persuading African countries on the council to drop their initial reluctance to talks on the two-year … Read more

Brother of Algeria’s Bouteflika, 2 ex-spy bosses arrested

Algeria

Said Bouteflika, the powerful brother of deposed Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was arrested Saturday along with two former intelligence chiefs, a security source told AFP. General Mohamed Mediene, known as Toufik, who headed the secret service for 25 years and former intelligence coordinator Athmane Tartag were the two spy chiefs arrested, the source said, asking … Read more

North Korea ‘test fires short-range missiles’ for the first time since 2017

  North Korea has tested several short-range missiles, according to reports from South Korea, its neighbour.   They were reportedly fired from the Hodo peninsula in the east of the country, said South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. This will be the first missile launch since Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.   … Read more

FBI sent undercover investigator to meet Trump aide

FBI

The FBI sent an undercover investigator to meet with an advisor to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to try to determine if it was working with Russia, The New York Times reported Thursday. The investigator who met with George Papadopoulos at a London bar in September 2016 — two months before the election that brought Trump … Read more

Main UK parties take Brexit battering in local elections

Britain

Britain’s governing Conservatives and the Labour main opposition took a drubbing Friday in English local elections as voters vented their frustration with the Brexit deadlock. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives lost control of several local authorities and hundreds of seats but Labour failed to capitalise, with votes going instead to smaller parties. The results do … Read more

MGID