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Ok, I Agree
May
12
2026
By TOM HARPER
China has played a key role in the Iran war – and will continue to do so

China has played a key role in the Iran war – and will continue to do so

WORLD
DONALD Trump has paused “Project Freedom”, the US operation aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. In a post on social media just days after the operation was first announced, Trump said he had made the decision to give US negotiators time to reach an agreement with Iran to end the war. Iranian state media has framed the suspension as a US failure. Iran had warned that it would target vessels attempting to enter the waterway and subsequently launched missiles and drones at civilian ships and the United Arab Emirates. It is unclear where the conflict will…
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May
12
2026
By IRENE APPEANING ADDO
What Ghana’s foreign‑built landmarks tell us about its global relationships

What Ghana’s foreign‑built landmarks tell us about its global relationships

WORLD
THE call to prayer echoes across the neighbourhood as people congregate under the sweeping domes and tall minarets of Ghana’s National Mosque in Accra. For many, it is a place of faith, community, and national pride. Yet, few pause to consider that this landmark – now firmly part of Accra’s skyline – was funded and built by Turkey. This detail points to a bigger story. Some of Ghana’s most important public buildings are shaped by global relationships as much as local needs. And those relationships are not just economic; they are deeply political. Therefore, buildings are not just functional. They…
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May
11
2026
By GUILHERME CASARÕES
Trump and Lula at the White House: a relationship built on pragmatism and a broader regional calculus

Trump and Lula at the White House: a relationship built on pragmatism and a broader regional calculus

WORLD
FOR about three hours of closed-door talks between Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and US President Donald Trump at the White House on May 7, 2026, many observers in the two countries held their breath. Since there was no official joint statement or press conference, they did not know what to expect. Despite the reported “chemistry” between both presidents at the United Nations General Assembly last September, bilateral tensions were far from resolved. The meeting between both presidents could have gone many ways: on the surface, Brazil and the US currently stand more as geopolitical rivals than allies.…
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May
11
2026
By TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS
“You will not encounter them”: WHO chief writes directly to the people of Tenerife over hantavirus ship crisis

“You will not encounter them”: WHO chief writes directly to the people of Tenerife over hantavirus ship crisis

WORLD
IT is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, but it is also necessary. I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that. I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word "outbreak" and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss…
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May
11
2026
By KATAYOUN SHAHANDEH
What Iran’s absence from the Venice Biennale reveals about art and politics

What Iran’s absence from the Venice Biennale reveals about art and politics

WORLD
JUST days before the opening of the 2026 Venice Biennale, organisers announced that Iran would no longer participate. A short statement posted to the Venice Biennale website on May 4 said: “With regard to the National Participations in the 61st International Art Exhibition…it has been announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not participate.” No explanation was given. I believe that silence is itself revealing. Iran’s withdrawal is less a sudden decision than the result of converging geopolitical and economic pressures that are reshaping both the global art world and Iran’s place within it. At the most immediate level,…
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May
09
2026
By The African Mirror
WHO draws firm line: Hantavirus outbreak is not a pandemic in the making

WHO draws firm line: Hantavirus outbreak is not a pandemic in the making

WORLD
THE World Health Organization has moved decisively to contain not just a deadly outbreak of hantavirus aboard a Dutch cruise liner, but the gathering panic around it, issuing an unambiguous public health verdict: this virus does not spread like COVID-19, and the risk to the general population remains, in the agency's own words, "absolutely low." The reassurance came as the MV Hondius -  a Dutch-flagged polar expedition vessel - remained moored off Cabo Verde with a complex, multi-country response operation underway. Three passengers have died, and eight cases of infection have been confirmed or suspected, with the ship currently carrying…
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May
09
2026
By JONATHAN ESTE
Iran war has shown the limits of US power

Iran war has shown the limits of US power

WORLD
IN his 1873 book On War, the great Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz wrote that: “War is the realm of uncertainty.” He would have been at home in Washington this week, where Clausewitz’s “fog of war” appears to have descended on the White House, at times obscuring reality. On Tuesday, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, briefed reporters that the US plan was to get the Strait of Hormuz “back to the way it was: anyone can use it, no mines in the water, nobody paying tolls”. This was, of course, the way things were before the war…
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May
09
2026
By The African Mirror
Russia’s pared‑down Victory Day parade tells a story: Away from the pomp, war in Ukraine is not going to Putin’s plan

Russia’s pared‑down Victory Day parade tells a story: Away from the pomp, war in Ukraine is not going to Putin’s plan

WORLD
VICTORY Day in Russia, which marks the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union, has long held particular importance in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Yet this year, the May 9 celebration – usually replete with extensive parades across the country and a demonstration of military hardware in Moscow – is expected to be significantly pared down. That’s due to Kyiv’s ongoing long-range military capabilities. For the first time in two decades, Russian officials have said, there will be no lavish display of tanks and missiles. The reality for Putin is that the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year,…
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May
08
2026
By CHRISTIAN EMERY
Trump administration claiming a ‘win’ against Iran – here’s a report card

Trump administration claiming a ‘win’ against Iran – here’s a report card

WORLD
TWO months into the war in Iran, the reasons the US gave for launching this conflict – and Washington’s minimum criteria for claiming success – now appear unintelligible. So much so that US officials are now arguing the war had actually ended in America’s favour almost a month ago, when the ceasefire came into effect. It is hard to think of a more damning indictment of Donald Trump’s catastrophic war in Iran than the spectacle of his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, telling reporters on May 5 that the main goal now was to get the Strait of Hormuz “back…
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May
08
2026
By ERRIN HAINES
She cared for America’s children. She’s also reshaping our democracy.

She cared for America’s children. She’s also reshaping our democracy.

WORLD
ADRIANA George immigrated to the United States from the Caribbean at 21 years old and soon found community in her new home, doing the work she loved as a nanny in New York City.  This story was originally reported by Errin Haines of The 19th. Meet Errin and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. In the lead-up to our country’s 250th anniversary, Errin Haines is writing a series of columns to contemplate the complicated expansion of our democracy. Subscribe to The Amendment newsletter. In New York, George met her husband. Together, they moved to Philadelphia, where she continued to…
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