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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that tensions in the Middle East have had negative global repercussions, most notably rising inflation rates and increased risks of food shortages, in addition to disruptions in supply chains and infrastructure.A statement from the German government quoted Merz emphasizing the importance of expanding long-term economic partnerships between Germany and the African continent, especially in light of current global developments that necessitate closer coordination with international partners.The German Chancellor stated that Africa represents a pivotal strategic partner for his country, explaining that cooperation with the continent would achieve shared interests and provide significant opportunities.Merz’s remarks came during his meeting in Berlin with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, whose visit to Germany is part of preparations for the International Sudan Conference scheduled to be held later today in Berlin. Source link
Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) Anandita Philipose said that 1,355 women in Lebanon have been killed or wounded since the escalation of Israeli attacks on Lebanon last month.Speaking at a press conference for UN agencies in Geneva, Philipose explained that on Wednesday, April 8, 99 women and 31 children were killed across Lebanon, where more than 100 bombs were dropped in less than 10 minutes that day.She said, “families are still desperately looking for loved ones. New mothers cradle newborns, uncertain if safety will ever return. Healthcare workers already exhausted are working through their own trauma to save others. The loss is immense.””An estimated 13,500 displaced pregnant women need urgent maternal and reproductive health care, including 1,700 that are still in southern Lebanon, which is under constant attack,” Philipose added.Gender-based violence is threatening 620,000 displaced women and girls in Lebanon, the UNPFA representative said.The UN official noted that the Fund’s employees were directly affected by the repercussions of this crisis. She stressed that amidst the collective shock experienced by the UNPFA team, they continue to respond to the growing and unprecedented needs in the areas of health and protection, adding that their field teams are deployed inside and outside shelters, engaging deep into southern Lebanon and hard-to-reach areas.The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced Tuesday that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression against the country since March 2 has risen to 2,124, with 6,921 more wounded. Source link
US President Donald Trump hinted at a new round of negotiations between his country and Iran, saying, “Something could happen over the next two days in Pakistan.”Trump told a New York Post reporter in Islamabad, “You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there.”Asked about the possibility of holding a new round of talks between the two countries in Geneva, the US president said, “Why should we go to some country that has nothing to do with it”The US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire but talks in Pakistan last week failed to produce any significant progress. In response, the US president ordered a blockade of Iranian ports to increase pressure on Tehran. Source link
Motorists ride along a road on Islamabad’s Constitution Avenue on April 14, 2026. As the clock ticked down to US President Donald Trump’s deadline to destroy…
A woman sun-dries paddy as a part of the harvesting process, in Birulia, in the outskirts of Dhaka. (Reuters/File Photo) Bangladesh launched a “Farmers’ Card” scheme Tuesday aimed at expanding direct support to millions of farmers and streamlining subsidies, as part of efforts to modernise the agriculture sector.The scheme focuses on small farmers, including sharecroppers who often lack access to banks and other institutional support, agriculture ministry officials said.Farmers registered under the programme will also gain access to subsidised fertiliser and seeds, agricultural machinery, low-interest loans, crop insurance and advisory services, among other benefits, cutting out intermediaries.”If farmers of this country are well-off, if the farmers of this country survive, then the whole of Bangladesh will do well and the people of entire Bangladesh will live well,” Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said at the scheme’s official launch in Tangail district, central Bangladesh.The event drew thousands of farmers and supporters of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, many wearing traditional straw hats to keep out the sun.”For the first time I am feeling proud to be a farmer. This initiative will help us to grow,” said Julekha Akhter, who has a small piece of land in Tangail that she cultivates.The scheme will be rolled out in phases, beginning with a pilot covering more than 22,000 farmers in selected areas.The government plans to expand it nationwide over the next five years, ultimately bringing approximately 27.5mn farmers under the system, Rahman said.The scheme will also connect farmers to digital information on the weather, market prices and crop management, helping improve productivity and planning.Agriculture remains a cornerstone of Bangladesh’s economy, contributing around 11-12% of gross domestic product and employing a large share of the workforce in a country of 175mn people. Related Story Source link
Speaking on Tuesday at the fifth session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, he lauded the advances in racial justice and equality that have…
The sporting icon wasn’t there to talk tactics, but to lead his lifelong club, Flamengo, into a global pact to tackle some of the planet’s biggest…
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (Reuters/File photo) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said rising tensions around the Strait of Hormuz made it hard to be optimistic about the fallout from the Iran war, warning that high oil prices and supply-chain strains were likely to persist for some time.Lee told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday the government should treat prolonged disruption in global energy and raw materials markets as a given and reinforce its emergency response system.”For the time being, difficulties in global energy and raw materials supply chains and high oil prices will continue,” Lee said.”I ask that we pursue the development of alternative supply chains, medium- to long-term industrial restructuring, and the transition to a post-plastic economy as top-priority national strategic projects.” Lee also urged ministries to move quickly to deploy a supplementary budget passed in response to the war.At the meeting, ministers outlined steps to contain the economic shock from the conflict, including support for crude imports, controls against hoarding of petrochemical feedstocks and medical supplies, and expanded financial assistance for affected companies.Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz were still affecting supplies and that even if the passage normalises, it could take around 20 days for Middle Eastern cargoes to reach South Korea.The government is prioritising support for the passage of seven South Korea-bound oil tankers stuck in the Gulf area, a document shown during the cabinet meeting said. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told the meeting that the ministry had sent officials to the Congo, Algeria and Libya in a bid to secure energy supplies, in addition to presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik travelling to countries such as Kazakhstan since last week.”I also urge the parties to this war to take courageous steps toward the peace the world so desperately wants, based on the principles of protecting universal human rights and the lessons of history,” Lee said. South Korea’s energy ministry said on Tuesday it would begin rolling out a revised seasonal and time-of-use electricity pricing system to shift power demand away from evening peak hours toward midday, when solar generation is higher. The new rates take effect for large industrial users from April 16 while weekend discounts for electric-vehicle charging will begin on April 18. Meanwhile, Middle Eastern oil producers are in contact with South Korea about using the country’s petroleum storage facilities as disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz continue, a South Korean industry ministry official said on Tuesday, signalling growing interest in offshore crude storage hubs.Yang Ki-wook, a senior official at the industry ministry, told a briefing that Middle Eastern countries were showing increased interest in storing oil outside the strait because a prolonged disruption in logistics would hit their economies and pre-positioning crude could reduce export risks.Yang said that in addition to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), which already has a joint stockpiling agreement with South Korea, other Middle Eastern producers were also in contact, though he did not identify them. Related Story Source link
The destroyer Choe Hyon conducting a test-fire of a missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Sunday. (AFP) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw new tests of strategic cruise missiles and anti-warship missiles launched from a naval destroyer, state media reported Tuesday.The weapons tests occurred on Sunday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, and are the latest in a string of recent missile launches by the nuclear-armed nation.Two strategic cruise missiles each flew for just over two hours, according to KCNA, while the anti-warship missiles flew for 33 minutes.The missiles flew “along the flight orbits set in the sky above the West Sea of Korea and struck the targets with ultra-precision hit accuracy”, KCNA said, using its preferred name for the Yellow Sea.The tests were carried out from the Choe Hyon, one of two 5,000-tonne destroyers in the North’s arsenal, both launched last year as Kim seeks to ramp up the country’s naval capabilities.A photo released by KCNA showed a missile in its initial flight stage after being launched from the warship, with an orange flame trailing from its tail.KCNA said Kim was also briefed on planning for the weapons systems of two more destroyers under construction, referred to simply as “Nos 3 and 4”.Kim reportedly “expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the preparedness of our army’s strategic action has been strengthened”.He reiterated that bolstering the North’s nuclear deterrent was the “most important priority task”. Related Story Source link
Peter Magyar, leader of the pro-European conservative TISZA party, delivers a press conference at the HUNGEXPO Congress and Exhibition Center in Budapest, yesterday. (AFP) Hungarian pro-EU prime minister-elect Peter Magyar pledged yesterday to usher in a “new era” after defeating long-time nationalist leader Viktor Orban in elections seen as a blow to hard-right populism.Orban, a self-described “thorn” in the European Union’s side who was backed by US President Donald Trump and maintained close ties to Moscow, was ousted in Sunday’s ballot after 16 years in power. Hungarians fed up with corruption handed conservative former government insider Magyar a decisive victory, with a two-thirds majority in parliament. The vote saw a record turnout.Magyar, 45, said he would do “everything in our power” to ensure the “beginning of a new era”, adding Hungarians “didn’t vote for a mere change of government, but for a complete regime change.” In power since 2010, Orban has transformed the central European country of 9.5mn people into a model of “illiberal democracy”, making wide-ranging reforms that restricted civil rights and the independence of the judiciary, media and academia.In that, he frequently clashed with Brussels, which has frozen billions of euros in funds over rule-of-law concerns. Magyar said he was “willing to take on” reforms, including anti-graft measures, to seek to unlock the funds.He urged President Tamas Sulyok, an Orban ally, to convene parliament “as soon as possible”. The president has 30 days, or until May 12, to do so.Sulyok on Facebook said he had invited the leaders of parliamentary parties to a meeting tomorrow. “Our country has no time to waste. Hungary is in trouble in every respect. It has been plundered, looted, betrayed, indebted and ruined,” Magyar told reporters.Many EU leaders welcomed Magyar’s win, while the Kremlin said Moscow hoped for “pragmatic” relations with Hungary’s new government and China — which Orban also courted — congratulated Magyar.Magyar thanked both Moscow and Beijing for “being open to pragmatic co-operation, just as Hungary is.” Orban, 62, conceded defeat on Sunday, saying the message was “painful but unambiguous”.Magyar was a supporter of Orban for years before emerging as his most serious challenger. He stepped into frontline politics just two years ago, promising to fight corruption and offering better public services.He garnered support against a backdrop of economic stagnation and despite an electoral system skewed in favour of Orban’s Fidesz. Ahead of the vote, US Vice-President JD Vance, one of the most fervent supporters of far-right parties in Europe, visited Hungary last week to attend a rally with Orban.His boss, Trump, had promised to back Hungary with the United States’ “economic might” if Orban’s party won. The election “could mark a real turning point for Donald Trump’s culture war in Europe”, said Pawel Zerka, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.It gave “confidence (to) pro-European forces across the continent” and meant that association with Trump’s culture war was now becoming “more of a liability than an asset”, he said. Orban, who repeatedly blocked EU moves to help Ukraine fight Russia’s invasion, made Ukraine a central campaign issue, portraying Kyiv as “hostile” to Hungary. Like Orban, Magyar opposes sending EU military aid to Ukraine or offering Ukraine a fast-track route to join the 27-nation bloc. He reiterated that stance yesterday, saying: “We are talking about a country at war. It is completely out of the question for the European Union to admit a country at war.”On election night, jubilant supporters poured into the streets to celebrate in the capital, Budapest.“At long last it feels so good to be Hungarian. It’s like a weight lifted off our shoulders,” Csilla Bekesi, 25, told AFP. Source…