“Decisions about permanent stays in Australia should be deliberate decisions of the government, not a random consequence of who had booked a holiday,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Wednesday.

The move, which comes into force on Thursday, will affect about 6,800 Iranian visa holders. Some exceptions have been made including for the partners and children of Australian citizens.

Some MPs and refugee advocates have called the decision a “moral failure” and warned it sets a “dangerous precedent”.

The Australian government introduced legislation to block visa holders from nominated countries from visiting earlier this month, on the same day it granted humanitarian visas to seven members of the Iranian women’s football delegation. Five later returned to Iran.

Burke said in a statement that the government was “acting in the national interest amid rapidly changing global conditions”, noting that the measure would allow “time to assess the situation properly, while still allowing flexibility in limited cases”.

“Sympathetic consideration” may be given to the parents of Australian citizens, Burke said. The step was taken in consultation with the Australian-Iranian community, he added.

The measure does not apply to citizens from any other country.

Jana Favero, Deputy CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, described the move as a “massive betrayal of the Iranian community, and a breathtaking moral failure”.

“In the moment that people need safety the most and their country is being torn apart, the Albanese government is slamming the door closed on people from Iran,” Favero said.

Independent MP Zali Steggall said the laws underpinning the ban gave the government “sweeping, unchecked” powers and ought to be amended.

“Invalidating lawfully obtained visas undermines confidence in our entire migration system and sets a dangerous precedent,” she said.

The Australian Greens party said the measure “puts the lie to the pretence that [the] Labor [government] is supporting the illegal US and Israeli war on Iran to help the Iranian people”.

“Today, we see with 100% clarity what the Albanese government thinks of the safety of the Iranian people as they shut the door on protection for people with a visa to come here,” Greens Senator David Shoebridge said.

The resolution, which secured 123 votes in favour, calls on countries to acknowledge the enduring impact of slavery and to consider measures including formal apologies and reparative justice. However, the three countries that opposed it raised concerns about the broader implications of the motion, particularly its potential to reshape international legal and political interpretations of historical injustices.

In explaining its position, the United States argued that the resolution risked creating a hierarchy among crimes against humanity, suggesting that elevating one historical injustice above others could undermine established international legal frameworks.

US representative Dan Negrea also criticised what he described as the “cynical usage of historical wrongs as a leverage point… to reallocate modern resources to people and nations who are distantly related to the historical victims.”

Israel aligned with similar concerns, while Argentina also voted against the measure, although detailed explanations for their positions were less prominently outlined during proceedings.

The opposition stood in contrast to the strong backing from African and Caribbean nations, which have long pushed for global recognition of slavery’s lasting consequences and the need for reparative action. Ghana, which sponsored the resolution, argued that the effects of the transatlantic slave trade continue to shape global inequalities, including racial and economic disparities.

While the resolution is not legally binding, it carries significant political weight and is seen as a step towards advancing calls for reparations and accountability. Advocates believe it strengthens the case for further international dialogue, including proposals for a United Nations-backed reparations framework.

Despite voting against the resolution, the United States and several Western countries have previously acknowledged the historical injustice of slavery. However, many remain opposed to formal reparations, arguing that present-day governments should not be held financially or legally responsible for actions carried out in the distant past.

The vote also exposed divisions among Western nations, with the United Kingdom and European Union member states choosing to abstain rather than oppose the measure outright, reflecting a more cautious approach to the growing global push for reparative justice.

ALSO READ:

• Mahama urges UN to declare slave trade ‘gravest crime against humanity’

• There’s no such thing as a slave – Mahama urges global rethink at UN

Addressing the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit in Washington, D.C., Mrs Mahama thanked US First Lady Melanie Trump for convening the gathering and shared a personal anecdote illustrating technology’s dual nature.

Recalling Ghana’s 69th Independence Day on 6 March, which coincided with her birthday, the First Lady described scrolling through TikTok messages featuring young Ghanaians performing celebratory dances and sending birthday wishes.

“Many came from young people who could not attend our national celebrations. But technology gave them a voice,” she said, emphasising how digital platforms can amplify voices across the nation.

Mrs Mahama highlighted the dramatic expansion of the digital landscape, noting that nearly seven in ten people globally now use social media. In Ghana, an estimated 8 to 15 million internet users are predominantly young people.

Quoting President John Dramani Mahama’s Independence Day address, she observed: “Our children belong to a generation armed with tools that earlier generations could hardly imagine. In their hands, a smartphone becomes a classroom, a business platform, a creative studio, and a gateway to the global economy.”

However, the First Lady cautioned that without proper guidance, technology poses serious dangers to children. She cited research showing that one in five young victims of cyberbullying stays away from school as a result.

Ghana has responded by strengthening legislative frameworks, improving enforcement mechanisms, and launching the ‘Safer Digital Ghana’ campaign to raise public awareness and prevent online abuse.

Protecting children’s digital futures is “our moral duty, our generational responsibility, and our shared global mission,” Mrs Mahama declared.

The two-day summit is promoting international cooperation on child online safety, building on frameworks including the UN’s Children and Digital report and the European Union’s Digital Services Act.

Ghana’s initiatives stem from its 2025 national strategy, which includes school-based digital literacy programmes and partnerships with technology companies such as Meta and Google for content moderation.

With 68% internet penetration according to recent GSMA data, Ghana is leading Africa in balancing digital expansion with safeguards against threats, including sextortion, disinformation, and online abuse.

READ ALSO:

GoldBod engages small-scale miners in Kumasi

Minority petitions OSP, CHRAJ over alleged GoldBod contract with Stan Dogbe’s firms

Addressing the plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Mr Mahama said the move would represent a critical step toward justice, healing and global remembrance.

He noted that approximately 13 million Africans were forcibly taken and enslaved over several centuries, stressing the importance of preserving their memory through education, historical documentation and memorialisation.

“We do more than remember. We document and educate; we gain a greater perspective; we find the delicate balance of learning from history so we do not repeat it,” he stated.

The President highlighted global efforts to honour victims of slavery, referencing memorials such as the Ark of Return located at the UN Headquarters in New York.

He recalled that the international day of remembrance was established in 2007 following a UN resolution, describing it as part of incremental global progress toward acknowledging historical injustices.

Speaking on behalf of the African Group, Mr Mahama revealed that Ghana had initiated a draft resolution titled “Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity.”

According to him, the proposal is the outcome of months of consultations among African nations, scholars, and international stakeholders aimed at building consensus around truth, justice and reparative measures.

“Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice. The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting,” he said.

The President also drew on the words of former US President Theodore Roosevelt and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. to emphasise the moral imperative of taking a stand against injustice.

He urged member states to support the resolution, stressing that the moment called for decisive action.

“On this beautiful day in March, we are called to stand on the right side of history,” he concluded.

“Let our vote on this resolution restore their dignity and humanity.”

Democrat Emily Gregory, a first-time candidate, defeated Trump-backed Republican Jon Maples in a race for the open Florida District 87 state House seat.

The result is a reversal from 2024, when a Republican won the district by 19 percentage points.

Democrats have performed well in special elections during Trump’s second term, and Gregory’s victory could indicate momentum for the party heading into this year’s congressional midterm elections.

“When I started this nine months ago, I obviously thought it was possible,” Gregory told MSNBC on Tuesday night.

“I might have done some crazy calculus to decide that this was a flip opportunity, but it was,” she later added. “And we did it. So my math worked.”

Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee celebrated the victory on X, saying voters had “sent a message”.

“If Democrats can win in Trump’s backyard, we sure as hell can win anywhere across the country. Onward to November!” Martin wrote.

Trump himself backed Maples, endorsing him in a Truth Social post and urging “great patriots” to vote in the special election.

Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, who is now running for governor of Florida, filmed an endorsement with Maples urging voters to choose him.

Democrats have flipped several state House seats in special elections since Trump took office at the beginning of 2025.

The midterm elections are scheduled for November, and will feature races for the US House of Representatives, a third of the US Senate, and multiple governor and state legislature races.

These elections, typically held halfway through a president’s term in office, potentially serve as a referendum on the mood of the country and the strength of the president’s party.

This was a key focus at the West Africa Bio-manufacturing Regulation and Market Access Conference held in Accra, where industry players underscored the need to align policies to unlock local vaccine production, biologics development, and broader biotech innovation.

Director-General of the African Medicines Agency, H.E. Dr. Delese Darko, said the region is not starting from scratch but building on existing harmonisation systems in medicines regulation, agriculture, and biosafety.

She noted that West Africa’s track record in aligning drug and vaccine approvals provides a strong foundation to extend similar frameworks into biomanufacturing, ensuring that products manufactured in one country can gain seamless regulatory acceptance across the sub-region.

Dr. Darko further stressed that regional integration is critical to achieving Africa’s goal of producing 60% of its vaccines locally by 2040, warning that the continent’s continued reliance on importing about 99% of its vaccines poses serious public health and supply chain risks.

Regional architecture driving the shift

Experts at the forum outlined a “regional-first, national-implementation” model anchored on strong institutional coordination. Under this approach, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) provides policy direction, while the West African Health Organization (WAHO) leads technical coordination and regulatory alignment.

They pointed to the West Africa Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation (WA-MRH) initiative, which has established a centralised system for medicine and vaccine approvals across 15 countries, as a proven template for scaling biomanufacturing regulation.

Harmonisation efforts are also extending into key technical areas, including Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), clinical trial oversight, pharmacovigilance systems, and biosafety standards. In the biomanufacturing space, this covers advanced areas such as cell and gene therapies, bioprocess validation, and laboratory quality assurance frameworks.

Stakeholders also emphasised the importance of joint regulatory assessment mechanisms that allow multiple countries to rely on a single scientific evaluation, helping to reduce duplication and speed up market authorisation for vaccines and biologics across borders.

In addition, ECOWAS policy frameworks are being aligned to support research and development, technology transfer, and intellectual property protection—key drivers for building sustainable local manufacturing systems. Regulatory systems are also being expanded to accommodate emerging technologies, including plant-based biotech and genetically engineered products.

These regional efforts are expected to complement continental initiatives such as the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation (AMRH) programme and the African Medicines Agency (AMA), with the long-term goal of establishing a unified African regulatory ecosystem.

Persistent bottlenecks

Despite these advances, challenges remain. CEO of the National Vaccine Institute, Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, cited fragmented legal regimes, language barriers, infrastructure deficits, and the slow domestication of regional protocols as major constraints to scaling up.

Director of Pharmaceutical Services at the Ministry of Health, Saviour Yevutse, also called for stronger political commitment to achieve the 2040 vaccine production target. He warned that Africa’s heavy reliance on imports continues to expose the continent to supply shocks and health security risks.

He stressed the need to move beyond policy statements to actionable frameworks, particularly in pooled procurement and market access, ensuring that vaccines produced within the region can circulate freely without regulatory bottlenecks.

“The region must transition from communiqués to implementation. A vaccine produced in Nigeria should be readily accepted in Ghana, just as a biopharmaceutical from Senegal should reach Liberia without unnecessary delays,” he said.

Participants at the forum called for stronger political will, capacity building, and integrated procurement systems to position West Africa’s biomanufacturing sector as competitive within the global pharmaceutical value chain.

READ ALSO:

Assemblies of God Ghana backs Mahama over honorary doctorate withdrawal

ICS boss attacked in Bolgatanga during anti-dog and cat meat campaign

It was the first time staff at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) have gone on strike in 20 years after a majority of union members rejected a pay offer that was below inflation.

Flagship shows such as the 7.30 evening current affairs programme and its breakfast shows on Thursday will not go ahead, with reruns, pre-programmed shows and BBC content to plug the gap.

ABC management said the pay offer “reflects the maximum level” it can “sustainably provide” but unions want greater job security and limits on the use of AI.

Staff began striking from 11:00 local time (00:00 GMT) on Wednesday and will not return to work for 24 hours. Large gatherings were expected at the ABC’s main offices in offices in Sydney and Melbourne, with participants to wear black.

Radio programmes such as Triple J and ABC Classic were expected to have limited live elements and play music only.

The ABC employs more than 4,400 people with about 2,000 staff in news, its largest division.

Staff were offered a staggered 10% pay rise over three years with a 3.5% bump in the first year, following by 3.25% in the two years after. Australia’s annual inflation rate was 3.8% in January.

Staff were also offered a one-off $1,000 bonus but this would not be for casual staff.

The offer was rejected by 60% of union members who voted, with a majority agreeing to take industrial action.

Staff also want higher rates for night work, better career progression and less reliance on short-term contracts. There is also anger at the broadcaster’s refusal to rule out replacing some staff with AI.

“ABC staff don’t want to strike – they want to do their jobs,” said Erin Madeley, chief executive from the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, one of the two unions representing ABC staff.

“They want fair pay, secure work, and guardrails around the use of technologies like AI to protect editorial integrity and public trust,” Madeley said.

Melissa Donnelly from the Community and Public Sector Union said ABC staff want salaries that reflected cost-of-living pressures and recognised the work of a public broadcaster.

“ABC plays such an important role in our society and in Australian storytelling and it’s really important ABC management come to the table,” she told Australian Associated Press.

ABC managing director Hugh Marks said the deal on the table was financially responsible and competitive for the industry.

“The pay offer reflects the maximum level the ABC can sustainably provide and is balanced when looking across all the factors that we need to consider,” he said.

The ABC will take the matter to Australia’s workplace tribunal, the Fair Work Commission, in a bid to resolve the dispute

ALSO READ:

• Four journalists among 15 killed in Israeli strike on hospital – Gaza officials

• No law will silence journalists under my watch – Speaker Bagbin

The test, led by the UK government, will see 300 teens involved have their social apps disabled entirely, blocked overnight or capped to one hour’s use – with some also seeing no such changes at all – in order to compare their experiences.

It will run alongside the government’s consultation on whether the UK should follow Australia’s lead and make it illegal for under-16s to access many social media sites.

Technology secretary Liz Kendall said it was about “testing different options in the real world.”

“These pilots will give us the evidence we need to take the next steps, informed by the experiences of families themselves,” she added.

Children and parents involved in the government-led trial will also be interviewed before and after the pilot scheme to assess its impact.

Meanwhile, the government’s consultation about banning social media for children will continue until 26 May.

Such a move has widespread political support – with countries including France, Spain and Indonesia also considering emulating Australia’s ban – and the backing of some campaigners and children’s charities.

Other experts are more sceptical, warning that such restrictions could be easily circumvented or could push children to darker corners of the internet.

But some believe tech companies should make their platforms safer, not just be banned for children.

Rani Govender, associate head of child safety online policy at the NSPCC, said that while the charity welcomed the government’s efforts to find the best way to keep young people safe online, it must also be ready to take “decisive action” when its pilot and consultation end.

“This must include ensuring tech companies build safety into every device, platform and AI tool so children do not see harmful or illegal content and can only use age-appropriate services,” she told the BBC.

“Failure to deliver on this and a social media ban for under 16s would be better than the status quo.”

The Molly Rose Foundation meanwhile said it was “entirely right” for the government to be consult on its next steps rather than “rushing to implement” bans that may not work as intended.

“Parents want decisive and evidence-based measures to protect children online and these tests will provide welcome insights into the practicality and feasibility of further interventions,” said its chief executive Andy Burrows.

How will it work?

The pilot scheme will run in the homes of 300 teenagers.

Participants from across the UK will be split into four groups, three of which will try out the different kinds of interventions while the fourth will act as a control group.

The group in which the most popular apps are made totally unavailable is intended to mimic what a social media ban would look like.

The other two groups are intended to provide insights into how more limited restrictions would work, either by capping app use at 60 minutes per day or making them unavailable between 21:00 and 07:00.

Participants will be asked about the impact of limiting social media on their family life, sleep and schoolwork.

The government says they will also be quizzed about the practical challenges they faced, such as the ability to set-up parental controls or “workarounds that the teenagers may find to bypass them”.

Data from the pilots will be assessed by officials and academics alongside consultation responses from parents and children.

The government says it has received nearly 30,000 responses so far.

Ministers say the pilot schemes will be complemented by what they call the “world’s first major scientific trial looking at the effects of reducing social media use among adolescents”.

The independent study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is set to begin later this year. and will be co-led by the Bradford Institute for Health Research and University of Cambridge psychologist Prof Amy Orben.

Prof Orben told the BBC she was “really proud that the UK is home to this really important research”.

The study will recruit 4,000 students aged 12 to 15 from ten Bradford secondary schools and seek to assess the impact of having less access to social media – particularly on areas of their wellbeing such as sleep, anxiety levels, social interactions, as well as absence and bullying in schools.

Prof Orben says it is meant to address the current lack of high-quality data on both the impact social media currently has on children and the difference restricting it might make.

Data from tanker-tracking firm Kpler show Nigeria’s exports of clean ​petroleum products – which include gasoline, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel – have risen to about 214,000 barrels ​per day so far in March from an average of 100,000 bpd in February.

Shipments to ⁠other African countries have climbed to about 90,000 bpd from 38,000 bpd previously.

The 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery has ​sold 12 cargoes of premium motor spirit, totalling 456,000 metric tons, on a free-on-board basis to international traders, ​with shipments delivered to Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Tanzania, Ghana, and Togo, sources familiar with the deals said.

The sales mark Dangote’s first gasoline exports since the plant reached full capacity in February.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR REFINERS WITH SHORTER SUPPLY CHAINS

The escalating Middle East conflict ​has pushed up global crude prices, lifting feedstock costs for refiners worldwide. At the same time, shipping disruptions ​and lower fuel availability from Europe and the Gulf have cut flows of low-cost refined products into West Africa.

That has created ‌opportunities ⁠for suppliers with shorter supply chains.

Dangote’s owner Aliko Dangote has been sparring with Nigerian regulators over continued petrol imports, which he contends undermine his refinery.

Nigeria halted imports last month. Since then, domestic pump prices have risen more than 50% as the Iran conflict roiled energy markets.

The country consumes an estimated 50 million to 60 million litres of gasoline a day — nearly one-fifth of Africa’s total demand — making fuel availability and pricing acutely sensitive to swings in global markets.

For decades, West Africa has depended heavily on imported fuel cargoes from Europe and the Middle East, ​often of lower quality, leaving the region exposed to logistical delays and external ​supply shocks.

Preliminary data ⁠shows that Nigerian fuel imports are at a daily average of 90,000 bpd so far in March, according to Kpler, down from 209,000 bpd for the whole of February.

Arrivals from offshore Togo, which Dangote has previously accused of being the source of dirty fuel imports into the country, have fallen to zero so far in March, compared with 60,000 bpd in February.

As the Dangote Refinery seeks to end all imports, the Middle East crisis ​is pushing more local fuel traders to seek supply from the refinery.

He described it as a vital step towards healing and reparative justice for millions of affected people worldwide.

Speaking during deliberations at the UN headquarters, President Mahama said the resolution, which seeks to declare the trafficking and enslavement of Africans as one of the gravest crimes against humanity, offers the global community an opportunity to acknowledge the immense suffering endured over centuries.

According to him, when asked to explain “the importance of the resolution declaring the trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity,” he responded without hesitation, stating that the resolution would enable the world to collectively bear witness to the plight of an estimated 18 million men, women and children whose lives, identities and futures were taken during the transatlantic slave trade.

“This resolution allows us, as a global community, to collectively bear witness to the plight of the 18 million men, women, and children whose homes, communities, names, families, hopes, dreams, futures, and lives were stolen from them over the course of four centuries,” he said on Tuesday, March 24.

According to him, the resolution goes beyond historical recognition, serving as a unifying call for solidarity across Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the wider diaspora.

He added that it would also act as a safeguard against historical amnesia, ensuring that the atrocities of slavery are neither forgotten nor repeated.

“I speak these words today not only for Ghana, but also in solidarity with the rest of Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, the wider Diaspora and, indeed, all people of good conscience throughout the world. This resolution is a pathway to healing and reparative justice. This resolution is a safeguard against forgetting.”

Mr Mahama stressed that adopting the resolution would mark a meaningful step towards restoring dignity and advancing justice for descendants and nations affected by the legacy of slavery.

The decision, communicated just hours before the scheduled visit on Thursday, March 26, reportedly stems from concerns raised by a group at the University regarding President Mahama’s perceived position on Ghana’s Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, currently before Parliament.

According to the Embassy, the concerns were not raised during Lincoln University’s earlier due diligence and vetting processes, despite extensive prior engagement between the University and the Ghanaian mission.

Officials from both sides had conducted a full walkthrough just last week and finalised all logistical and programme arrangements for the visit.

“It is both surprising and regrettable that such concerns have surfaced at this late stage, particularly with the President already in the United States in anticipation of the visit,” the Embassy said in a statement.

The Embassy emphasised that President Mahama’s visit was accepted in good faith following an official invitation from an institution with deep historical ties to Ghana, including its association with the country’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah.

While acknowledging Lincoln University’s right to engage internal stakeholders and uphold its values, the Embassy expressed concern that the issues raised relate to ongoing legislative processes in Ghana, which are subject to democratic debate and do not reflect the unilateral position of any individual.

President Mahama has consistently been recognised for leadership grounded in democratic principles, respect for human rights, and inclusive dialogue on complex societal issues. The Embassy described it as unfortunate that these concerns emerged at such an advanced stage, without prior engagement or clarification.

The Embassy reaffirmed its commitment to constructive dialogue and mutual respect, expressing hope that the historic relationship between Ghana and Lincoln University will guide a balanced resolution to the matter.

READ ALSO:

Mahama to lead wreath-laying ceremony at African burial ground in New York

Ibrahim Mahama halts international engagements after alleged Police assault

President Mahama to lead Ghana’s delegation to UN special session on reparatory justice

Donna Motsinger said the former star gave her wine and a pill that left her incapacitated after picking her up at her home in a limousine in 1972.

Cosby, 88, has denied Motsinger’s allegations, along with similar claims in a string of civil and criminal cases filed by dozens of women.

He was freed from prison in Pennsylvania in 2021, nearly three years into a sentence for sex assault, after his conviction was thrown out on a technicality.

Cosby’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, told US media her client would appeal against Monday’s verdict.

The jury in the Santa Monica case could award even more in punitive damages than they have yet to determine.

Motsinger, now 84, used to work as a waitress at a restaurant called the Trident in Sausalito, near San Francisco, that was a haunt for celebrities, including Cosby.

She alleged in her lawsuit that Cosby invited her to one of his stand-up comedy shows and, after picking her up to drive her to the gig, he gave her a pill that she thought was aspirin, according to the court papers.

“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness,” her legal action said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “The last thing Ms Motsinger recalls were flashes of light.”

The filing said she woke up at home naked except for her underwear, and “she knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby”.

Cosby’s lawyers rejected the allegation, arguing in court filings that Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened”, reports AP news agency.

His spokesperson and lawyer did not respond to the BBC’s requests for comment.

The comedian enjoyed huge fame in the 1980s and 90s with his sitcom The Cosby Show, but his reputation was shattered after dozens of women came forward with allegations of rape, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct from as early as the 1960s.

He has maintained that all of the encounters were consensual.

Around 11:40 p.m., a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada struck a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle, which was responding to a separate incident, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.

“Emergency response protocols were immediately activated,” the statement said. “The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation.”

The plane was carrying 72 passengers and 4 crew members, the airline said.

Initial reports indicate 41 passengers and crew were transported to the hospital and 32 of those have since been released, Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia said at a news conference early Monday morning.

Two people in the fire truck were also taken to the hospital and are in stable condition, Garcia said.

Debris hangs from a damaged Air Canada jet that collided with a fire truck while landing Monday night at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Adam Gray/Reuters

Passengers from the flight were directed to Air Canada’s ticket counter to be reunited with their families, according to Garcia, who said that included one unaccompanied minor who was on the plane.

The airport will be closed at least until 2 p.m. Monday for the investigation into the collision, Garcia said.

The truck had preliminarily been cleared and was responding to a nearby flight that had requested assistance for an unknown odor in the cockpit, a law enforcement official told CNN.

Photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the nose of the plane.

Jazz confirmed the incident involving Air Canada flight 8646 from Montreal in a statement early Monday.

A Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle lays on its side off of runway 4 after colliding with an Air Canada jet after it landed at LaGuardia Airport, New York, on March 23, 2026. Ryan Murphy/AP

The flight took off from Montreal Trudeau International Airport shortly after 10:30 p.m. ET and arrived at LaGuardia about an hour later, according to the flight tracking site FlightRadar24.

The plane was going about 130 miles per hour just before it hit the fire truck, according to the last data point collected before the collision by Flightradar24.

The New York City Fire Department said it responded to a reported incident involving a plane and vehicle on the airport’s runway at around 11:38 p.m.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at LaGuardia shortly after the collision due to an “aircraft emergency.” The airport is expected to be closed until 2 p.m. Monday, according to the FAA.

Sunday’s collision comes as airports across the US have been thrown into turmoil amid the ongoing lapse of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which has left Transportation Security Administration officers working without pay.

Half of the nation’s busiest airports had more than a third of TSA officers call out Saturday, as passengers reported waiting hours in security lines. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will deploy to airports Monday to help fill the gaps, federal officials said.

A bus transports passengers from an Air Canada Express jet that collided with a ground vehicle at LaGuardia Airport. Bing Guan/Reuters

Air traffic control audio captures the moments leading up to the collision, which began with another flight reporting an emergency on the other side of the airport.

United flight 2384 aborted a takeoff due to a warning light, and the pilots reported an odor in the cabin had sickened the flight attendants, according to a LiveATC.com recording of air traffic control audio.

To get from the airport fire station to the United plane, the fire truck was granted permission to cross the runway where the Air Canada plane was landing, according to the air traffic control audio.

Seconds later, the controller urgently orders the truck to stop, before saying there has been a collision on the field.

“Truck One, stop, stop, stop!” an air traffic controller is heard saying, before addressing the plane seconds later: “JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can’t move. Vehicles are responding to you now.”

After two days of deliberations, a jury in San Francisco federal court decided in a unanimous verdict against the tech titan, who was sued by a group of Twitter investors arguing they had relied on his statements.

While testifying in court earlier this month, Musk argued that he did not mislead investors and that people simply read too much into his public comments and tweets.

The jury instead found that certain of his public claims of problems in Twitter’s user metrics, and that he was possibly backing out of the $44bn acquisition deal, were intentionally misleading.

Lawyers for Musk did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did lawyers for the investors, led by Brian Belgrave, a small-business owner from Oregon.

This is not the first time Musk has found himself in legal trouble for his tweets. But he was able to beat a 2023 lawsuit brought by Tesla shareholders claiming the CEO had misled them with posts about the car company.

In Friday’s verdict, the San Francisco jury found that Musk had artificially lowered the price of Twitter’s stock by a range of roughly $8 per share to $3 per share between May and October 2022 because of his public statements.

That could mean each investor in the class is poised to receive thousands of dollars in damages for their losses.

Monte Mann, a trial attorney focused on business litigation at Armstrong Teasdale, said the verdict against Musk “sends a clear message”.

“If you move the market with your words, you own the consequences.”

Musk began around May 2022 to tweet about Twitter’s purported issues with fake accounts, or “bots,” and said the deal was “on hold” before announcing he wanted out of the deal entirely.

Twitter took Musk to court in order to force the multi-billionaire to abide by the deal, and in early October Musk did so, taking over Twitter at the originally agreed upon price. The following year he renamed the social media platform X.

Those months proved to be financially damaging for Twitter investors like Belgrave, who bought and sold shares of the company during that time.

Belgrave told the jury earlier this month that he sold thousands of Twitter shares in July 2022, believing that Musk was no longer going to buy the platform because of his public posts and comments.

Belgrave’s sale price was less than what he’d purchased the shares for a few months earlier, and significantly less than the $54.20 per share Musk eventually paid.

“I got screwed,” Belgrave said. “I got cheated.”

During Musk’s testimony before the jury, he was more combative with lawyers representing the class of investors.

He eventually refused to answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no”, arguing multiple times that the lawyers were trying to mislead the jury.

“If this was a trial on whether I’ve made stupid tweets, I’d say I’m guilty,” Musk conceded at one point.

Much of the damage was caused in initial retaliatory strikes by Iran in the week after the US and Israel launched the war, according to a report by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) and an analysis by the BBC.

The full extent of the damage caused by Iranian strikes on US assets in the region is not clear.

But the $800m in estimated damages to US military infrastructure – a figure that’s higher than has been previously reported – offers a picture of the steep costs to the US as the conflict drags on.

“The damage to US bases in the region has been underreported,” said Mark Cancian, a CSIS senior adviser and co-author of the think tank study. “Although that appears to be extensive, the full amount won’t be known until more information is available.”

In response to a request for comment, the US Department of Defense referred the BBC to US Central Command, which is leading the war. Officials there declined to comment.

Iran’s retaliatory strikes targeted US air-defence and satellite-communication systems, among other assets, in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries across the Middle East.

A significant portion of damage was caused by a strike on a US radar for a Thaad missile defence system at an air base in Jordan.

The AN/TPY-2 radar system costs approximately $485m according to a CSIS review of defence department budget documents. The air-defence systems are used for the long-range interception of ballistic missiles.

Strikes by Iran caused an additional $310m in estimated damages to buildings, facilities and other infrastructure on US bases and military bases used by American forces in the region.

Iran also has struck at least three air bases more than once, according to an analysis of satellite imagery by BBC Verify. The repeat strikes underscore Iran’s efforts to target specific US assets. Russia has reportedly shared intelligence with Tehran on American military forces in the region.

Satellite imagery shows the three air bases – Ali Al-Salim base in Kuwait, Al-Udeid in Qatar and Prince Sultan in Saudi Arabia – with fresh damage appearing during different phases of the conflict.

The US has also lost 13 military service members since President Donald Trump joined Israel in launching the attacks on Iran on 28 February.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) estimates the overall death toll has reached nearly 3,200, including 1,400 civilians.

Trump has said the US is on track to achieve his goals of destroying Iran’s nuclear program, degrading its conventional military power, and ending the regime’s support for proxy groups in the region.

“We’re doing extremely well in Iran,” Trump said at a White House event on Friday.

But the war has rattled the global economy with the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and uncertainty over the duration of the conflict and whether Trump will deploy ground troops.

Analysis of satellite imagery has been hampered by restrictions imposed by major US-based providers on the release of the imagery.

But it is possible to discern certain patterns in Iran’s retaliatory action against US military interests in the region.

Radar and satellite systems have been a focus from the start, when Iranian strikes hit a US naval base in Bahrain. They function as the eyes and ears of modern military operations.

Satellite imagery most notably showed the destruction of two radomes – protective enclosures for such sensitive equipment. It is highly probable the systems themselves were damaged, although it is not possible to gauge the extent.

Radar sites were hit at Camp Arifjan, a US military facility in Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base, where US aircraft are located. Imagery of the latter shows smoke rising from a radar component for a Thaad air-defence system.

More extensive damage to Thaad systems is evident at US bases in the UAE and Jordan. It’s unclear what the cost of that damage was. The degradation of these systems reportedly led the US to redeploy Thaad components from South Korea to the Middle East.

The damage from Iran’s retaliatory strikes account for a fraction of the overall costs to the US for the war.

Defense Department officials reportedly briefed members of Congress that the first six days of the war cost $11.3bn. The first 12 days cost 16.5bn, according to CSIS.

The Pentagon is asking for another $200bn in funding for the war. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that the figure “could move.”

“It takes money to kill bad guys,” Hegseth said.

Just a day before the first strikes, Gallup polling had shown Americans’ views of Israel hitting a 21st century low; most strikingly, Americans for the first time didn’t sympathize more with Israelis than Palestinians.

Making matters even more fraught, the right has in recent months become riven over how to deal with what many regard as a troubling rise in antisemitism in its base and influencer class. Some of the biggest names in conservative thought have increasingly — and often conspiratorially — linked Israel to all manner of American maladies.

Given Americans seemed quite skeptical of this war from the jump, it didn’t take an active imagination to surmise that some people would blame Israel and even craft conspiracy theories about that.

And that’s certainly happened. But, in a twist, that’s thanks in large part to some of the Trump administration’s rhetoric about the war.

The president and those around him have done Israel no favors with some of their claims.

On two major occasions now, the administration has gestured at Israel being mostly responsible for major inflection points in the war — even though the evidence on both counts isn’t totally clear.

Rubio’s claim about an ‘imminent’ Iranian threat

First, it was Secretary of State Marco Rubio making a kind of bank-shot case for why Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States. Rubio said Israel was going to strike Iran no matter what, and Iran was going to retaliate by striking at US targets; ipso facto, the argument went, Iran was an imminent threat to the United States.

The political problem with this formulation, though, was that it sounded a lot like the United States government was having its hand forced by Israel.

So the Trump administration quickly abandoned that argument and moved on to another in its long line of justifications for the war.

Joe Kent’s resignation

But this week has showed how Israel’s PR problem is going nowhere.

On Tuesday, we learned that the first high-profile Trump administration official had resigned while citing the Iran war. But outgoing National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent didn’t just criticize the war; he heavily blamed “pressure from Israel and its powerful lobby” for coercing the United States into it.

Kent in his resignation letter went on to repeatedly cite Israel and blame it for other wars, too. And in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Wednesday, he played into conspiracy theories about Israel and the assassination of late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The reaction on much of the establishment right has largely been to dismiss Kent as an antisemitic crank. But this is someone Trump put in a powerful position — and did so despite his known past associations with extremists, including White nationalists and a Nazi sympathizer. And Kent is now using the credibility the administration vested in him to target Israel.

Trump’s latest claim

And finally came Trump’s bizarre missive late Wednesday night.

In a social media post at about 10 p.m. ET, he disclaimed any US role in the major Israeli attacks on facilities linked to the South Pars gas field in Iran.

“The United States knew nothing about this particular attack,” Trump maintained.

The attack was a big deal because Iran responded by striking Qatar’s portion of the gas field, raising tensions between neighbors in the region. (Trump also threatened to “massively blow up” Iran’s portion of the gas field if it keeps attacking Qatar.) And the gas field is the world’s largest, meaning its destruction could have an outsized impact on the already struggling global energy markets and supplies.

The first thing to note is that Trump’s account has been contradicted. A US source has told CNN that the US was “aware” of the strike, and an Israeli source has said the two sides coordinated on the strike. (Other experts, including former US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, have noted it would be shocking if Israel didn’t loop the United States in on an attack of this scale and significance.)

But setting that aside, Trump’s comments — much like Rubio’s — imply that Israel is singularly responsible for this escalation, and they cast the United States in a role of responding to that Israeli-imposed escalation.

Disclaiming involvement might serve Trump’s domestic political purposes, but it doesn’t help Israel’s reputation in the United States. If anything, Trump’s position that the US knew nothing feeds those harboring theories like Kent’s.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel had “acted alone” in a strike on a processing facility linked to the South Pars gas field, without directly addressing whether the United States was aware of the operation beforehand.

Netanyahu also rejected the idea that Israel coerced the United States into the war, casting doubt that anyone could do that to Trump.

“This canard that we dragged the United States into it – it’s not just a canard; it’s ridiculous. It’s just ridiculous,” Netanyahu said at his news conference.

Uncomfortable questions

Trump seemed to double down on his claim on Thursday, telling reporters that the US and Israel were “independent” but “get along great.”

He said of Netanyahu: “It’s coordinated. But on occasion he’ll do something, and if I don’t like it, and so we’re not doing that anymore.”

But the situation is again posing uncomfortable questions for the administration.

At Thursday’s Pentagon briefing, a reporter for the right-wing website Gateway Pundit asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about Trump’s Wednesday Truth Social post.

“Why are we helping Israel prosecute this war, if they’re going to pursue their own objectives?” the reporter asked.

Hegseth didn’t address the substance of Trump’s post, instead offering vague assurances that US objectives were being met.

“We hold the cards. We have objectives. Those objectives are clear,” he responded. “We have allies pursuing objectives as well, and the truth speaks for itself.”

Later that morning, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was asked at a House intelligence committee hearing why Israel would strike Iranian energy infrastructure (purportedly) against Trump’s wishes.

“I don’t have an answer for that,” she responded.

Gabbard was then asked if Israel’s objectives aligned with the United States’, and she again appeared stumped. After a long pause, she said she was “thinking carefully” about what she could say publicly.

(She eventually acknowledged that Israel was more focused on taking out Iran’s leadership, while the United States was more focused on disarming Iran — both on the nuclear front and with its conventional weapons.)

Also at the hearing, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that what Rubio said had a real basis in US intelligence.

Ratcliffe said there was a “body of evidence” available that said, “in the likely event of a conflict between Iran and Israel, that the US would be immediately attacked — regardless of whether the United States stayed out of that conflict.”

This war was always going to be a tough sell with the American people and a real test of the US-Israeli relationship.

But through its inability to craft a consistent message and Trump’s tendency to say whatever might be expedient at the moment, the administration has made the latter portion of that equation even more complicated than it had to be.

American society — and Israel’s reputation — could be feeling the effects of that for a long time.

Ángel Esteban Aguilar Morales – better known as Lobo Menor, or Little Wolf – was wanted in connection with the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023, Ecuador’s interior minister John Reimberg said.

He added that Aguilar had obtained papers using a fake Colombian identity.

Mexico’s security minister Omar García Harfuch said the member of cartel Los Lobos had been the subject of an Interpol red notice and was “linked to drug trafficking, extortion, and homicide”.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro called him “one of the world’s most notorious assassins”.

“This result represents a significant blow against transnational organised crime and confirms the effectiveness of trilateral co-operation between Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico in the fight against multi-crime networks,” he said.

Villavicencio, a member of the country’s national assembly and a former journalist who had campaigned against corruption, was shot dead as he was leaving a rally in the capital, Quito, in August 2023.

Five people linked to Los Lobos, including the leader of one of its cells, Carlos Edwin Angulo, were jailed for his murder a year later.

Prosecutors alleged that Angulo – widely known as The Invisible – ordered the hit from the Quito prison in which he is detained, a claim he has denied.

Aguilar is one of several Los Lobos lieutenants under the group’s ultimate leader, Wilmer “Pipo” Chavarría Barré, who faked his own death to escape prison before being captured in Spain in 2025.

Aguilar was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2013 for the murder of the brother of Ecuador’s former interior minister José Serrano.

Prosecutors allege Aguilar was among the men who ordered the hit on Villavicencio but was able to flee after being granted parole, according to Mexican newspaper El Universal.

At the time of his arrest, he had been identifying himself as Juan Carlos Montero Mestre, and was followed by Ecuadorean and Colombian police from the Colombian cities of Medellín and Itaguí over a period of two months, Ecuadorean news site Primicias reports.

Ecuador, one of the main conduits through which South American drugs are trafficked, has sought to align itself closer to the US under President Daniel Noboa, who has frequently used the military to crack down on crime.

The Trump administration – which has often cited combatting drug trafficking as its justification for military action in and around Latin America – declared Los Lobos a Foreign Terrorist Organisation last year, accusing it of “terrorising and inflicting brutal violence on the Ecuadorean people”.

It is said to have deep connections to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Mexico.

Ecuador’s location – sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest producers of cocaine – has turned it into a key transit country for the illicit drug.

Around 70% of the cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru is estimated to be shipped through Ecuador.

ALSO READ:

• Dozens of inmates found hanged in Ecuador prison

• Five jailed for Ecuador presidential candidate’s murder

According to the Minister, the endorsement was secured during high-level engagements in Washington, where he met with the leadership of the influential caucus to rally support for the initiative championed by John Dramani Mahama.

“I am in Washington to hold strategic engagements with the leadership of the influential and inspirational Congressional Black Caucus on President Mahama’s impending historic UN Resolution,” he stated.

Mr. Ablakwa described the backing as a significant milestone for Ghana’s global advocacy, noting that the Congressional Black Caucus had offered “100 per cent support” for the draft resolution.

“Absolutely delighted to disclose that the Congressional Black Caucus has declared 100% support for Ghana’s UN Draft Resolution,” he said, adding that “this endorsement from the Conscience of Congress is most cherished and deeply appreciated.”

He emphasised that the development provides renewed momentum for Ghana’s push for reparatory justice and international recognition of the historical injustice.

“We clearly have an added momentum to our global campaign for reparatory justice,” he noted, underscoring the importance of global solidarity in advancing the cause.

The Minister further disclosed that discussions also focused on building a more structured and long-term partnership involving Ghana, the African Union, and the CBC.

He expressed appreciation to the Chair of the caucus, Yvette D. Clarke, and other members, including Gabe Amo, stating, “We are united to make history on March 25, 2026.”

NPA hosts maiden Grand Iftar to promote unity and religious harmony…

District Court Judge Royce Lamberth has given authorities one week to restore the international broadcaster’s service.

The VOA was set up during World War Two to counter Nazi propaganda.

Just weeks after returning to office as president, Donald Trump issued an executive order to close the broadcaster, which his officials accused of left-wing bias. Trump also ordered outlets such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law”.

The president appointed Kari Lake to head the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) – the parent company that oversees and funds the VOA, as well as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.

Lake proceeded to sack more than 85% of the agency’s employees – more than 1,000 staff at VOA alone – leaving just a handful of employees in their jobs.

Most have been on paid administrative leave since last year, including Persian Service reporters who were called back to work after Israel attacked Iran last June.

Last week, Judge Lamberth ruled that Lake lacked the authority to order the suspension of the USAGM workforce because she had not been confirmed by the US Senate.

In Tuesday’s ruling, the federal judge described the decision to sack the journalists as “arbitrary and capricious,” adding that the government had not taken into account legislation that determines what languages and regions the VOA must serve.

“Defendants have provided nothing approaching a principled basis for their decision,” Lamberth wrote.

Three VOA journalists had sued the Trump administration. One of them, Patsy Widakuswara, said she was deeply grateful for the judge’s decision.

“We hope the American people will continue to support our mission to produce journalism, not propaganda,” she told the Associated Press news agency.

It is not clear whether Lake’s nominated successor, Sarah Rogers, whose appointment requires Senate confirmation, will appeal.

Before being wound down, the VOA broadcast TV, radio and digital content in almost 50 languages.

Trump’s criticisms of the VOA form part of his broader attacks against the US media, which studies suggest American news consumers view as highly polarised.

Larijani was last seen in public at a Quds Day march in Tehran on Friday. Iran has not confirmed whether he has been killed or injured.

Drones and rockets were launched at the US embassy in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, overnight, in the second such attack of the war.

The UAE’s defence ministry says it is intercepting drones and missiles from Iran, with Qatar saying it has also been targeted by missiles.

One Iranian tells BBC Persian the war is “really destroying my nerves”, while Tehran’s Ministry of Intelligence says it has confiscated “hundreds of Starlink devices”, which are used by some Iranians to access the internet.

In the US, a top counterterrorism official resigns over the ongoing conflict, saying “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”

The U.N. peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL ‌is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel – an area that is at the heart of clashes between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

The mission, which will be halted at the end of 2026, has been sporadically caught in the crosshairs of both Israel and Hezbollah over the last couple of years, but ​with Israel considering a broader ground operation, the risks could be greater in the coming weeks.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle ​East when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel that ignited a new Israeli offensive against the group.

THREE SHELLS FIRED FROM ISRAELI ⁠TANK

According to the source, the preliminary conclusions led by UNIFIL’s Force Commander Reserve, with support from explosive ordnance disposal specialists, indicated that three strikes at ​the al-Qawzah base were direct hits from the main gun of an Israeli battle tank.

They were fired using 120-mm M339 HE-MP-T shells, the source said.

“Israeli involvement ​in the attack against UNIFIL is undeniable, given that these munitions are manufactured by Israel Military Industries (IMI),” the source said.

The findings of UNIFIL’s probe have not been previously reported. UNIFIL had said on March 6 that Ghanaian peacekeepers were wounded amid heavy firing and called the incident “unacceptable,” but did not say at the time who was responsible.

“That investigation ​is not yet complete. Once it is finalised, it will be shared with the parties, per usual practice,” said UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel.

“Nonetheless, we reiterate ​the obligation of all actors to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers and avoid harm to civilians. Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international ‌humanitarian law ⁠and a violation of resolution 1701.”

Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. IMI could not immediately be reached for comment. Elbit Systems, a major Israeli defence contractor that owns IMI, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Lebanese prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Highlighting the concerns surrounding U.N. peacekeepers, UNIFIL said on Sunday that another group of peacekeepers were likely fired upon earlier that day ​on three separate occasions in southern ​Lebanon, “likely by non-state armed groups.” It said no ⁠peacekeepers were injured.

UNIFIL ABILITY TO CARRY OUT MISSION TESTED

The M339 HE‑MP‑T round can be used in anti-personnel, anti-helicopter, anti-materiel, anti-armour and anti-structure roles.

The shots were fired within a five-minute window, indicating repeated fire rather than a single stray ​round, the source said, adding that the base’s location and coordinates were well known to all parties operating in ​the area, raising ⁠serious concerns over the safety of U.N. personnel.

Three Ghanaian soldiers were wounded, according to the Ghanaian army.

“This escalation, far from being isolated, is part of a worrying dynamic, severely testing UNIFIL’s ability to carry out its peacekeeping mission,” the source said.

The Israeli military occupies five posts within Lebanon, and despite a ceasefire last year, it has ⁠frequently carried ​out airstrikes in the country’s south that it says are targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

U.N. ​Security Council Resolution 1701, among other provisions, states that no armed forces should be operating in southern Lebanon except the U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese military.

Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of trying ​to rearm and the Lebanese armed forces of failing to disarm the group.

In a letter posted on Tuesday to his X account, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent said that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the US and claimed that the Trump administration “started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.

Kent, 45, is a US special forces and CIA veteran whose wife, navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.

The White House has dismissed the letter as having “many false claims” about Iran.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said that he thought Kent was a “nice guy” but “weak on security”.

Trump said that Kent’s resignation letter made him realise “it was a good thing that he’s out” and that he disagreed with Kent’s assessment of the Iranian threat.

With his departure, Kent becomes the most high-profile figure from within the Trump administration to publicly criticise the US-Israeli operation in Iran.

In the letter, Kent said that had previously supported Trump’s foreign policy platform and until last year believed that he had “had understood that the wars in the Middle East that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation.”

Additionally, Kent alleged that “high-ranking Israeli officials” and influential US journalists had sowed “misinformation” that caused Trump to undermine his “America First” platform.

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States,” the letter continued. “This was a lie.”

Kent, a long-time supporter of Trump’s who unsuccessfully ran for Congress twice, was nominated by the president early in his administration and narrowly confirmed to his post, with many Democrats criticising his links to extremist groups including members of the Proud Boys.

In the confirmation hearing, Kent also refused to back away from claims that federal agents had fomented the January 6 riots at the US Capitol or that Trump had won the 2020 election.

At the National Counterterrorism Center, he reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and oversaw the analysis and detection of potential terrorist threats from around the globe.

Previously, Kent had deployed 11 times overseas with the US military, including with the US Army’s special forces in Iraq.

He later became a paramilitary officer at the CIA, before leaving government service after his wife’s death.

Kent cited his military service and her death in his letter, saying that he “cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives”.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Kent’s suggestion that “Trump made the decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable”.

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” she added.

In a brief interview with the New York Times, conservative media commentator Tucker Carlson praised Kent, with whom he has close personal ties.

“Joe is the bravest man I know, and he can’t be dismissed as a nut,” Carlson said. “He’s leaving a job that gave him access to the highest-level relevant intelligence. The neocons will try to destroy him for that.”

“He understands that and did it anyway,” he added.

There have been a number of resignations among senior officials in the Trump administration, including Security and Exchange Commission enforcement director Margaret Ryan and Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell.

The president’s second term, however, has seen far less turnover than his previous tenure at the White House between 2017 and 2021.

ALSO READ:

• Iran hits key UAE oil port and Dubai airport

• South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran

The centre in Kabul was hit on Monday evening, killing some people and injuring others, the government’s spokesman said on X.

Pakistan denied striking any health facility, saying it “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure” in Kabul and the eastern province of Nangahar.

The BBC visited the centre, parts of which were still on fire, and saw more than 30 bodies being carried out on stretchers.

Some 2,000 people were being treated there, according to officials at the facility, who believe there could be hundreds of casualties.

The Afghan health ministry’s spokesman, Sharafat Zaman Amarkhail, told the BBC there were no military facilities near the rehabilitation centre.

Residents reported hearing loud explosions across Kabul at around 20:50 local time (16:20 GMT), followed by the sound of aircraft and air defence systems.

Family members of those being treated at the Centre were gathered outside, desperately trying to find information about their loved ones.

A Taliban government spokesperson claimed the death toll reached at least 400, but the BBC has not independently verified the numbers.

Pakistan’s information ministry said the strikes were “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted”.

It dismissed Afghanistan’s claim as a “misreporting of facts… [that] seeks to stir sentiments, covering illegitimate support to cross-border terrorism”.

Formerly a US military base, the area where the strike occurred was a notorious hangout for drug users. When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, they turned the space into a drug rehabilitation centre, housing users rounded up from across the capital.

Rescuers continued to search for survivors into Tuesday. In the morning, the extent of the damage – flattened debris littered with blankets and shoes beside charred, blown-out windows – was visible.

The ongoing conflict between the neighbouring countries re-erupted in February, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups, something the Taliban government denies.

At least 75 people have been killed and 193 injured in Afghanistan as a result of continuing cross-border fighting between the countries since 26 February, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

It follows months of clashes, despite the two sides agreeing to a fragile ceasefire in October.

China, which has tried to cool tensions, said its foreign minister Wang Yi has spoken to his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts over the phone in the past week.

Calling for a ceasefire “at the earliest opportunity”, Beijing on Monday urged the two countries to “remain calm and exercise restraint [and to] engage face to face ASAP”.

Flights were temporarily suspended on Monday after a fire broke out near the airport after a “drone-related incident”.

A fire also raged after a drone attack on the strategically important port and industrial zone at Fujairah, one of the largest oil storage facilities in the region.

And a rocket attack on a car killed a Palestinian national on the outskirts of the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, the city’s Media Office reported.

The attack occurred in the Al Bahia area, it said.

UAE air defence systems intercepted six ballistic missiles and 21 drones on Monday, the Defence Ministry said. Iran has launched over 1,900 missiles and drones at the UAE since the war between the US and Israel, and Iran, began.

Fujairah sits on the UAE’s eastern coast, on the Gulf of Oman rather than the Persian Gulf, so vessels do not need to navigate the Strait of Hormuz to reach it.

The location means the port plays a “crucial” role in “helping keep global supplies moving” when the Strait of Hormuz is blocked by Iran, Dubai-based Justin Harper, editor of CEO Middle East, who regularly speaks to Dubai’s oil industry executives, told the BBC.

“If tensions with Iran disrupt the chokepoint, the UAE can still export oil through Fujairah via pipelines from the oilfields in Abu Dhabi,” he said.

The port city is “ideally placed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz”, said Dubai-based oil analyst Matt Stanley, who works for commodities data provider Kpler.

“The UAE’s state oil company Adnoc have their oil tankers there, it is crude grade oil which is what the Asian buyers want.”

Iran hitting a storage tanker and oil facilities at Fujairah “shows the vulnerability of Gulf infrastructure”, Stanley told the BBC.

“Iran wants to disrupt the flow of energy”.

The port city is close to India and the “first stop out of the Middle East on the way to Singapore and China”, Stanley said.

“Fujairah is on the old Silk Road, the maritime route, and it picked up a lot of business bunkering – that is, providing fuel, food, water – for container ships that have been at sea for 25 or 30 days.”

Fujairah is like a “huge vending machine” for ships, Stanley added.

Despite the attacks on Dubai, Harper says the business community there is “resilient”. Restaurants have been offering deals to get people back into restaurants, and “the malls still seem to be busy”. People “underestimate Dubai and its ability to survive a downturn”, he added.

Last week, the UAE’s Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh vowed in a BBC interview that her country would “bounce back” from the conflict, insisting that its economy was “resilient”.

Monday’s drone strike was the third incident since the start of the war near Dubai’s airport, which is the world’s busiest for international passengers.

Some flights were delayed, while others were cancelled altogether, in another hit to the UAE’s image of safety and stability.

The country’s energy sector came under attack as a drone hit an oil storage tanker on Saturday, and another drone hit the oil facilities on Monday, causing a fire.

Oil loading activities at the port were halted for a time while damage assessments were carried out.

In an interview with Reuters over the weekend, Zane Dangor, director-general of the Department of International Relations, also rejected some other Trump administration demands, such as dropping South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, scrapping Black empowerment laws or accepting ​a refugee programme for whites.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

Dangor was speaking against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, a conflict placing ​increased strains on governments navigating relationships with Tehran, and a sharp deterioration in Pretoria’s ties with ⁠the U.S. during President Donald Trump’s second term.

In August, Trump imposed a 30% tariff on imports from South Africa, a move ​that could cause tens of thousands of job losses at a time when a third of South Africans are out of work.

“We ​have no reason to cut ties with Iran,” Dangor said, but he added: “we are not absolutely uncritical of Iran,” noting that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government had admonished the republic for its crackdown on protesters in January, and for attacking neighbours in the latest war with the United States.

“(But) ​we cannot be pulled into the sort of sphere of influence politics that great powers want to pull us into, and ​that in this instance includes the U.S.,” he said.

In his first media interview, new U.S. Ambassador Leo Bozell was quoted by News24 as saying “an ‌association with ⁠Iran is an impediment to good relations with the United States.”

“You (the United States) have a particular relationship with Iran … that many in the developing world do not have,” Dangor said.

RELATIONSHIP WITH US HITS ROCK BOTTOM

South Africa’s relationship with the U.S. has been at a low since Trump accused its Black majority government of persecuting its white minority, repeating false claims about land seizures from white farmers circulating ​on far-right chat rooms.

Dangor said Pretoria ​was keen to improve ⁠ties with Washington, but “let’s engage about areas we agree on”.

Regarding the International Court of Justice case against Israel for its Gaza war, Dangor said: “it’s not even on the table … In my last engagement ​with the State Department people, we indicated that if you disagree with us on this, ​it’s a court ⁠process.”

Trump administration officials have suggested laws aiming to redress apartheid’s legacy, like minimum requirements for Black business ownership and Black employees, must be modified to ease South Africa’s 30% tariff.

“We’re not going to let the domestic issues that they’ve put on the table become part of ⁠that equation,” ​Dangor said.

The U.S. also aims to process 4,500 refugee applications per month from white ​South Africans, Trump claims, who are persecuted.

“It’s a preferential immigration programme,” Dangor said. “But they should do it through the normal channels. They cannot use the moniker of ‘refugee’,” ​he said, adding that this was why a Kenya-based organisation that processes refugees was denied entry.

Videos circulating ​online showed emergency responders at a Maiduguri hospital attending to injured people, ​some with torn and bloodied clothes. Reuters could not immediately verify ⁠the videos.

Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum, in a statement, said the explosions had ​claimed victims and injured others, without elaborating or saying who was responsible.

“The act ​is utterly condemnable, barbaric, and inhumane,” said Zulum.

The first blast went off at a post office in the city centre and was immediately followed by another at the popular Monday market ​nearby, two security sources and three Maiduguri residents told Reuters.

The sources and residents ​said two more blasts hit the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and another struck the eastern ‌neighbourhood ⁠of Kaleri, all in the early evening on Monday.

RESIDENTS SEE BODIES AFTER BLAST

The residents said they had seen dead bodies following the blast at the market. The number of casualties, or what caused the blasts, was not immediately clear.

Borno State Police spokesperson, Nahum Daso Kenneth, said security operatives and emergency responders were deployed following reports of the blasts.

“Residents are advised to remain calm and avoid the area ​while assessments continue,” he said.

The Nigerian military, in a statement ​earlier, said ⁠security forces had repelled attacks on the outskirts of Maiduguri by suspected Islamist insurgents in the early hours of Monday.

Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have ⁠carried ​out several attacks against army bases across Borno ​this month, killing several troops and seizing weapons.

The Bani Odeh family were travelling in their car in the town of Tammum, in the northern West Bank, when Israeli forces opened fire.

Two of their other children were injured but survived.

Israeli authorities said a joint operation by the army and Israel’s paramilitary border police had been taking place in the town at time. They claim the car accelerated towards Israeli forces, who felt endangered and responded by shooting.

“As a result, four Palestinians in the vehicle were killed,” a statement from the Israeli military and police said, adding that the circumstances of the incident were being investigated.

The Palestinian health ministry said that four of the family members – parents Ali and Waad, and two of their children, five-year-old Mohammed and seven-year-old Othman – were killed.

They all arrived at the hospital with gunshot wounds to the face and head, the ministry said.

Two older children, aged eight and 11, who had also been travelling in the car and witnessed the deaths of their family, survived with minor injuries from shrapnel.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement that Israeli forces had initially prevented their crews from reaching the injured inside the car and ordered them to leave the area.

The UN says much of the occupied West Bank has remained under heightened movement restrictions since the outbreak of the war between the US, Israel and Iran on 28 February.

Violent attacks have also continued, according to Palestinian authorities and the UN.

More broadly, violence there has risen sharply since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, which triggered the war in Gaza.

Between 7 October 2023 and 8 March 2026, the UN’s humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said 1,064 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank, including at least 231 children.

Derrick Van Yeboah, also known as “Van”, admitted before a United States District Court in New York that he participated in a scheme that targeted vulnerable individuals, many of them elderly, through fraudulent online relationships.

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced the guilty plea in a statement on Thursday, March 5, 2026.

“Derrick Van Yeboah pled guilty today to a massive criminal scheme targeting elderly men and women in online romance scams,” Mr Clayton said.

He added that many victims had turned to online platforms in search of companionship but were instead defrauded.

“Many New Yorkers search for companionship online, and no one deserves to have their vulnerability met with fraud and theft. Van Yeboah cruelly exploited those vulnerabilities for over $10 million in illicit profit.”

According to prosecutors, Van Yeboah was part of a criminal organisation primarily based in Ghana that carried out romance scams and business email compromise operations against individuals and businesses across the United States.

Investigators said members of the group created fake online identities and used them to build relationships with victims, convincing them that they were involved in genuine romantic partnerships.

Once the victims had developed trust in the supposed partners, the fraudsters persuaded them to transfer money or to help move funds obtained from other victims.

Authorities said the scheme extended beyond individuals to include businesses that were tricked through compromised email accounts into transferring large sums of money to accounts controlled by the criminal network.

In total, prosecutors said the conspiracy stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims, with the proceeds later moved to West Africa.

Van Yeboah personally carried out many of the romance scams by posing as fictitious romantic partners in communications with victims. He is being held responsible for more than $10 million that he obtained through the fraudulent scheme.

The 40-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison under United States law.

He has also agreed to pay restitution and forfeiture amounting to $10,149,429.17.

However, prosecutors said the maximum sentence is set by law for reference and that the final punishment will be determined by the presiding judge.

Van Yeboah is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Arun Subramanian on June 3, 2026.

The US Attorney’s Office said the investigation was carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, while authorities also acknowledged assistance from Ghana and the United States Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.

The case is being prosecuted by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the US Attorney’s Office, with Assistant US Attorneys Kevin Mead and Mitzi Steiner leading the prosecution.

ALSO READ:

• Abu Trica appears in court over $8m romance scam ahead of U.S. extradition

• 32 foreigners arrested in Kasoa romance scam bust 

Rescue efforts continue after the loss of the KC-135, it said, having earlier said neither hostile nor friendly fire were involved in the downing of the aircraft.

The tanker had been involved in ongoing US operations against Iran and was one of two aircraft involved in the incident. The second landed safely.

The Boeing-manufactured aircraft are capable of refuelling planes midair and typically play a major role in US military operations. They were used extensively in the first Gulf War to extend the range of fighter jets and bombers.

Centcom said the incident occurred around 14:00 ET (19:00 GMT) on Thursday and that the circumstances of the crash were now under investigation.

The US military command unit added that the identities of the personnel who had been killed were being withheld for 24 hours so their next of kin could be notified.

The KC-135 usually has a crew of at least a pilot, a co-pilot and a boom operator responsible for controlling the refuelling arm of the aircraft.

Centcom earlier described the crash as happening over friendly airspace – but this is a region of Iraq where pro-Iranian militias operate. Iran’s military claimed on state TV that an allied group had targeted the plane with a missile.

Thursday’s crash brings the official US military death toll in the US-Israel war with Iran, which began a fortnight ago, to 11.

The US military has now lost at least four aircraft during the current war.

Earlier this month, three F-15s were shot down in “an apparent friendly fire incident” over Kuwait, officials said. All six crew members were able to safely eject.

Boeing manufactured the KC-135 Stratotanker for the US military in the 1950s and early 1960s.

It has been a backbone to the US military’s air refuelling fleet and allow combat aircraft to carry out longer missions without needing to land.

In a public notice issued on March 13, 2026, the Ministry reported a rise in cases where Ghanaians were deceived with offers of employment, business opportunities, or assistance in obtaining European visas.

According to the statement, many victims of such schemes end up stranded, detained by immigration authorities, or subjected to exploitative conditions in foreign countries.

The Ministry noted that QNET, a multilevel marketing company previously scrutinized by regulators in several African countries, is among networks targeting vulnerable youth with deceptive recruitment tactics.

It urged the public to verify all travel, recruitment, and business offers through official channels before making financial commitments or traveling abroad.

Parents, guardians, and community leaders were also encouraged to educate young people about the risks associated with such schemes.

The Ministry added that it is collaborating with relevant security agencies to protect Ghanaians and clamp down on criminal networks exploiting unsuspecting individuals.

The degree was conferred on Friday, March 13, 2026, by the university’s leadership, including President Yoon Dog-sup and Kim Hyun-chul, Dean of the Graduate School.

In his acceptance speech, President Mahama dedicated the honour to the people of Ghana, describing it as a symbol of the strong relationship between Ghana and South Korea.

“This honour you have bestowed upon me today is one that I accept on behalf of all the people of Ghana as a symbol of the deep respect, mutual relations, and admiration that exist between our two countries,” he said.

President Mahama also emphasised the importance of international cooperation and youth empowerment, urging continued collaboration between nations.

“May the friendship between Ghana and Korea continue to grow deeper and stronger. May we all commit ourselves to choosing peace over conflict, cooperation over confrontation, and hope over despair,” he stated.

He further encouraged young people, particularly students of Yonsei University, to pursue truth and excellence in their endeavours.

The honorary doctorate recognises President Mahama’s longstanding role in public service and international engagement, while strengthening academic and diplomatic ties between Ghana and South Korea.

Zhang Kequn was intercepted during a security check at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in the capital, Nairobi, after authorities discovered a large consignment of live ants in his luggage bound for China.

He has yet to respond to the accusation, but investigators said in court that he was linked to an anti-trafficking network that was broken up in Kenya last year.

The ants are protected by international biodiversity treaties, and their trade is highly regulated.

Last year, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) warned of a growing demand for garden ants – scientifically known as Messor cephalotes – in Europe and Asia, where collectors keep them as pets.

A state prosecutor told the court on Wednesday, March 12, that Zhang had packed some ants in test tubes, while others were concealed in tissue paper rolls hidden in his luggage.

“Within his personal luggage, there was found 1,948 garden ants packed in specialised test tubes,” prosecutor Allen Mulama told the court.

“A further 300 live ants were recovered concealed in three rolls of tissue paper within the luggage,” he added.

The prosecutor asked the court to allow the suspect’s electronic devices – phone and laptop – to be forensically examined.

Duncan Juma, a senior KWS official, told the BBC that more arrests were expected as investigators widen their probe into other Kenyan towns where ant harvesting was suspected to be ongoing.

Last May, a Kenyan court sentenced four men to one year in prison or a fine of $7,700 (£5,800) for trying to smuggle thousands of live queen ants out of the country, in a first-of-its-kind case.

The four suspects – two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan – had pleaded guilty to the charges after their arrest in what the KWS described as “a coordinated, intelligence-led operation”.

The Belgians told the court that they were collecting the highly sought-after ants as a hobby and didn’t think it was illegal.

Investigators now say Zhang was the mastermind behind this trafficking ring, but apparently escaped Kenya last year using a different passport.

On Wednesday, the court allowed prosecutors to detain him for five days to enable detectives to conduct further investigations.

The KWS, which is more used to protecting larger creatures, such as lions and elephants, described last year’s ruling as a “landmark case”.

The ants seized last year were giant African harvester ants, which KWS said were ecologically important, noting that their removal from the ecosystem could disrupt soil health and biodiversity.

It is believed that the intended destinations were the exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia.

The West African nation, a prominent advocate of reparations on the continent, plans to table the proposal at the U.N. General Assembly, possibly as early as this month, its Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

The plan marks a new step in Africa’s efforts to seek accountability for ​historical injustices by former colonial powers, and the country hopes it will “enjoy the support ​of many member states”.

“The proposed resolution seeks to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime in the history of humankind, taking into account its scale, duration, legalisation and enduring consequences,” ​it said.

While calls for reparations have gained momentum in recent years, there is also a growing backlash.

Several ​European leaders have opposed even discussing the subject, with critics arguing that today’s states and institutions ‌should not ⁠be held responsible for historical wrongs.

Asked if it expected opposition, the ministry said: “A backlash against truth is one that we hope would not occur. Ghana is not seeking to reopen old wounds but to heal those wounds with truth.”

PUSH FOR ​REPARATIONS

African and Caribbean nations have been seeking to establish a special U.N. reparations tribunal, with lawyers noting that previous tribunals had been created by resolution or by the Security Council.

The African Union (AU) last year set out to create a “unified vision” among its 55 member states on what reparations may entail, ranging from financial compensation and formal apologies to policy reforms. AU leaders endorsed the proposed resolution at a summit last ⁠month.

Member ​states of the Caribbean Community, which has outlined its ​own reparations plan, are also expected to support it.

“We remain optimistic that others would equally be able ​to do so,” the ministry said.

ALSO READ:

• Mahama demands reparation for slave trade

• Ghana to submit motion at UN declaring slavery a grave crime – Mahama

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was a temporary measure to “promote stability in global energy markets” during the war. The authorisation will remain in effect until 11 April.

“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government,” Bessent said.

Attacks on ships and energy infrastructure in the Gulf and the effective closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway have rocked global energy markets.

Oil prices climbed back above $100 a barrel on Thursday, and stock markets fell after three more cargo vessels were hit in the Gulf and Iran’s new supreme leader vowed to keep blocking the strait.

Around a fifth of the world’s oil usually passes through the narrow waterway.

Oil prices were broadly steady in Friday morning trading in Asia, with Brent crude 0.2% lower at $100.29 (£75.09) a barrel, while US-traded oil was down by 0.3% at $95.41.

The jump in energy prices this week has prompted authorities to take action.

On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it would release a record 400 million barrels of oil.

Governments in Asia, which are major buyers of oil from the Gulf, have announced a slew of measures in recent days.

The Philippines, for example, gets around 95% of its crude oil from the Middle East. The country’s president told public workers to switch to a four-day working week to save fuel.

Meanwhile, Japan, South Korea and Thailand have announced price caps on petrol prices.

“The temporary increase in oil prices is a short-term and temporary disruption that will result in a massive benefit to our nation and economy in the long-term,” Bessent said.

Earlier, he said the US government would start escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as it is militarily possible”.

The possible need for a military escort “was always in our planning”, he told Sky News.

Pressed on whether that could start in the coming days, Bessent said: “As soon as it is possible to ensure safe passage, we will do it”.

Called “Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress”, the ethnic minority law aims to forge national unity and advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with the Chinese ​Communist Party (CCP) at its core, a draft copy of the law showed.

It was passed at the closing session of the ​annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, by 2,756 votes, with three opposing votes and three ⁠abstentions, according to a Reuters witness.

The law will come into force on July 1 this year, state media reported.

Officially, China has ​56 officially recognised ethnic groups, dominated by the Han Chinese, who account for more than 91% of the country’s 1.4 billion people.

China’s ethnic minority ​populations – including Tibetans, Mongols, Hui, Manchus, and Uyghurs – are concentrated in regions that together cover roughly half of the country’s land area, much of it rich in natural resources.

The law aims to promote integration across ethnic groups through education, housing, migration, community life, culture, tourism, and development policy, the law said.

It mandates ​that Mandarin is the basic language of instruction in schools and for government and official business.

In public settings, where Mandarin and minority ​languages are used together, Mandarin must be given “prominence in placement, order, and similar respects,” the draft said.

“The state respects and protects the learning and use ‌of minority ⁠languages and scripts,” it added.

Religious groups, religious schools, and religious venues must adhere “to the direction of the Sinicization of religion in China,” according to the draft.

The law also seeks to ban any interference with marriage choices based on ethnicity, custom, or religion, to enable more intermarriage between ethnic groups.

‘INTEGRATE WITH THE MAJORITY’

Allen Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University and an expert on Chinese foreign policy, said ​the law underlined a move towards ​assimilation.

“The law makes it clearer ⁠than ever that in President Xi Jinping’s PRC non-Han peoples must do more to integrate themselves with the Han majority, and above all else be loyal to Beijing,” he said, referring to China by ​the initials for its official name.

Ethnic affairs are incorporated into China’s social governance system, with clauses that ​include anti-separatism, border ⁠security, risk prevention, and social stability.

Organisations and individuals outside China that carry out acts against the country “that undermine ethnic unity and progress or create ethnic separatism shall be pursued for legal liability in accordance with the law,” the draft said.

An editorial in state newspaper China Daily said that ⁠the law ​had followed a rigorous legislative process, been through multiple readings and consultations with ​lawmakers and representatives from ethnic minority communities.

“The law stresses the protection of cultural traditions and lifestyles of all ethnic groups… it is misleading to claim that ethnic minorities in ​China must choose between economic development and cultural preservation,” it said.

Speaking after the ceremony on Thursday, March 12, the President described the vessel as a major step toward strengthening energy supply and improving access to clean energy in Ghana and the wider West African region.

According to him, the project highlights the importance of international partnerships in advancing infrastructure development and ensuring a reliable energy supply for emerging economies across the African continent.

“The commissioning of this vessel underscores the enduring value of international cooperation. It reflects the strength of partnerships between Africa and our friends around the world—partnerships built on mutual respect, shared prosperity, and a shared commitment to sustainable development,” President Mahama said.

He further urged governments, investors, and industry stakeholders to intensify efforts to expand clean energy access while promoting inclusive economic growth across Africa.

President Mahama expressed hope that the LPG vessel MT Asharami Ghana would serve as a symbol of progress and inspire further investment, innovation, and collaboration within Africa’s energy value chain.

“People are being shot in broad daylight. American citizens are being shot and killed,” said ‌the 53-year-old, who moved to California in 2003. “I don’t want to live in a place like this.”

President Donald Trump’s officials have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were justified in firing the shots that killed two U.S. citizens in January, although video evidence has contradicted their accounts.

Veitch plans to return to South Africa this year, one of thousands of white South Africans coming back, despite Trump’s statements that the white minority is being persecuted by the country’s Black majority government.

Pretoria says there is no evidence of discrimination or persecution ​against whites. Many have left since the end of white minority rule in 1994, some citing crime and difficulty getting jobs, but many are also returning.

Veitch is among 12,000 people who have checked their ​citizenship status in an online portal launched by the government in November after the overturning of a 1995 law that stripped citizenship from some South Africans who left.

They ⁠represent a fraction of South Africans abroad. The latest official statistics on returnees, from 2022, show that almost 15,000 white South Africans returned that year.

EXPATS SAY SOUTH AFRICA MEANS LOWER COSTS, LESS TURMOIL

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber ​said 1,000 people had reclaimed their citizenship, a number he expected to grow significantly as the programme takes off.

“There is definitely a sense of optimism for South Africans abroad,” said Schreiber, part of the white-led Democratic Alliance party that ​has ruled in coalition with the African National Congress since 2024. He is a returnee himself, having spent time in the U.S. and Germany before coming home in 2016.

Two recruitment agencies that help expats relocate said the number of inquiries had jumped, and Reuters spoke to 10 South Africans who had either returned or were planning to, seven of them from across Europe and three from the United States.

Their reasons, echoed in a 25,000-strong “Return to South Africa” Facebook group some belong to, included being closer to ​family, lower living costs and political turmoil abroad.

The Trump administration is ramping up its new refugee programme for white South Africans, focusing on Afrikaners, the descendants of Dutch settlers. About 3,500 South Africans have entered the United States as ​refugees since the programme started in May 2025.

Applicants interviewed by Reuters complained of being victims of racially motivated crime and employment equity laws that favour non-white candidates in order to redress decades of white minority rule.

Other Afrikaners, like Naomi Saphire, take a ‌different view.

She had ⁠been settled in the United States for two decades when she came back for a holiday and realized how much she missed home.

Last year, she left North Carolina for a seaside town in South Africa’s Western Cape, where she said her three children spend more time outdoors, health insurance is affordable and she prefers the schools.

“My heart is just full of gratefulness to be here,” the 46-year-old said from her home in Plettenberg Bay. “The U.S. has been really good to me (but) I just felt like I was depriving my kids of this life.”

Saphire said she knows many people who are returning home.

RETURNEES USE REMOTE WORKING TO KEEP THEIR JOBS

Crime and joblessness are major issues in ​South Africa, but the unemployment rate is 35% for Black ​people compared with 8% for whites, according to ⁠the latest figures from the national statistics agency Stats SA.

Police statistics released last year showed that even farm murders, which Trump has focused on, killed more Black people than whites. Reuters has found that photos and videos Trump has presented on the matter were taken out of context or misrepresented.

Still, Stats SA estimated a net outward flow of half ​a million whites since 2001, including 95,000 from 2021 to 2026. There is no regular data on returnees, but a Stats SA analysis showed that 28,000 ​South Africans returned in 2022, 52.9% – ⁠or some 14,800 – of whom were white.

Anton van Heerden, CEO of employment agency DNA Employer of Record, said inquiries from white South Africans seeking to return had jumped 70% in the past six months. Angel Jones, CEO of Johannesburg-based recruitment firm HomecomingEx, reported a roughly 30% rise in inquiries since 2024.

A boom in remote working since the COVID-19 pandemic has also helped; three of the returnees interviewed by Reuters kept their jobs abroad.

Many South African professionals have extensive private security at ⁠home which minimizes ​crime risks, Van Heerden said.

“If you can afford to live in a safe environment, you can have a much better life than ​I think in most places in the northern hemisphere,” he said.

Several returnees also said they felt life in South Africa had improved since they left. Power cuts, which used to be daily, for example, have largely stopped.

Thirty-eight-year-old engineer Eugene Jansen, who returned from the Netherlands in December ​with his wife and two children, said the returnees he knows feel things are getting better.

“The opinion is that the country is improving,” he said.

Bellarmine Mugabe, who appeared in court on Wednesday for a bail hearing, is accused of attempted murder, among other charges, after a 23-year-old man was shot and injured at a property in an upmarket suburb of Johannesburg.

He has not commented on the charges but in an unexpected move, he abandoned his request for bail and agreed to plea negotiations with South African prosecutors. He is charged alongside his bodyguard.

Their lawyer Sinenhlanhla Mnguni said it was “premature to say… whether we will plead guilty to anything at this stage”. The matter returns to court next Tuesday.

His father led Zimbabwe for 37 years before being forced out of power at the age of 93 in 2017. He died two years later.

The long-serving president and his second wife Grace had three children together:

• Bona Mugabe – now 37
• Robert Mugabe Jr – now 33
• Bellarmine Mugabe – now 28.

Grace also had a son from an earlier marriage:

• Russell Goreraza – now in his early 40s.

Managing editor of Zimbabwean privately owned NewsHawks website, Dumisani Muleya, told the BBC that the Mugabe family had “lived a life of privilege” and that the children “grew up in that environment where they were protected from the broader realities of the Zimbabwean political and socio-economic situation”.

The family had amassed a vast personal fortune, including $10m (£7.5m) in cash, four houses, 10 cars, a farm and an orchard among other assets.

These details emerged three months after Robert Mugabe’s death in a legal letter submitted to the high court in Zimbabwe by his daughter Bona. At the time, a lawyer for the family, Terrence Hussein, told the BBC that none of the properties were under the former leader’s name.

In 2013, Grace denied that her husband was accumulating wealth while in office, saying her husband did not earn as much as people thought as he was a civil servant.

“The allowance I get is just a pittance. I’m a business-minded person [and] I support my husband [by] running our private businesses,” she said.

Here is a run-down of what has happened to the family members:

Bellarmine Mugabe

Like his siblings, he grew up in the public eye and was subjected to scrutiny from a young age.

But as a teenager it was Bellarmine’s approach to studying that appeared to have been a concern for his parents.

In a wide-ranging interview in 2013 on South African television, they described his playfulness and lack of focus on academics.

Grace said she wanted him to “change his ways” and “concentrate on his studies”.

“He should be more serious than he is at the moment,” his father added.

Bellarmine sheepishly admitted to spending more time on video games than his schoolwork.

Bellarmine and his older brother Robert Jr have made headlines over the years for their flashy lifestyles in the face of rising poverty in Zimbabwe.

In 2017, a few weeks before the coup in which his father was ousted, he posted a picture of a $60,000 watch he was wearing on Instagram.

A few months earlier, the brothers were reportedly kicked out of a luxury apartment block in the affluent Johannesburg suburb of Sandton after complaints about the noise they were making.

There have been also several brushes with the law more recently.

In 2024 he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer in the Zimbabwean border town of Beitbridge.

He was given bail but a warrant for his arrest was then issued after he failed to appear in court, Zimbabwe’s state-run Herald newspaper reported at the time.

A year later in June, he was again arrested for assaulting a security guard at a mining site in Mazowe, an hour’s drive north of the capital, Harare.

He was bailed and the case has not yet concluded.

The current case in South Africa against Bellarmine has faced several delays since his arrest in mid-February and his bail application hearing has already been postponed twice.

Robert Mugabe Jr

Also no stranger to run-ins with the police, Robert Jr was arrested in 2023 over allegations he damaged property at a party in Harare.

He faced three counts of malicious damage to property and two charges of assault on a police officer, his lawyer said at the time. He was accused of smashing car windscreens and spitting on a police officer.

He maintained his innocence and was later freed after agreeing to an out-of-court settlement with the complainant, who was a friend of his.

In 2025, after pleading guilty, Robert Jr was convicted and fined in Zimbabwe for possession of cannabis.

He had been arrested as he drove the wrong way down a one-way street, according to court documents. Police searched a black sling bag he was wearing at the time and allegedly found two small sachets of cannabis.

Officers said they had recovered 2g (0.07 oz) of cannabis, with a street value of $30, but his lawyer said the amount was 0.02g.

Grace Mugabe

The former first lady, now 60, gained a reputation, and criticism, over the years for her alleged appetite for shopping and extravagance, earning her the moniker “Gucci Grace”.

She denied the disparaging accusations and in the 2013 interview said detractors believed she was a “soft target”.

“I’m not really what they say I am and I’m actually surprised by some of the things they say. I work so hard and I don’t have time to pamper myself. I make my own clothes and tie my own scarf,” she said.

In the latter part of her husband’s presidency, she began positioning herself as a potential successor.

She headed the women’s league of Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party and was instrumental in the sidelining of several rival candidates.

Her plans fell apart when Mugabe was deposed after he sacked then Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa in November 2017.

Her business empire subsequently fell apart – and her multimillion-dollar dairy firm, Gushungo Dairy Estates, closed in 2022 reportedly mired in huge debts.

Some argued that it only stayed afloat because of official patronage, which fell away after Mugabe’s ousting.

However, she continues to live in the vast Blue Roof mansion in Harare, which was bought by Zanu-PF for Robert Mugabe while he was still in power.

The party transferred ownership of the property to the family after he died.

Grace is unable to travel to South Africa, where she faces a warrant of arrest relating to a case that happened not long before the Mugabes left power

She was accused in 2017 of assaulting a young woman, Gabriella Engels, with an electric extension cord in a hotel room in Johannesburg.

Grace said at the time that she had acted in self-defence after she was attacked in the room where Bellarmine and Robert Jr lived. According to Engels, she and her friend were visiting the brothers.

An investigation was launched but Grace was given diplomatic immunity, allowing her to leave South Africa without answering questions. That immunity was annulled in July 2018, eight months after the coup, and the arrest warrant issued.

This incident echoed one in 2009, when the then first lady was accused of assaulting a British newspaper photographer in Hong Kong, where her daughter Bona was studying.

Richard Jones said that Grace had punched him while wearing a diamond-studded ring. She was not charged as she was given diplomatic immunity by the Chinese government.

Grace later said she was pushed too far and said she was “protecting my daughter”.

“I had to [punch him] but I really don’t know what happened, I had all this energy,” she said in the 2013 interview.

Bona Mugabe

While the rest of the family’s exploits have made headlines over the years, Bona largely stayed out of the spotlight – until a bitter divorce thrust her into the public eye.

Mugabe’s eldest child and only daughter filed for divorce from former pilot Simbarashe Chikore in 2023, sparking a highly publicised legal battle between the two.

Chikore wanted a share of what he said was $80m worth of residential properties, including a mansion in Dubai and 21 farms – something that flies in the face of her father’s policy of “one household, one farm”.

He also detailed a list of other assets she allegedly owned, saying this was just a “drop in the ocean”.

Bona did not respond to her estranged husband’s allegations but a former spokesperson for her father denied the couple owned 21 farms.

They eventually opted to settle their divorce privately following public scrutiny and outrage over the revelations.

Bona and Chikore had married at a lavish wedding in 2014 that was attended by several African heads of state – and was broadcast live on state television – and have three children.

Russell Goreraza

In 2015, Grace’s oldest son Russell Goreraza was convicted of manslaughter and fined $800 (£595).

This came after he knocked down and killed an unidentified man in his car in Harare earlier that year. Goreraza was speeding at the time of the accident.

Sentencing for culpable homicide varies depending on the magistrate and their interpretation of the circumstances, but two-year prison terms have been handed down in similar cases.

The magistrate presiding over this case said he had decided against jail because of Goreraza’s remorse and the fact that he was a first-time offender.

Where are the Mugabes now?

The family has largely retreated from public life since 2017.

The ousted president was bitter about the way he was treated by his Zanu-PF party and campaigned for the opposition in the 2018 elections.

But since his death, his wife, daughter Bona and Robert Jr have appeared to reconcile with the party, attending President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s most recent inauguration in 2023.

The Mugabes, except for Bellarmine, are believed to be living in Zimbabwe.

The BBC contacted a family spokesperson for comment, but they declined to confirm the family’s whereabouts.

In a statement issued on March 11, the ministry said it had been informed by authorities in the UAE that the two Ghanaians sustained injuries following the incident earlier in the day.

The government strongly condemned any act that endangers civilian lives and critical infrastructure, noting that such incidents pose serious risks to public safety.

According to the ministry, Ghana’s Ambassador to the UAE led a delegation from the embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai to visit the injured nationals at the hospital.

The ministry indicated that the victims’ injuries are not critical and they are expected to make a full recovery.

It added that Ghanaian authorities are closely monitoring the situation while continuing to work with local authorities in the UAE.

The government also reiterated its commitment to protecting the welfare of Ghanaian citizens abroad and urged Ghanaians in the Gulf region to remain vigilant and comply with directives from local authorities and Ghanaian diplomatic missions.

READ ALSO:

• Auditor-General report flags GH¢162m in overstated claims by state agencies
• Finance Ministry refers Auditor-General’s arrears report to Attorney-General for prosecution

The summit, held at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, culminated in the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) covering maritime security, climate change cooperation, and digital technology—a move aimed at deepening collaboration between the West African nation and its Asian partner.

President Mahama highlighted the shared history, democratic values, and commitment to human rights that have strengthened relations between Ghana and Korea over decades. He noted that these principles have guided cooperation in multilateral forums, including the United Nations, where both countries often align on global issues.

On the sidelines of the talks, President Lee commended Ghana’s role in promoting maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, particularly efforts to protect the safety of South Korean nationals and vessels operating in piracy-prone waters.

The agreements signed include:

• Climate Change Cooperation MoU: Establishing a framework for joint action on climate initiatives.
• Maritime Security MoU: Between the Ghana Navy and Korea Coast Guard to enhance intelligence sharing, combat international maritime crimes, and improve search-and-rescue operations.
• Technology and Digital Cooperation MoU: Expanding collaboration in artificial intelligence, digital access, and youth skills development.

President Mahama also highlighted potential growth areas in agriculture and agribusiness, pointing to initiatives supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency to boost rice production and strengthen food security in Ghana.

Additionally, the Ghanaian leader emphasized opportunities for expanding economic ties under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), headquartered in Accra, positioning Ghana as a strategic hub for production and exports across Africa.

“Ghana’s natural and human resources, combined with Korea’s technological innovation, can drive a mutually beneficial partnership for sustainable growth and shared prosperity,” President Mahama said.

Below are some photos

In a notice to shippers, the Authority said the conflict, which escalated on February 28, 2026, has significantly affected vessel movement through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

According to the Authority, the Strait plays a critical role in global trade flows.

“The conflict has resulted in significant disruptions to maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical maritime trade corridors,” the notice stated.

Analysis by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) indicates that the Strait carries about one-quarter of global seaborne oil trade, significant volumes of liquefied natural gas and roughly one-third of global seaborne fertilizer trade.

The Authority warned that disruptions in the area could have widespread effects on supply chains.

“Any disruption to traffic through the Strait therefore has far-reaching consequences for global supply chains, energy markets and agricultural inputs,” the notice explained.

Several international shipping lines have already begun adjusting their operations due to security concerns in the region.

“Following the escalation of hostilities, several major international shipping lines have suspended or rerouted vessel movements through the region,” the Authority said.

Many vessels are now diverting through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, which significantly increases sailing distances and operational costs.

As a result, shipping companies have introduced war-risk and emergency surcharges on cargo moving through the affected region.

“It is a global industry practice for shipping lines to introduce War Risk Surcharges and Emergency Surcharges when vessels operate in or near conflict-affected regions,” the Authority noted.

According to the notice, the charges are meant to offset rising insurance premiums and other operational costs linked to navigating high-risk maritime areas.

“These charges are intended to offset the significant increase in operational risks and costs associated with navigating high-risk maritime areas,” it added.

Industry estimates show that war risk surcharges could range between 1,500 and 2,000 US dollars per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), with additional charges expected for larger and refrigerated containers.

The GSA warned that the situation could result in higher freight rates, longer transit times and possible supply chain disruptions for certain commodities entering Ghana. However, the Authority clarified that it does not impose such charges.

“It must be clearly stated that the Ghana Shippers’ Authority has not and does not impose surcharges on shipments on behalf of shipping lines,” the notice emphasized.

The Authority also said it is investigating reports circulating on social media about the early imposition of war risk surcharges before the conflict escalated.

“Where there are breaches and unfair treatments, we would forcefully address them,” it assured.

The Authority says it will continue to monitor developments in global shipping and provide updates to stakeholders in Ghana’s shipping and logistics sector.

READ ALSO:

• Auditor-General report flags GH¢162m in overstated claims by state agencies
• Finance Ministry refers Auditor-General’s arrears report to Attorney-General for prosecution

The encounter occurred on the sidelines of the event, which was part of activities organised to mark the occasion following the appointment of Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Ga Mantse’s presence placed Ghana’s traditional leadership in the international spotlight, bringing attention to the role of customary authorities in cultural diplomacy and global engagement.

His interaction with King Charles III highlighted the growing importance of traditional rulers in promoting cultural heritage on the international stage.

The celebrations were attended by several high-profile dignitaries, including Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa; Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sabah Zita Benson; and Ogiame Atuwatse III, who was present with his queen, Olori Ivie Atuwatse.

Also attending were Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Alexander Williams, along with other distinguished diplomats and leaders from across the Commonwealth.

The Ga Mantse’s participation offered an opportunity to showcase Ghana’s rich cultural heritage while fostering stronger diplomatic and cultural ties with other Commonwealth nations.

Randrianirina seized control of the Indian Ocean island nation in the wake of youth-led protests that forced out his predecessor, Andry Rajoelina.

• “The ​President will shortly proceed with the ‌appointment ⁠of a new Prime Minister, following the procedures set out by ​the constitution,” ​Harry ⁠Laurent Rahajason, director of communication of ​the Presidency, said ​in ⁠the statement.
• The statement did not provide an explanation ⁠for ​the dismissal.

A respite from a potential war-driven surge in inflation would likely reduce the likelihood of central banks raising interest rates, a positive for non-yielding gold.

Spot gold rose 0.8% to $5,179.52 per ​ounce, as of 0233 GMT. U.S. gold futures for April delivery rose ⁠1.7% to $5,188.70.

The dollar fell 0.4%, making greenback-priced bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Gold ​prices rose “due to the news flow from U.S. President Trump himself, stating that there is ​a potential for de-escalation… So what we could see is that potential inflation expectation starts to tone down given this dramatic fall in oil price,” said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst at OANDA.

Oil ​prices fell over 10% after Trump said the war in the Middle East could end ​soon, easing concerns about prolonged disruptions to global oil supplies.

Trump also warned that U.S. attacks could rise ‌sharply ⁠if Iran sought to block tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

The war has effectively shut the Strait, stranding tankers for over a week and forcing producers to halt output as storage fills up, sending energy prices soaring.

Gold prices fell on Monday as higher energy costs fanned inflation concerns and further dimmed the prospects for a near-term cut in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Investors expect the Fed to keep rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting on March 18, per CME Group’s FedWatch tool. [FEDWATCH]

Gold is seen as an inflation hedge, but low rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding it as a zero-yield asset.

Markets are now awaiting the U.S. consumer price index for February, ⁠due on ​Wednesday, and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index – the Fed’s ​preferred inflation gauge – on Friday.

Spot silver rose 3% to $89.60 per ounce. Spot platinum was up 1.2% at $2,208.16, and palladium ​gained 0.2% to $1,693.84.

At a news conference at his ⁠Doral golf club, Trump ​said oil prices have not spiked ​as much as he had feared.

Trump said the United States is waiving certain ​oil-related sanctions to cut ​prices.

“We have sanctions on some countries. We’re ‌going ⁠to take those sanctions off till the Strait (of Hormuz) is up,” Trump said.

He was not specific, but the United States last week issued a temporary 30-day waiver to allow the sale of Russian oil currently stranded at sea to India to alleviate pressure on the global oil market.

The incident occurred as the region faces its most significant surge in violence since the 2024 ceasefire, with escalating cross-border exchanges between the Israel Defence Forces and armed groups. This flare-up marks a critical test for international diplomacy as the risk of a total regional collapse grows.

Incident at Al Qawzah
The injured peacekeepers are part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). This mission serves as a buffer between Lebanese and Israeli forces. The soldiers were inside their designated outpost when the exchange of fire occurred. UNIFIL officials confirmed that while two of the soldiers are being treated at a mission facility, the most severely injured peacekeeper was evacuated to Beirut for specialist care. The medical evacuation underscores the increasing danger faced by neutral observers caught in the crossfire of modern urban warfare.

In an official statement, the UN chief addressed the severity of the event. “The Secretary-General condemns the incident on Friday, 6 March, which resulted in three Ghanaian peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) being injured inside their position in Al Qawzah, southwestern Lebanon, amidst heavy firing. He wishes a swift and full recovery to the injured peacekeepers,” the statement read. His words reflect a growing international anxiety over the erosion of traditional protections for global peacekeeping forces.

Protection of UN personnel
The Secretary-General emphasised the legal protections afforded to international monitors. He noted that the safety of UN staff is a non-negotiable aspect of international law, warning that targeted attacks on “Blue Helmets” may constitute war crimes. “The Secretary-General underscores that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be respected at all times, and that those responsible must be held accountable. The inviolability of UN installations must be respected by all,” Guterres stated. This demand for accountability serves as a firm reminder that international law remains the primary shield for those serving in high-conflict zones.

Escalation in the U.S., Israel, and Iran war
The wounding of the peacekeepers comes as the United States and Israel intensify a direct military campaign against Iran, which began in late February 2026. Following Israeli strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure in Tehran on March 7, Tehran has vowed retaliation against U.S. and Israeli assets across the Middle East. This trilateral conflict has turned Southern Lebanon into a primary secondary front, with Hezbollah and the IDF exchanging fire at levels not seen in decades. The convergence of these global and local hostilities has created a volatile environment where non-combatants and peacekeepers are increasingly vulnerable to the spillover of great-power confrontations.

Regional instability and Resolution 1701
This incident takes place during a period of significant tension along the border. UNIFIL’s presence is governed by Security Council Resolution 1701. This mandate was established to maintain the cessation of hostilities following the 2006 Lebanon War. The 2026 escalation has seen a marked increase in displacement, with the UN reporting over 80,000 civilians forced from their homes in southern Lebanon. The mass movement of people highlights the fragile nature of the peace that Resolution 1701 has struggled to maintain for twenty years.

Ghana remains a consistent contributor to these peacekeeping efforts and currently ranks as one of the mission’s largest troop contributors. Its troops are deployed to help stabilise the volatile border region. The United Nations has now called for an immediate pause in the violence to prevent further escalation. “The United Nations urges the parties to de-escalate immediately and fully adhere to their obligations under Security Council resolution 1701 (2006),” the UN chief added. Ultimately, the safety of these Ghanaian peacekeepers depends on a collective return to the diplomatic frameworks designed to prevent the region from descending into an unmanageable war.

The Director General for Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin, speaking on the situation of the injured officers, said the current assessment points to treatment within Lebanon remaining the most viable option.

“I believe they’ll be managed in Lebanon unless we get out of hand, and then they’ll be repatriated home. But as we think they are all responding, so there’s a likely hope that they will be treated in there,” she said.

Her remarks come after the Ghanaian Battalion Headquarters at the Al Qouzah outpost came under two missile strikes between 17:45 and 17:52 local time on Friday, March 6, during an exchange of fire between the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Two soldiers sustained critical injuries, and a third suffered psychological trauma.

The Officers’ Mess was hit and completely burnt down, while replacement quarters have since been arranged, and logistical support has been provided to those affected.

The most critically injured soldier has since undergone surgery.

Deputy Defence Minister Ernest Brogya Genfi confirmed the surgery was carried out on the morning of Saturday, March 7, 2026, and that the soldier came through successfully.

The injured soldiers were initially treated at the Level One Medical Bunker at the base before being evacuated to the UNIFIL Headquarters Referral Hospital for further care.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa wrote to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on March 7, demanding a full investigation into the strike, describing it as a violation of international humanitarian law governing the protection of peacekeeping personnel.

In its formal complaint to the UN, the Ghanaian government called for a “full, immediate, impartial and transparent investigation” into the circumstances surrounding the attack.

The Israeli Ambassador to Ghana described the incident as catastrophic and expressed empathy toward the affected Ghanaian contingent, while Lebanon’s government condemned the attack as a grave breach of international law and called for accountability.

Ghana is one of the largest troop-contributing countries to United Nations peacekeeping missions worldwide, with soldiers serving across Africa and the Middle East.

Its UNIFIL contingent operates in a buffer zone along the Israel-Lebanon border under a mandate to monitor ceasefire arrangements and prevent the escalation of hostilities.

READ ALSO:

Middle East War: Gov’t must turn oil price gains into relief for the poor – Economist

I’m poised to take art to a different level – Sharon Padi says after becoming Guinness World Record holder

The annual celebration of the Commonwealth, to be marked on Monday with a service at Westminster Abbey, will see the biggest gathering of senior royals since the arrest of his brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

There will also be contributions at the service from performers including former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner and Strictly Come Dancing’s Oti Mabuse.

Against a backdrop of war in the Middle East and Ukraine, the King will commend the unifying force of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 56 countries.

“It is often in such testing moments that the enduring spirit of the Commonwealth is most clearly revealed,” the King’s message will say.

The King, who has campaigned for many years to protect the environment, will also reflect, in his written message, on pressures from “climate change and rapid transformation”.

He will say the Commonwealth is a “force for good – grounded in community, committed to the kind of restorative sustainability that has a return on investment, enriched by culture, steadfast in its care for our planet, and united in friendship and in the service of its people”.

The reference to the significance of climate change is in contrast to the approach of the administration of President Donald Trump in the US, who last month reversed a ruling that underpinned federal attempts to curb greenhouse gases.

There have been reports that the King could carry out a state visit to the US next month, but nothing has so far been confirmed.

The annual Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey is usually attended by senior royals, political and religious leaders, and representatives of Commonwealth nations.

The multi-faith service, held since 1972, is a mixture of music, prayers, dance and readings, reflecting the diversity of the Commonwealth. But unlike in recent years, the service is not being broadcast live by the BBC because of “funding challenges”.

Also taking part will be dancers from the Royal Ballet School, and singers Indigo Marshall and Tarju Le’Sano, and there will be a new piece of music by composer Rekesh Chauhan.

The Commonwealth’s Secretary General, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, will speak at the service.

Among the future issues facing Commonwealth leaders will be whether Mountbatten-Windsor should keep his place in the line of succession, after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office last month, and in the wake of revelations from the Epstein files.

Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, added his voice to calls for his removal from the line of succession, following similar calls from Australia and New Zealand.

Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne, and removing him would require legislation in the UK and the approval of the 14 Commonwealth realms that have King Charles as head of state.

Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing from his association with Jeffrey Epstein.

Iran on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father, Ali Khamenei, as Supreme Leader, signalling that a week into the conflict, hardliners remain in charge of the country.

The US and Israel launched fresh waves of airstrikes across Iran over the weekend, hitting multiple targets, including oil depots.

Major disruption to energy supplies from the region threatens to push up prices for consumers and businesses worldwide.

On Monday morning in Asia, Brent crude was almost 24% higher at $114.74, while Nymex light sweet was up by more than 26% at $114.78.

Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region fell sharply in morning trade, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index down by more than 7%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong losing over 3%, and the ASX 200 in Australia more than 4% lower.

South Korea’s Kospi index, which has been hit especially hard since the conflict began, slipped by more than 8%, triggering a 20-minute halt to trading.

The so-called circuit breaker is a mechanism designed to curb panic selling. It also came into effect on Wednesday, when the Kospi slumped by 12%.

About a fifth of the world’s oil supply is usually shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. But traffic through the narrow passage has all but halted since the war started a week ago.

Many in the markets predicted that oil would hit the $ 100-a-barrel mark this week.

In the event, it took about a minute to jump 10%, and then another 15 minutes to rise a further 10% in early Asian trading.

Last week, the markets had been relatively relaxed about the seemingly nightmarish scenario of millions of barrels of crude and liquefied natural gas trapped in the Gulf, unable or unwilling to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

But the escalations over the weekend, alongside scenes of destruction of energy infrastructure both in Iran and across the Gulf, saw the markets take a rapid fright.

The question now is, where does this go? Some analysts argue that if the shutdown in the Strait lasts until the end of March, we could see record oil prices above $150 a barrel.

Adnan Mazarei from the Peterson Institute for International Economics said the jump in oil prices was expected, given how production has been halted in some Gulf countries and the signs of a prolonged conflict in the region.

“People are realising that this won’t end quickly,” he said, adding that the promises of insurance and objectives laid out by the US are “becoming more unrealistic.”

The rise in oil prices could also increase the cost of important derivative products such as jet fuel and vital precursors for fertilisers.

The physical supplies from the Gulf are mainly consumed in Asia.

Already, however, there are signs that Asian consumers are bidding up prices for US gas, with some tankers originally heading for Europe turning around in the mid-Atlantic.

US President Donald Trump responded to the jump in prices by saying that short-term rises were a “small price to pay” for removing Iran’s nuclear threat.

His energy secretary told US broadcasters on Sunday that Israel, not the US, was targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure, amid some concern about rising domestic pump prices caused by the war.

Mojtaba, a mid-ranking cleric with influence inside Iran’s security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been seen as a frontrunner in the lead up to the vote by the assembly, a body of 88 clerics charged with choosing the new leader after Ali Khamenei.

“By a decisive vote, the Assembly of ​Experts, appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the ​assembly said in a statement issued just after midnight Tehran time.

The position gives Mojtaba the final say in all ⁠matters of state in the Islamic Republic.

Mojtaba’s appointment will likely draw the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on Sunday that Washington should ​have a say in the selection. “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long,” he told ABC News. Israel, ahead of the ​announcement, threatened to target whoever was chosen.

Mojtaba’s father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was killed in one of the first strikes launched against Iran more than a week ago.

The U.S. military on Sunday reported a seventh American has died from wounds sustained during Iran’s initial counter-attack a week ago, a day after Trump presided over the return to the ​United States of the remains of the six others who died.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to ​Iran’s U.N. ambassador.

As Trump pressed for an “unconditional surrender,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, said Tehran was not seeking a ceasefire to the war and would punish aggressors.

Israel continued ‌to target ⁠senior Iranian figures, including Abolqasem Babaian, the recently appointed head of the military office of the supreme leader, saying he was killed in a Saturday strike.

BLACK SMOKE HANGS OVER TEHRAN

As fighting escalated on day nine of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, thick black smoke hung over Tehran on Sunday, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities, opens new tab had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack marked ​a “dangerous new phase” of the conflict ​and amounted to a war crime.

“By ⁠targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air,” he wrote on X.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to fuel Iran’s war effort, including ​producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles. “They are a legal military target,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ​said his government would ⁠press on with the assault and strike Iran’s rulers “without mercy”.

“We have an organised plan with many surprises to destabilise the regime and enable change,” he said in a video statement.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will visit Israel on Tuesday, according to Axios, citing a senior U.S. official.

Trump told ⁠reporters on ​Air Force One that he was not seeking negotiations to end the conflict, which has ​driven up global energy prices, disrupted business and snarled air travel.

“At some point, I don’t think there will be anybody left maybe to say, ‘We surrender’,” he said.