The United States and Iran have both indicated they are close to reaching a final deal in their memorandum of understanding, but trod cautiously amid looming threats of ongoing conflict from both sides. US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had a “good call” with Gulf leaders, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkiye and Jordan concerning Iran and “all things related to a memorandum of understanding pertaining to peace”. An agreement has been “largely negotiated subject to finalization between the US, Iran and various countries”, he said, adding it “will be announced shortly”. “In addition to many other elements of the agreement,…
Author: Special Correspondent
Ferdinand Omanyala delivered a strong response on Saturday in Xiamen, China, storming to victory in the men’s 100m at the 2026 Diamond League meet after narrowly missing out to his South African rival last weekend in Shanghai. The Kenyan sprinter stopped the clock at 9.94 seconds, a season best and his fifth straight race under 10 seconds this year, as he edged a competitive field that included Gift Leotlela and American star Trayvon Bromell at the Egret Stadium. The win carried extra weight for Omanyala, coming just a week after he finished second in a close finish at the Shanghai…
His audacious vision to deliver news from around the world in real time, at all hours, really made him famous – once the idea finally took off… On June 1, 1980, CNN, the first 24-hour news channel, went live and has been on the air ever since By CNN Team Robert Edward Turner III, better known as Ted Turner around the globe, was an American businessman, who was nicknamed “The Mouth of the South” because his outspoken nature. However, his greatest claim to fame was that he founded CNN, the pioneering 24-hour network that revolutionised television news, building a media…
In this review, I invite you, my dear reader, to pick up Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s magnum opus Wizard of the Crow, which stands as one of the most ambitious literary interrogations of postcolonial Africa.
By Ayanda Holo In the cold industrial winds of Saldanha Bay, the furnaces still seem to remember. They recall the roar of production, the first whistle of the shift, trucks loaded with mineral wealth, and livelihoods built on the dignity of work. Now, ahead of the 2026 Budget Vote of the Department of Electricity and Energy, South Africa faces a defining choice: allow its industrial fires to cool for good, or reignite them, using energy policy not just for survival, but as the decisive lever for economic renewal and national dignity. Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa arrives at this moment carrying…
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has announced heightened surveillance and enforcement measures ahead of the 2027 General Election, warning politicians and public officers against bribery, abuse of office, and other forms of electoral corruption. Speaking during the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) North Rift Regional Forum on Governance and Electoral Processes in Eldoret, EACC North Rift Regional Head Major (Rtd) Kuntai Ole Tingisha said the Commission will intensify monitoring of the electoral process to safeguard integrity and public trust. “The integrity of leadership is central to public trust, good governance, and national cohesion. Leaders seeking elective office…
The rise in Russian influence in the Big Island continues. Moscow is reportedly eyeing the SECREN shipyard in Diego Suarez. A logistics foothold of primary importance in the Indian Ocean. Such an acquisition would give Russia a strategic advantage in the Mozambique Channel region: an area at the centre of fierce competition for influence between powers. At the end of April 2026, a Russian delegation visited SECREN, in the presence of several high-ranking Malagasy officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Industrialisation. Officially, the aim was to explore partnership opportunities for the revival -and modernisation- of…
By Otuma Angelo Today is World Press Freedom Day. I wish to reflect on the day. In the newsroom during my days, this day used to pass without much ceremony, except the usual statements. We marked it, then moved on to the next story. Having worked as a reporter and later as an editor and columnist, I have come to understand that press freedom is not an abstract ideal. It is lived, or denied, in the small decisions of everyday journalism. It shows up in what gets published, what is held back, and what is quietly abandoned because the cost…
A South Korean appellate court increased the sentence of former president Yoon Suk-yeol for obstruction of justice and other charges related to his 2024 martial law declaration to seven years. The punishment, two years more than the first ruling, was handed down by the Seoul High Court in a live broadcast on Wednesday. Yoon was sentenced on Jan 16 to five years in prison for abusing the presidential security service to hinder the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, or CIO, from executing its arrest warrant in January 2025. “The degree of illegality is severe,” said Judge Yoon Sung-sik of…
People streamed into the central square of Slavutych in the early hours of Sunday, placing candles on a large radiation hazard symbol laid out on the ground as a midnight commemoration began for those killed in the Chernobyl disaster 40 years ago and the thousands who risked deadly radiation exposure to contain its aftermath. Residents show up for the vigil each year to commemorate the April 26, 1986, disaster. That day, Reactor No 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine exploded, releasing more than 8 tons of highly radioactive material. Over 60,000 square…
