Category: Semafor

Iran on Monday rejected the US’ ceasefire plan, as President Donald Trump renewed his threats against Tehran’s civilian infrastructure. Trump said the “entire country can be taken out in one night” if the Islamic Republic doesn’t agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening. The chances of a ...

DR Congo struck a deal with the US to receive “third-country” deportees, days after Uganda received eight people under a similar deal. The agreements are part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, though rights groups and legal scholars have criticized the deals, questioning whether Washington can send individuals to ...

South Africa is preparing the most sweeping overhaul of its migration laws in three decades in a bid to attract skilled migrants as part of efforts to boost moribund growth in Africa’s biggest economy. The country’s cabinet endorsed folding three separate laws into a single statute, a move officials say ...

Africa accounted for a third of global democratic declines between 2019 and 2024, while also producing nearly a quarter of global improvements, a new report by an intergovernmental watchdog found. The sharpest setbacks were linked to a wave of military takeovers in the Sahel and parts of central Africa, the ...

The World Bank agreed a new six-year $540 million finance package to support Uganda’s urban development. The funding aims to enhance all-weather roads, stormwater drainage, street lighting, and public markets to improve transport connections, reduce flooding, and boost public safety, while also stimulating the local economy. The package targets 10 ...

Senegal banned government ministers from all non-essential foreign travel, part of efforts across Africa to grapple with surging fuel prices because of the Iran war. The West African country, which depends heavily on imported energy, has been hit by the growing cost of oil — crude prices are up around ...

Cuban authorities began releasing more than 2,000 political prisoners, a possible olive branch for Washington as the nation grapples with a crippling economic blockade. The Trump administration has raised the specter of regime change in Havana and tightened an embargo on the country since ousting the president of Venezuela, a ...

New data showed that Italy’s population stabilized after 12 years of decline, mainly due to increased immigration. The figures may seem surprising given right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard line against migration — including by pioneering the practice of setting up “return centers” in which prospective migrants are sent to ...

The News Saudi Arabia told businesses not to send staff into Riyadh’s main financial zone after concerns that the area could be targeted in Iranian missile or drone attacks. The order to empty office towers in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) is one of the clearest signs yet that ...

Taiwan is failing to adequately plan for its own defense, a former senior official warned, as the island faces a political deadlock over a military spending bill and an upcoming visit by the opposition leader to Beijing. In an op-ed for Nikkei, a former lawmaker and one-time spokesperson for the ...