#russia-africa-partnership

#russia-africa-partnership

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit India in May, focusing on trade and security to limit the impact of the US-Israel war with Iran.

The E-3 Sentry, with its distinctive rotating radar dome, is a flying command center that allows American forces to see and coordinate the battlefield. In recent weeks, Iran destroyed one on a runway in Saudi Arabia and reportedly damaged another.

The provisions of the Bahrain-led resolution had been repeatedly pared down in an effort to convince Russia and China to abstain from voting, an effort that ultimately failed as the two nations refused to back down in Tuesday's vote.

The war in Iran has created an energy shock in Africa, as the continent relies heavily on oil and gas imports from the Middle East.

Macron underscored the need for France and South Korea to cooperate to help reopen the strait and deescalate Middle East animosities, affirming their resolve to secure the safe shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz.

Moses Chrispus Okello, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, states that there is a high risk of escalation in Somaliland, where Israel and the UAE have interests. He emphasizes that tensions could also rise in neighboring Djibouti, where the US and other powers are active.

In some countries, we're going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out. Trump told reporters, although he did not clarify which countries might benefit from this potential policy shift. At present, the United States enforces sanctions that restrict oil trade with several nations, including Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Syria, and North Korea.

The European Union will on Saturday sign a deal 25 years in the making with the South American trade bloc Mercosur, creating one of the world's largest free trade areas at a time of growing protectionism and volatility. The long-awaited agreement comes amid the sweeping use of tariffs and trade threats by US President Donald Trump's administration, which has sent countries scrambling for new partnerships.

Trump's historic cuts to foreign aid, his overhaul of US trade policy, and his sweeping changes to immigration admissions have all had an outsized impact on Africa, though he gave the continent only slight mention in his wider global agenda. Amid the upheaval, the Trump administration has sought to forge new, bilateral agreements with African countries, focused on resources and security gains.

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I want to tell the US President Donald Trump that we don't want a new Cold War. We don't want interference in any other country; we want all countries to be treated equally, Lula told a news conference at the end of his three-day trip to India on Sunday.

The United States is reportedly in discussions with Russia on a range of high-stakes infrastructure and trade projects, including a nuclear-powered datacenter and a tunnel under the Bering Strait, according to The Economist. Sources close to the talks indicate that associates within the orbit of former President Donald Trump are exploring potential stakes in Russian energy assets. In addition, negotiations are reportedly ongoing over rare-earth metals, oil, and gas projects in the Arctic region.

Putin described the foreign policy ties between the two nations as an important stabilising factor amidst growing turbulence in the world, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin on Wednesday. He said Russia and China would continue close coordination on global and regional agendas, both bilaterally and within all the multilateral frameworks, including the United Nations, the BRICS coalition of economies, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where he said the Russian-Chinese tandem plays an essential role.

Abdoulaye Diop, the foreign minister of Mali, hosted a senior US official on Monday to chart a "new course" in relations between the United States and the junta-led nation. Nick Checker, who heads the US State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, reaffirmed Washington's respect for Mali's sovereignty. Ahead of Checker's visit, the bureau posted on X that the United States also looked forward to "consulting with other governments in the region, including Burkina Faso and Niger, on shared security and economic interests."

The deal, which comes as Brussels seeks new markets to offset US tariffs and reduce reliance on China for critical minerals, will open free trade with four South American countries. European Union ambassadors have given a provisional nod to the bloc's largest-ever agreement in terms of erased tariffs, opening the way to free trade with the Mercosur group of South American countries.

Chinese, Russian and Iranian ships were seen moving into and out of the harbour that serves South Africa's top naval base in Simon's Town, south of Cape Town, where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. It was not immediately clear if other countries from the BRICS group which also includes Brazil, India and the United Arab Emirates, among others would take part in the drills.

Bilateral ties between Egypt and Somalia continue to deepen. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi assured his Somali counterpart, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Sunday in Cairothat Egypt stands firmly behind "Somalia's unity and territorial integrity." On Wednesday, Cairo then followed up on an agreement from January 2025 and deployed 1,091 troops to Somalia's capital Mogadishu. The deployment of Egyptian forces to Somalia the first such deployment in their decades-old bilateral history marks a significant shift.

Writing on Telegram, Pushkov criticised Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, French President Emmanuel Macron, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, arguing that European leaders have offered "no serious answers" for why they should be involved in talks already led by the United States. Pushkov suggested that EU ambitions risk "derailing even the fragile negotiations that are already underway," framing European efforts as symbolic rather than substantive.

"Both sides agreed on "shuttle diplomacy" three years ago, with regular meetings at the highest level. Lee's national security adviser, Wi Sung Lac, said the summit's goal was to build trust between the South Korean and Japanese leaders. Lee and Takaichi discussed ways to boost cooperation in a raft of areas including cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, combating cross-border crime, and promoting people-to-people exchanges."