REFUGEES in Tanzania will soon receive half the food ration they require, due to funding shortages afflicting the World Food Programme’s (WFP’s) response. More than 200 000 refugees in the East African country will be affected. WFP says it needs US$21 million to provide food assistance. In March, further reductions were made, dropping the ration from meeting 80 percent of the food needs to 65 percent. “A few contributions have arrived on time, and we are now forced to makethe…

The United States has enjoyed global economic and political dominance for decades, thanks in large part to the status of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. However, the growing U.S. debt burden, political polarization and partisanship in Washington, and the rise of other countries, bring into question the longevity of America’s preeminent global position. If current fiscal and political trends continue unabated, a weaker dollar and diminished geopolitical influence will be largely inevitable. In June, the U.S. Congress…

HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 20 (Xinhua) — At the Group of Seven (G7) Summit starting here Friday, the U.S.-led clique is again hyping up their so-called “law and order,” whereas political observers have precisely debunked the essence of their lies — a scheme to play small-clique politics and dictate to the rest of the world. The G7 on Saturday issued a statement concerning economic resilience and security, threatening to counter “economic coercion,” which will de facto divide the world into two…

MOSCOW/KIEV, May 21 (Xinhua) — Russia said on Saturday that its forces had taken full control of the hotly contested city of Bakhmut, also known as Artyomovsk, while the Ukrainian side said the situation there was critical. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner private military group, said in a video message posted on his Telegram channel that Wagner will begin to withdraw its units on May 25 for rest and retraining, and its fighters will create “the necessary lines of…

HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 22 (Xinhua) — “Re-enacting the Cold War would be foolish,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Sunday, calling for settling the Ukraine crisis under a framework of the United Nations. Lula made the remarks at the just-concluded Group of Seven (G7) summit working session as an invited state leader. The Ukraine crisis should be discussed under a framework of the United Nations rather than the G7, he noted at a press conference on Monday, criticizing the…

HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 19 (Xinhua) — Amid waves of protests, the Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ annual summit got underway on Friday in Japan’s western city of Hiroshima. Hundreds of protesters from all over the country, even abroad, gathered in Hiroshima’s Funairi Daiichi Park, not far from the summit’s venue, to decry the finger-pointing bloc that advertises its own version of world order. Seen on-site were huge banners and placards that read “Junk G7,” “No Build-up to War” and “No…

ACCRA, May 17 (Xinhua) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board on Wednesday approved a 3-billion-U.S. dollar Extended Credit Facility for Ghana to help the country address its current economic crisis. In a statement, the IMF said the decision would enable an immediate disbursement of about 600 million dollars to Ghana, adding that the facility would support “a comprehensive reform program” by the Ghanaian government to tackle the deep economic crisis brought on by a combination of large external…

THE murder of seven people after militants attacked a convoy of the United States (US) Consulate in Nigeria on Tuesday has sent shockwaves across both countries. Unknown assailants attacked a convoy of two US government vehicles in the Ogbaru Local Government Area of the southeastern Anambra state. The convoy was carrying nine Nigerian nationals, comprising five employees of the US Mission to Nigeria and four members of the Nigeria Police Force. They were travelling in advance of a planned visit…

The Russian Embassy in South Africa has broken its silence on claims that it received weapons from South Africa, labelling the allegations an old tactic by the United States of America to push false narratives aimed at starting wars with foreign countries. In a statement released today, Russia accused Reuben Brigety, the US Ambassador to South Africa, of “fabricating weapons story” in a bid to sway the country’s foreign policy.  It said his unsubstantiated allegations were part of a plot…

EFF leader Julius Malema has added his voice to those who have publicly raised concerns about the government’s handling of US Ambassador Reuben Brigety’s claims that South Africa armed Russia, saying he should have been expelled from the country and his credentials withdrawn.   Addressing a media briefing in Johannesburg yesterday, Malema poured cold water on Brigety’s allegations, insisting that the South African government had no capacity to produce any ammunition for the Russian government, even though he wished they did. …