The ministry, in a statement released on Aug. 13, vehemently condemned the rhetoric of “criminal” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Golan Heights, occupied by the Tel Aviv regime for almost 60 years, will remain part of Israel “for eternity,” and his fierce opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“Basically, the leader of the criminal gang and mafia ruling over the occupied Palestinian territories is not in a position to comment on the formation of an independent Palestinian state, because the Palestinian land belongs to the Palestinian people, and the racist illusions of the genocidal Zionist regime cannot change this reality,” the statement added.

It added that “the Golan Heights are an inseparable part of the territory of Syria, and the colonial ambitions of a usurping and occupying entity cannot change its legal and historical realities.”

The Iranian foreign ministry also condemned Colombia’s recent recognition of the Israeli regime’s sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, calling it a violation of the UN Charter and international law.

“Within this framework, the Colombian government’s recent decision to recognize the sovereignty of the Zionist regime over the occupied Golan Heights is completely rejected and condemned.

And constitutes a clear violation of the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law concerning respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states,” the statement also read.

It noted that such an action also conflicts with the recognized principle of international law prohibiting recognition of the effects of unlawful acts and entails international responsibility of the Colombian government.

While emphasizing the legal, moral and humanitarian obligation of all governments, particularly Muslim countries, to help Palestinians achieve their right to self-determination and freedom from the Zionist regime‘s occupation, apartheid and colonialism.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled the responsibility of the UN Security Council to stop the occupation and relentless aggression of the Zionist regime against occupied Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and other countries in the region.

The statement went on to note that the Palestinian issue remains the most important humanitarian and moral subject of the contemporary world, which began in 1948 with the creation of a fabricated entity in the historic land of Palestine and, through its cancerous expansion, has made the entire West Asia region and the world insecure.

“There is no doubt that the comprehensive support of the United States and certain Western countries, including Britain, France, Germany and Canada, for the genocidal Zionist regime has been the main factor behind its impunity and has led to the continuation and intensification of its expansionism and crimes in the region,” the statement pointed out. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran, while reiterating its principled position in support of the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people to liberate their land from occupation, strongly condemns any attempt to marginalize the Palestinian issue, the Iranian foreign ministry concluded. (RT.com)

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Of Uganda’s 20 confirmed cases, 15 were imported from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), while five were locally acquired, the Ugandan government has said. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported no new infections after June 21 and said 18 patients recovered, with four health workers among those        infected.

The epidemic remains active in DR Congo, where the Health Ministry reported 3,262 confirmed infections and 1,437 deaths as of July 28. Nearly 90% of cases have been recorded in war-torn Ituri Province, which borders Uganda and South Sudan.

In a statement published on X, the East African country’s Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi said “Uganda is officially Ebola free” after the last patient with a locally transmitted infection was discharged on June 16.

“Unlike previous Ebola outbreaks that informed the current 42-day declaration policy, Uganda’s 2026 Ebola outbreak arose from a fully documented importation event,” he stated.

In a separate statement cited by Reuters, Baryomunsi said the declaration followed the “successful completion” of 42 days of monitoring that began upon the patient’s discharge.

The WHO, however, said Uganda’s 42-day countdown should have begun on July 16 after the last confirmed patient tested negative twice and was discharged. The agency said the outbreak could be declared over if no new cases emerged during that period.

Uganda has experienced several Ebola outbreaks since its first recorded epidemic in 2000, which infected 425 people and killed 224. Its previous outbreak, caused by the Sudan virus, ended in April 2025 after 14 confirmed probable cases and four deaths.

The Health Ministry has said the latest outbreak differed from previous epidemics because the source and route of the imported infections were known. It added that all “transmission chains were completely characterized and reconstructed, and all identified contacts were institutionally quarantined and completed the mandatory 21-day follow-up without evidence of further transmission.”             (RT.com)

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Malian government spokesperson Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on July 10 that the West African nation would allow its ambassador to return to Algiers as part of measures aimed at the “renewal of relations of cooperation and friendship” with Algeria.

Bamako has also decided to reopen its national airspace to all civilian and military aircraft originating from or destined for Algeria, Coulibaly said in a statement.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune confirmed on July 11 that the country’s ambassador would return to Mali.

Tebboune said the decision reflected his “steadfast and resolute commitment to restoring Algerian-Malian relations to their natural historical trajectory, based on mutual respect,” according to a statement published by state news agency APS.

Relations between the two African nations  deteriorated  in  April  2025 after Algeria  said it had shot down a Malian surveillance drone for allegedly violating its airspace. Bamako rejected the accusation and said the aircraft was destroyed over Mali.

Tensions had been mounting since Mali withdrew from a 2015 peace agreement with northern separatist groups that was mediated by Algeria. The Malian authorities later accused Algiers of supporting armed groups, a claim the Algerian government denied.

The diplomatic fallout extended to Mali’s Alliance of Sahel States (AES) partners, Niger and Burkina Faso, which also recalled their ambassadors from Algeria during the dispute.

In recent months, however, Algeria has moved to repair ties with its southern neighbors. In February, Niger agreed with Algeria to restart work on the long-delayed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, a project designed to transport Nigerian gas through Niger and Algeria to Europe.

Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, all former French colonies, have troubled relations with France due to alleged interference. The AES countries have accused Paris of failing to respect their sovereignty and supporting the militants behind a longstanding jihadist insurgency in the Sahel.

Algeria’s ties with Paris have also been strained by historical grievances, France’s position on Western Sahara and migration disputes. (RT.com)

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The Council of Ministers announced the establishment of the Malian Office for Precious Substances on July 7, following a decision by the cabinet in March as part of efforts to centralize and secure sales in the sector.

The authorities said the measure is part of the implementation of the 2023 Mining Code and a local content law, aimed at reinforcing state sovereignty over the value chain of precious substances.

Gold from artisanal and small-scale mining occupies a strategic place in Mali’s economy, providing foreign exchange, tax revenue, and jobs for two million people across 350 to 400 sites, the government said. However, the sector still faces challenges, including smuggling and gaps in recorded flows.

Mali is Africa’s fourth leading gold producer, according to World Gold Council data, which put the country’s 2025 output at 82.9 tons, behind Ghana, South Africa and Burkina Faso.

Official statistics show Mali produced 72.2 tons of gold in 2022, including six tons from artisanal mining, generating 763 billion CFA francs ($1.27 billion) for the state budget.

Mali’s gold exports climbed to about 2.75 trillion CFA francs ($4.81 billion) in 2025, compared with 1.61 trillion CFA francs the previous year, according to Reuters, citing the national statistics institute Instat.

The reform comes as Bamako seeks to increase state revenue from mining. The 2023 Mining Code allows the state and local investors to hold up to 35% in new mining projects.

Canadian miner Barrick and Australia’s Resolute Mining have faced direct disputes with Bamako under the government’s push to extract more revenue from the gold sector.

Other operators, including Canada’s B2Gold, British firm Hummingbird Resources, and London-headquartered Endeavour Mining, have reached agreements with the state to align parts of their operations with Mali’s revised mining framework.

Several of Mali’s neighbors have also moved to tighten control over mineral resources. Burkina Faso has expanded state purchases of artisanal gold through its National Precious Substances Company.

Last year, Niger nationalized the country’s only industrial gold mine, accusing its Australian-owned operator McKinel Resources Limited of “grave contractual breaches.” Ghana created a state gold board last year to regulate small-scale gold exports, while Guinea banned raw gold exports in June to boost local refining. (RT.com)

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The pledge was unveiled during the Next Steps Conference, where the Dutch and German ambassadors presented Ghanaian President John Mahama with a catalog of the items set to be repatriated. The catalog, however, has not yet been made publicly available.

In a post on X, Ablakwa welcomed the move, describing it as “the positive conduct of restitution we are beginning to witness from our international partners in Europe since the adoption of the historic Ghana-led UN Resolution.”

The conference also saw Denmark acknowledge its role in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen apologized for the country’s involvement and pledged support for preserving the forts and castles built by Denmark in present-day Ghana, saying the effort would help safeguard historical memory, promote truth-telling, and prevent similar injustices from being repeated.

Speaking at the conference, Ghana’s president also announced the creation of three international bodies aimed at advancing reparatory justice: the Global Advisory Panel on Reparatory Justice, the Expert Panel on the Restitution of Cultural Artefacts, and the Global Legal Panel on Reparatory Justice.

According to Mahama, the groups will help develop practical pathways for restitution, historical accountability, and legal redress.

“We do not seek to reopen old wounds. We seek to heal those wounds,” he said. “We do not seek division. We seek justice, understanding, and reconciliation grounded in truth”.

The initiative follows a Ghana-sponsored UN General Assembly resolution adopted in March that recognized the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as “the gravest crime against humanity.”

The push for restitution has gained momentum in recent years. In February, Cambridge University formally transferred ownership of 116 Benin Bronzes and other artifacts to Nigeria. The physical return of most of the objects is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The same month, Paris returned the sacred Djidji Ayokwe talking drum to Cote d’Ivoire. The drum had been taken during the colonial period in 1916 and held in France for more than a century. (RT.com)

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The measure follows talks between the president and industrial and artisanal mining operators, as well as gold buying offices, on June 19, and takes effect immediately.

“Any operator who, after the expiry of this deadline, continues to export raw gold will have its license suspended, its mining agreement terminated, and will answer for its actions before Guinean justice,” Doumbouya warned, according to his office.

Guinea holds significant gold reserves and ranks as the sixth-largest producer in Africa, with production of 69.3 tons in 2025, according to the World Gold Council. The former French colony is also the world’s leading producer of bauxite, accounting for around 33.2% of global output in 2024, U.S. Geological Survey data shows.

President Mamadi Doumbouya said Guinea has “unfortunately been among the poorest nations in the world,” despite being “one of the richest lands in Africa.”

He said the country’s “gold leaves its soil every day in raw form, loaded onto planes, taken to foreign refineries to be processed” and sold elsewhere, while Guinea “receives crumbs.” 

“I put an end to this today. Guinean gold will be melted in Guinea, certified in Guinea, valued in Guinea before being exported to international markets,” he declared.

The government said the measure is designed to boost local value addition and accelerate industrialization in a country where mining remains the backbone of the economy.

Under the new framework, refining is expected to take place at the Nimba Gold Refinery in Gbessia, a state-backed facility in the capital, Conakry. The plant is expected to process up to 2,000 kg of gold per day and an estimated monthly capacity of 520 tons. It is designed to produce internationally certified bullion and handle industrial waste streams containing precious metals, according to the presidency.

Doumbouya, who first came to power in 2021 after a military takeover and later won the presidency in an election last December, has also tightened oversight of Guinea’s bauxite sector, revoking and reassigning mining concessions while pushing for greater local processing.

Similar policies have been rolled out elsewhere in Africa in recent years. Zimbabwe, the continent’s leading lithium producer, has restricted exports of unprocessed lithium concentrates, while Tanzania and Uganda have already banned exports of unrefined minerals and metals, including gold and copper.

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Speaking at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Hassan highlighted Africa’s growing demographic and economic weight.

“By 2050, one in four human beings on this planet will be African,” she said in her opening remarks. “Africa will be the only continent still adding workers to the global labor force on a large scale. Africa will host nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies.”

Hassan also pointed to the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area, saying that once fully implemented it would become the world’s largest market by population. The agreement, signed in 2018, seeks to create a continent-wide free trade zone by easing the movement of goods, services, and investment across all 55 African Union member states.

UN projections show the global population reaching 9.66 billion by 2050, with Africa accounting for roughly 2.5 billion people.

By contrast, populations in many other regions are expected to decline due to persistently low birth rates and aging societies. Europe’s population is projected to fall from around 744 million to 703 million in the same period.

According to UN data, fertility rates across Europe averaged about 1.4 births per woman in 2023, well below the replacement level of 2.1.

The trend has also become a major concern for Russia, where the fertility rate stood at 1.4 in 2024. In response, Moscow has introduced a range of measures aimed at boosting births, including direct payments to mothers, expanded maternity benefits, and additional financial support for families.

Starting June 8, Russia will also launch new tax relief programs for families with two or more children. (RT.com)

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by Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr. – RT.com

The current debate in Canada over Indigenous rights, language revitalization, and the restoration of original place names, especially in British Columbia, is deeply rooted in historical truth, constitutional reality, and the lived experience of Indigenous peoples who have survived centuries of systemic efforts to erase our presence.

Over 95% of British Columbia remains unceded territory, land that was never surrendered through treaty. When British Columbia joined Canada in 1871, the provincial government refused to recognize Aboriginal Title or negotiate treaties across most of the province. This is a historical and constitutional fact.

After devastating epidemics of smallpox and other European diseases swept through our communities, colonial governments concluded that Indigenous peoples had been so weakened that we could no longer mount effective resistance.

They believed we were a vanishing race. It was this assumption that led them to seize vast territories by force of arms, without treaties or consent. This was not a lawful process. It was an illegal occupation of sovereign Indigenous lands, enforced by police and military power.

The recent formal recognition of Haida Aboriginal Title across all of Haida Gwaii, 10,180 square kilometers, by British Columbia and Canada stands as powerful confirmation of what Indigenous peoples have always maintained: Our Indigenous titles were never lawfully extinguished, and where we made treaties, they have been broken.

Indigenous oral traditions speak of well over one million of our peoples living in what is now British Columbia before European contact. Smallpox and other introduced diseases decimated entire communities, reducing the Indigenous population from more than one million to around 40,000.

For instance, the Nuxalk Nation on British Columbia’s central coast saw its population collapse from over 30,000 to around 300. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation near Vancouver was reduced from over 10,000 to fewer than 20 people.

In the Arctic, the Canadian government slaughtered the sled dogs of the Inuit, forcibly relocated families from their traditional territories, and confined them to permanent settlements.

This deliberate destruction of their self-sufficient way of life continues to echo today. The Inuit of Nunavut suffer the second-highest suicide rates in the world, surpassed only by the Inuit of Greenland, with rates approximately ten times the Canadian national average, accompanied by devastating levels of alcohol and drug abuse.

Before colonization, our societies had no alcohol, no drugs, no locked doors, and no prisons. We lived in relative peace and harmony, especially compared to the endless wars raging across much of the rest of the world at the time.

The arrival of colonization introduced cultural genocide, a systematic attempt to destroy our languages, spiritual practices, governance systems, and ways of life.

The church-operated, Canada-funded residential school system formed a central part of this assault. For over a century, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities.

They were punished for speaking their own languages, forbidden from practicing their spiritual traditions, and subjected to widespread physical and sexual abuse. Justice and Senator Murray Sinclair, chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, estimates that 25,000, and even more, children never made it home.

The discovery of over 200 unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in 2021, followed by almost 3,000 suspected unmarked graves yet to be excavated at other former school sites across Canada, has forced Canada, as well as the Catholic, Anglican, and United Church of Christ, to confront the true horror of what took place at their hands.

The intergenerational trauma created by these continues to devastate our communities to this day. Indigenous women and girls are vastly overrepresented among Canada’s missing and murdered women. Indigenous people make up around 5% of Canada’s population, yet account for one-third of all adults incarcerated in Canadian prisons.

This is the predictable result of generations of deliberate cultural annihilation.

The return of some original sacred place names has sparked discomfort among some Canadians. Yet, it is rarely mentioned that the vast majority of place names in British Columbia were imposed by the colonial authorities to honor British royalty and colonial officials.

British Columbia itself, Vancouver Island, the former Queen Charlotte Islands, the provincial capital of Victoria, and countless cities, rivers, and mountains across the province all bear names given by colonial power.

For Indigenous peoples, restoring sacred, original Indigenous place names is not an attack on Canada. It is a modest but meaningful step toward correcting a long history of cultural erasure and genocide.

The implementation of DRIPA, British Columbia’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, has created significant uncertainty and debate. Many citizens worry that it gives Indigenous peoples excessive influence over land and resource decisions.

For Indigenous peoples, however, DRIPA represents a long-overdue commitment by the province to align its laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Canada has endorsed UNDRIP, as have nearly all 193 United Nations member states.

Canada signed 70 historic treaties with Indigenous nations. Like its southern neighbor, which signed and subsequently broke over 370 treaties, Canada has repeatedly failed to honor its own treaty commitments and obligations.

Despite this painful history, Indigenous peoples across Canada and the Americas are rising. We are reclaiming our languages, revitalizing our cultures, reasserting our laws, and stepping forward once again as the rightful caretakers of these lands and waters. This resurgence is not about domination or revenge. It is about healing, justice, reconciliation, and restoring balance.

Reconciliation cannot be built on contempt, sarcasm, or denial of history. It must be grounded in truth, humility, and mutual respect. Indigenous rights are not privileges handed down by the state. Indigenous rights flow from our original, unsurrendered sovereignty and our sacred responsibilities to these lands and waters that have sustained us since time immemorial.

We can and should have honest disagreements about policy and implementation. But we cannot build a shared and truthful future by minimizing or mocking the suffering of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Americas.

Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr., is a citizen of the Chickasaw and Ihanktonwan Nations, Canada, and the U.S. A respected Elder, activist, academic, and international speaker, Chief Lane has dedicated his life to preserving Indigenous languages, traditions, and sovereignty across the Americas and beyond.

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Imad Ishtayeh’s death was confirmed by the Palestinian Health Ministry on May 31.

His father told RT that he had been trying to cross into Israel in search of work amid deepening economic hardship in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli police have said that Imad was attempting to enter Israel illegally by crossing the barrier.

”My son went out looking for a livelihood,” Haroun Ishtayeh said. “He had opened a chicken slaughterhouse business here, but people could not afford to buy chicken, they could barely afford to buy water […] And he closed down his business here.”

“I told him, my son, the situation is dangerous; he told me, father, if I am destined to die, I will die here or I will die there,” he added. (RT.com)

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Scottish voters rejected the previous attempt to leave the United Kingdom during a 2014 referendum, which unionist politicians described as a “once in a generation” opportunity.

The latest push has been strengthened by recent elections in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, boosting regional pro-independence movements and delivering a major setback to the Labor Party.

How strong is Scotland’s push to quit the UK?

The independence movement was only modestly weakened by the result of the 2014 vote and gained renewed energy after Brexit, which most Scottish voters opposed in 2016.

In the parliamentary election held earlier this month, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scottish Greens won a combined 73 seats in the 129-member chamber, creating the largest-ever bloc at Holyrood in favor of breaking up Britain.

MSPs voted on May 25 to back First Minister John Swinney’s demand that Downing Street “make a Section 30 order under the Scotland Act 1998,” allowing a new independence referendum—commonly referred to as “indyref2.”

What is a Section 30 order?

Although the Scottish Parliament was granted lawmaking powers in 2016, those powers remain restricted. Section 30 allows the British parliament to temporarily or permanently transfer additional authority to Holyrood, including over constitutional matters.

The mechanism has been used more than a dozen times since the Scottish parliament was established in 1999. In 2015, for instance, it was used to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in local and Scottish elections.

The 2014 independence referendum was authorized in 2012 through the same procedure. The Edinburgh Agreement also allowed younger Scots to take part in that vote.

Will London approve Scotland’s request?

Not if the Labor government’s public statements are any indication.

Last year, after Swinney declined to explain how he would pursue another independence referendum following the election, Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused him of “insulting the intelligence of the Scottish people” with a ‘secret’ plan.

After this week’s vote, Downing Street urged the Scottish government to focus “on the issues that really matter—economic growth, the cost of living, and public services.” It argued that, unlike before the 2014 referendum, there is currently no public consensus in favor of indyref2.

Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar has accused Swinney of being driven by an “obsession” with independence, while Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay echoed that criticism.  Liberal Democrat Alex Cole-Hamilton dismissed the vote as “performative,” and Reform UK’s Malcolm Offord sought to distance his party from the issue, describing the Holyrood debate as “groundhog day.”

Could Starmer be pressured to change course?

Swinney has challenged Westminster to show that “this is a voluntary Union” by allowing Scots to decide once more whether they want to remain in the post-Brexit UK.

The Labor Party suffered a damaging defeat in local elections held on the same day that Scottish voters chose their lawmakers. Pro-independence parties also performed strongly in parliamentary elections in Wales this month, leaving Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all governed by first ministers who support the breakup of the UK.

There has been speculation that Starmer could step down as Labor leader, but his political vulnerability does not necessarily advance Scotland’s independence ambitions, judging by the conduct of previous prime ministers.

Conservative leader Boris Johnson rejected then-Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s request for a Section 30 order in 2022, even as his own cabinet was nearing collapse. His predecessor, Theresa May, also refused to authorize indyref2 in 2017. (RT.com)

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