Mark-Anthony Johnson

Taiwan has a right to engage with the world and no ‌country can stop that, President Lai Ching-te told Eswatini's king after he arrived for a surprise trip that Taipei says Beijing tried to stop, as China called him a 'rat' reut.rs/4ukZ8HO

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te arrived in Eswatini for a state visit that was delayed two weeks after the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoked overflight permits for his aircraft, a move Taipei blamed on Beijing's pressure reut.rs/4cMpZXn

Botswana, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Kenya were among the African countries to secure their tickets to the World Athletics Championships Beijing 27 following the opening day of the 2026 World Athletics Relays in Gaborone. Across multiple men and women's sprint categories, the top two teams in each heat, plus the next two fastest teams in each event qualified. (📸: CFP)

BREAKING: Iran’s mission to the UN says the US is not complying with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), adding that the “US should not be given any cover for its outrageous and hypocritical behaviour.” 🔴 LIVE updates: aje.news/zwqeet

The V&A. The Science Museum. The Natural History Museum. The Royal Albert Hall. The Royal Colleges of Art and Music. Imperial College London. 🏛️ None of them were built by the government. They were built by the public, coin by coin, in 1850. Parliament refused to fund the Great Exhibition. The press mocked it. Most people thought it would fail. So Albert and Henry Cole asked the British public instead. Shopkeepers. Clerks. Factory workers. Wives putting aside housekeeping money. 💷 Coin by coin, they paid for it themselves. They built the Crystal Palace in nine months. Three times the size of St Paul's Cathedral. Then six million people came to see it. A third of the entire population. 🚂 Working men's clubs pooled their wages for excursion tickets. Churches sent their parishioners. Employers sent their workers. Mary Callinack, eighty-five years old, walked two hundred and seventy miles from Penzance to London on foot, just to see it. People too poor to make the journey at all walked to the railway tracks instead, and lined up just to watch the trains go by. When the books closed, there was £186,000 of profit. Twenty-five million in today's money. They could have kept it. They didn't. They bought eighty-six acres in South Kensington and built the museums and colleges that still teach the country today. 🎓 The Royal Albert Hall still pays them one shilling a year in rent. There are 850 years left on the lease. The surplus has funded 3,000 British scientists, engineers and designers since 1891. Thirteen of them won the Nobel Prize. 🏅 A hundred and seventy-five years later, British research is still being paid for by a coin a shopkeeper put in an envelope in 1850. That's the bet the British people keep making. Pool what they have. Back something bigger than themselves. Leave it for whoever comes next. This channel runs on the exact same bet. ⏳ No sponsors. No advertisers. No one pays for this except ordinary British people who think it matters. Coin by coin. Just like 1850. Be Part Of Us 🙏 👉proudofus.co.uk/support 👈 Be Proud Of Us 🙏🇬🇧

ECOWAS is sending a mediator to Mali to address a worsening security crisis, as Tuareg separatists seize northern towns and Al-Qaeda-linked fighters tighten pressure around Bamako. Al Jazeera’s @nicolashaque reports.

New CNN Investigation: At least 16 American military sites have been damaged in Iranian strikes, making up the majority of US positions in the Middle East. From CNN's @tamaraqiblawi and the Investigations team.

A series of reversals suffered by Mali's Moscow-backed military government has dented Russia's image as a self-styled security guarantor in Africa and threatens its strategic and economic interests on the continent reut.rs/429uAg7

People have marched through some of South Africa's largest cities to protest against immigration. Sky's Africa correspondent @YousraElbagir witnessed a man being Tasered by a protester in central Johannesburg ⬇️

As oil prices climb amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, Russia has suspended deliveries of Kazakh crude oil to a major refinery in eastern Germany. Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane reports.

King Charles III’s visit to New York City on Wednesday included a stop at Harlem Grown, a sustainability nonprofit that teaches children how to grow nutritious food. @cherylwillsny1 had an exclusive chance to ask the king what he thought about the urban gardening project. “I'm very impressed. I really am," the king said.

Iran said it would respond with 'long and painful strikes' on US positions if Washington renewed attacks, and also reasserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz, complicating US plans for a coalition to reopen the waterway. Follow live updates ➡️ reut.rs/4t7SpQq

Kenyan star Sabastian Sawe returned home to Nairobi after becoming the first man to break the two-hour barrier in an official marathon in London. Sawe brushed aside suggestions his Adidas 'super shoes' amounted to 'mechanical doping'

Zambia must decide by April 30 if it'll provide US businesses with preferential access to its minerals, or lose support for 1.3 million people who rely on funding from Washington for HIV treatment. Al Jazeera’s @marthevdwolf explains.

Afreximbank cible la chaîne de valeur minière en RDC Le Bureau régional d’Afrique centrale de la Banque Africaine d’Import-Export (Afreximbank) a organisé, à compter du 21 avril 2026, un Forum consacré à la chaîne de valeur minière du pays. Placée sous le thème « Financer la chaîne de valeur minière de la RDC : stimuler la croissance grâce à des financements structurés commerciaux et des investissements », cette rencontre a réuni les principaux acteurs du secteur minier congolais. Commentant ce Forum, M. Ibrahim BAGARAMA, Directeur régional des opérations d’Afreximbank en Afrique centrale, a déclaré : « Nos échanges à Lualaba nous ont permis de mieux comprendre les réalités opérationnelles, les besoins de financement et les ambitions de croissance des sociétés minières, des sous-traitants ainsi que des acteurs des chaînes de valeur de l’énergie et de la logistique. Ces discussions nous ont également permis de présenter les solutions financières adaptées qu’Afreximbank met à leur disposition pour soutenir leur développement. » Lire la suite : [FR] afreximbank.com/fr/afreximbank… [EN] afreximbank.com/afreximbank-ta… #Afreximbank

Japan Airlines will trial humanoid robots for baggage handling and aircraft cleaning at Tokyo's Haneda Airport starting in May, citing workforce shortages and rising tourist numbers

BREAKING: The King and Queen are greeted by President Trump and the First Lady at the White House. @SkyYaldaHakim | trib.al/zff6Z7W

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive in the US for a four-day visit, days after the White House Correspondents' dinner shooting and during a period of strained US-UK relations reut.rs/4tib6RP

German sportswear maker Adidas' shares rose after Kenya's Sabastian Sawe became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours in an official race, accomplishing his feat wearing the brand's Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 trainers reut.rs/3OSnFoq

@Reuters Hmmmm

Netanyahu's rivals are joining forces. Would they shift Israel's security policy? reut.rs/48LdU2r reut.rs/48LdU2r