Miliband mulling Starmer challengeHe has become increasingly outspoken during the recent crisis over Peter Mandelson, and bluntly told the media this week that it had been wrong to name the now-disgraced New Labour grandee as ambassador to Washington. His stock has risen across much of the left, although some sections would still regard him with scepticism.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/miliband-mulling-starmer-challengeSlovenia to air films about Palestine instead of Eurovision song contest Slovenia’s premier, Robert Golob, who was re-elected in a tight election this March, has been a vocal critic of Israel’s war. In August 2025 his government announced a ban on the import of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of its response to “the Israeli government’s policy that undermines prospects for lasting peace”.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/apr/23/slovenia-to-air-films-about-palestine-instead-of-eurovision-song-contestWhy France’s far right is dining with the country’s business elite France’s far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella sat down for lunch Monday with the country’s leading employer federation, marking the latest step in a years-long campaign to woo business leaders in the lead-up to next year’s presidential election – and once again revealing the deep contradictions within the populist party's economic programme.
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260421-why-france-far-right-dining-with-business-elitehttps://archive.ph/jmd7tThousands of South Korean Samsung workers threaten strike action for higher payHolding signs and waving banners, the workers gathered at a factory compound amid a heavy police presence, shouting “Make compensation transparent and remove maximum limits on bonuses!” Union officials said about 40,000 members participated in the protest.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thousands-south-korean-samsung-workers-threaten-strike-action-higher-payICC rules that Philippine ex-President Duterte must stand trial for murderThe case will now be assigned to a trial chamber which will start planning for a trial. In previous cases, it has taken the ICC up to a year between the confirmation of charges and the opening of a trial. Prosecutors have said Duterte created, funded and armed death squads to target and kill suspected narcotics peddlers and users when he was in power between 2016 and 2022. He was arrested and taken to The Hague last March.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/icc-confirms-trial-against-former-philippine-president-duterte-2026-04-23/War with Pakistan halts school for Afghan border childrenThe Barikot school is one of 22 in need of urgent reconstruction in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). About 12,000 students displaced or affected by the war need safe spaces to learn or catch up on classes in Afghanistan, OCHA said in a report this month. Along Barikot's high street, shops were shut, and some had been reduced to rubble.
https://www.newarab.com/news/war-pakistan-halts-school-afghan-border-childrenNepal’s home minister second cabinet member to exit in a monthNEPAL’S home minister resigned on Wednesday, saying there have been questions raised about his investments and other matters. Sudan Gurung, who took office on March 27, is the second cabinet member to exit in a month. Mr Shah dismissed his labour minister earlier this month after the RSP ruled Dipak Kumar Sah had misused “the dignity of his position” to get his wife appointed as a member of the board of directors of the country’s Health Insurance Board.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/nepals-home-minister-second-cabinet-member-exit-monthPalestinian boy, 14, among two killed in settler attack near West Bank schoolThe Palestinian health ministry said Aws al-Naasan, 14, and Jihad Abu Naim, 32, were killed in the attack on the village of al-Mughayyir, in which three others were wounded. The head of the local council told Reuters that Israeli settlers had entered the village and opened fire near a school – first at students, and later at others who arrived at the scene. Witnesses said settlers were later followed by Israeli soldiers.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/22/palestinian-boy-14-among-two-killed-in-settler-attack-west-bank-school Palestinian March of Return reshaped by Israeli restrictions Despite restrictions imposed by Israeli police, hundreds of Palestinians took part in local tours to their destroyed villages to commemorate the Nakba, or catastrophe, which refers to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist militias to make way for the creation of Israel in May 1948. Through these events, Palestinians say they aim to reaffirm their identity amid what they describe as ongoing Israeli attempts to erase it.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-march-return-reshaped-israeli-restrictionsUS to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian boats laying mines in Hormuz, Trump saysThe Pentagon said on Thursday that the US military conducted a “maritime interdiction and right-of-visit” to a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean. Earlier this week, the US military also said it seized an Iranian vessel and ordered dozens of others to turn around.
Meanwhile, Iran has also captured foreign commercial vessels around the Hormuz Strait, which it said were in violation of naval regulations.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/23/us-to-shoot-and-kill-iranian-boats-laying-mines-in-hormuz-trump-sayshttps://archive.ph/8uKGpColombia discovered plot to assassinate frontrunner in election race: GovtIn a post on social media platform X, Petro said that US intelligence agency CIA “has real and concrete information of a possible attack against” the coalition senator. “In Colombia, threats are being made everywhere, but information about actual plans must be neutralized in advance,” said the president. Petro’s comments surprised Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez, who initially said that none of the Defense Ministry’s intelligence agencies had been informed of the threat.
https://colombiareports.com/colombia-discovered-plot-to-assassinate-frontrunner-in-election-race-govt/Bolivia runoff consolidates fragmentation: ruling party keeps two regions, opposition governs the restMAS ran under the Unidos por los Pueblos alliance and secured only the Cochabamba governorship. Bolivia also set a milestone: for the first time, two women were elected governors at the ballot box. In the first round, Gabriela de Paiva of the opposition Libre alliance won in the Amazonian region of Pando. On Sunday, María René Soruco of Camino Democrático para el Cambio (CDC) won the runoff in the southern department of Tarija.
https://en.mercopress.com/2026/04/20/bolivia-runoff-consolidates-fragmentation-ruling-party-keeps-two-regions-opposition-governs-the-rest