Andy Burnham Crushes Reform in MakerfieldBurnham won 55% of the vote, 9,000 votes more than Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon, who trailed in second with 35%, while Restore Britain came third with 7%. The turnout was more than 58%. In his victory speech, Burnham said the Labour party now has “a final chance to change”.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/19/andy-burnham-crushes-reform-in-makerfield/Germany's Left Party is dreaming big Berlin has been "red" in the past. From 2016 to 2023 it was governed by such a three-way coalition — under the leadership of successive SPD mayors. This time, the Left Party is dreaming of winning the election and taking over the mayoralty itself with its candidate Elif Eralp. The 45-year-old has a remarkable background: Her parents were active in politics and trade unions in Turkey before fleeing to Germany in 1980 as asylum-seekers following a military coup, just weeks before Eralp's birth.
https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-left-party-is-dreaming-big/a-77627530https://archive.ph/OWJOGNorway seeks to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in PalestineRegarding real estate, Oslo also plans to outlaw “the purchase of property in the settlements, the provision of services relating to the construction, renovation, purchase or sale of property in these areas, and the acquisition of commercial enterprises whose head office and production facilities are located in the settlements”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/19/norway-seeks-to-ban-trade-with-illegal-israeli-settlements-in-palestinehttps://archive.ph/vJCKdCivilians in Gaza reportedly under fire from 'killer cranes' deployed by IsraelThe cranes, some of which are operated remotely, are also equipped with cameras and are used to surveil the population. PCHR said their use is additional evidence of a "systematic policy aimed at undermining the basic survival of the civilian population and creating a coercive environment that repeatedly displaces the population".
https://www.newarab.com/news/civilians-gaza-under-fire-israels-killer-cranesSaudi Arabia suspends Nepal skills certification programme following uproarThe certification programme, which was due to take effect this week, would have required Nepali workers to pass practical skills assessments before becoming eligible for Saudi work visas. Applicants would also have had to pay around $100 in testing fees, prompting opposition from recruitment agencies and labour rights advocates who argued the measure unfairly shifted the financial burden onto workers.
https://www.newarab.com/news/saudi-labour-scheme-nepal-suspended-after-backlash-over-feesAfghanistan strikes targets in Pakistan, raising cross-border tensionThe hideouts, located in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, both of which share a border with Afghanistan, were targeted by the “air force” on Thursday night, Afghanistan’s defence ministry said in a social media post. The ministry said that the “bases” it described as belonging to ISIL-Khorasan (ISIS-K) had been “allegedly used in cooperation with certain hostile intelligence circles to plan and organise attacks against Afghanistan,” presumably referring to Pakistani intelligence.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/19/afghanistan-strikes-targets-in-pakistan-raising-cross-border-tensionhttps://archive.ph/OgGmo Iran plans to charge insurance fees to vessels in Hormuz after US deal expires The fee would effectively allow Iran to cement its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, but would likely require the cooperation of neighbouring Oman, whose territorial waters border Iran’s. Iran agreed not to charge any fees in the waterway during the 60-day ceasefire with the US, termed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, but the agreement left open the possibility of a new system afterwards.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-plans-charge-insurance-fee-vessels-transiting-hormuz-after-us-deal-expiresCambodian Supreme Court upholds incitement conviction of opposition politician, sparking angerUnder the decision, Rong Chhun will be prohibited from any involvement in politics for five years, including voting or standing as a candidate, and will be banned from traveling abroad for three years, the remainder of his original four-year sentence, his attorney Em Chantha told reporters. He had also been free while his appeal was pending.
https://apnews.com/article/cambodia-opposition-rong-chhun-appeal-96156ecc7c0b55ea6ceb6dbcd73051e6Fiji deaths in custody reignite allegations of state brutalityTwo deaths in custody in recent months have reignited allegations of torture, sexual abuse and fatal violence by Fiji’s police and military forces. Similar reports involving patterns of brutality by the Pacific Island country’s security forces have recurred repeatedly over many years.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/06/19/ilrj-j19.htmlChile Sentences Pinochet’s Agents for Ronnie Moffitt AssassinationChilean Magistrate Paola Plaza González sentenced three former secret police officers of the Augusto Pinochet’s civic-military dictatorship to 15 years in prison for the 1976 Washington murder of U.S. citizen Ronnie Karpen Moffitt. This landmark judicial ruling targets the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), the brutal secret police apparatus of the Chilean military regime.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/chile-pinochet-agents-ronnie-moffitt/South Africa builds another site to speed up deportations of MalawiansMeanwhile, thousands more Malawian nationals arrived at the first deportation centre, also in the city of Durban, in an area known as Sherwood, where an estimated 10,000 have been camping for more than a week, waiting to be sent home. On Wednesday, police fired rubber bullets and used stun grenades against migrants protesting in Sherwood, who were throwing rocks, sticks and logs at police. Local media reported the clashes erupted because of frustrations over the delays in the migrants returning home.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/south-africa-builds-another-site-speed-deportations-malawiansAfrican lawmakers back push for tougher anti-LGBT laws after Ghana conferenceLawmakers from more than a dozen African countries have pledged to push new bills restricting LGBT rights, after a conference in Ghana that brought together self-described "pro-family" activists from across Africa and Europe, participants said. The African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty took place in Accra on June 3–6, a week after Ghana's parliament passed one of the continent's toughest anti-LGBT measures, a bill criminalising LGBT promotion.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/african-lawmakers-back-push-tougher-anti-lgbt-laws-after-ghana-conference-2026-06-19/