SACP takes aim at ANC-run municipalities as it launches election manifestoThe SACP said millions of South Africans were working and paying their way through life but were still unable to live with dignity. “Councillors vanish between elections,” the party said, accusing local political representatives of losing touch with the communities they are elected to serve. “This is not the democracy our people fought for. The party’s decision to contest the elections independently marks a significant political departure and is aimed at giving the working class its own candidates and political programme at municipal level.
https://africadaily.co.za/sacp-takes-aim-at-anc-run-municipalities-as-it-launches-election-manifesto/https://archive.ph/9d50LObservers report intimidation and violence during Zambian electionsCalls for a toning down of rhetoric came from observers, including those from the Southern African Development Community and the European Union, as Thursday’s votes continued to be counted. Vote counting was temporarily suspended on Friday following reports of violence against polling staff and the alleged theft of ballot papers. Counting resumed hours later after the electoral commission said the “security threat to the electoral process had been contained,” said Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa, reporting from the capital, Lusaka.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/observers-report-intimidation-and-violence-during-zambian-elections Germany rethinks law protecting politicians from insults Variations of this view find consensus across Germany’s fractured political spectrum. The far-left Left Party and far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party want the law abolished outright, while the CDU, Greens and center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) all support revising it. “Politicians like Friedrich Merz insult ordinary people in this country every day by calling them lazy or malingerers,” said Luke Hoss, a Left lawmaker, referring to the chancellor’s remarks that Germans should work more to boost economic growth.
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-politician-insult-law-friedrich-merz-section-188/https://archive.ph/NDqLvRussian state bank fires economist who warned Moscow was losing 'war of attrition' with West"We are falling behind. We are losing both the technological and economic competition in the world. And we are losing it not only to China and the United States, in some ways we are losing it to Ukraine too," he said, adding that this was due to Kyiv receiving financial support from the West. "We will not win the competition in this war of attrition. We have the illusion that everything there (in Ukraine) will collapse. It has not collapsed and will not collapse. Our costs are mounting," he said, predicting a social crisis.
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/russian-state-bank-fires-economist-who-warned-moscow-was-losing-war-attrition-2026-08-17/Pro-Palestine activist due in court after a pro-Israel campaigner demands police take actionSussex University student Maya Szerszen, of the Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) group in Brighton, was charged after Heidi Bachram launched a campaign along with other members of Sussex Friends of Israel. Ms Bachram, who regularly criticises pro-Palestine activism on X and her Substack page, shared a video of police refusing to arrest Ms Szerszen while she was addressing at a Palestine solidarity rally in Brighton on February 28.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pro-palestine-activist-due-court-after-pro-israel-campaigner-demands-police-take-actionArgentina Job Market Under Strain as Long-Term Unemployment PersistsThe unemployment rate was 7.8% in the first quarter of the year, according to Indec, Argentina’s national statistics agency. But an analysis by the Institute of Thought and Public Policies (IPyPP), led by economist Claudio Lozano, found that the broader pressure on the labor market was significantly higher when unemployment and underemployment were considered together.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/argentina-job-market-under-strain/Venezuela’s UK-Held Gold to Be Released to US Control, Foreign AuditsFollowing recent US-backed talks between the acting Delcy Rodríguez government and representatives of the defunct, opposition-majority parliament elected in 2015, the two sides agreed to work together to secure the unfreezing of the 31 tons of gold, worth around US $4.3 billion at current prices, to support post-earthquake recovery efforts. Ramón López, a member of the opposition delegation, disclosed that the resources would be deposited in a US Treasury bank account and be subjected to external audits.
https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelas-uk-held-gold-to-be-released-to-us-control-foreign-audits/South Korea’s Lee urges talks with North Korea about finally ending Korean warIn a speech marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee said the two Koreas should hold a sit-down for coexistence.a speech marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee said the two Koreas should hold a sit-down for coexistence. He urged dialogue between North Korea and concerned parties to end the 1950-53 Korean war, which was stopped by a ceasefire, not a peace treaty, and said discussions could also explore measures to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/15/south-koreas-lee-urges-talks-with-north-korea-about-finally-ending-korean-warChina’s Xi praises former president Jiang’s contribution in show of party unityThe commemorative event was hosted a year before the 21st Party Congress, scheduled for next autumn, when a new leadership line will be formed and Xi is set to renew another five-year term as the party’s leader. Xi praised a long list of Jiang’s achievements, from political loyalty to the party to economic development, foreign policy and defence policy, with clear reference to his own governance style, including fighting corruption, a firm stance on the party’s unchallenged status to rule and decisive leadership when facing crisis.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3364226/xi-jinping-speaks-event-commemorate-former-president-jiang-zemin-centenaryhttps://archive.ph/TZp4u‘They want Netanyahu to lose’: Likud puts Erdogan on election billboardThe billboard, displayed in Tel Aviv, includes images of Erdogan alongside Iranian leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “They want Netanyahu to lose. Don’t let them win,” the campaign poster reads.
https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/they-want-netanyahu-to-lose-likud-puts-erdogan-on-election-billboard-3226250https://archive.ph/T3Qg9Trump says US in contact with IRGC and calls on Iran to surrenderDuring an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump said that Iran should “put up the white flag of surrender” in the five-month US-Israel war on Iran. The call is just the latest in the rhetorical tit-for-tat between the US and Washington as mediators continue to work to try to bring the parties back to the negotiating table.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/17/trump-demands-iran-put-up-the-white-flag-of-surrender-as-mou-expireshttps://archive.ph/3Dszm Sudan ramps up Saudi Arabia, Turkey contacts amid growing Red Sea cooperation In Riyadh, Salem and Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan co-chaired the political consultations between the two countries and oversaw the establishment of a Saudi-Sudanese Coordination Council, aimed at putting bilateral cooperation on a more institutional footing, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The two sides also pledged to deepen cooperation across multiple fields, SPA reported.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2026/08/sudan-ramps-saudi-arabia-turkey-contacts-amid-growing-red-sea-cooperation