Politics

US President Donald Trump announced on April 7 that his administration is engaged in direct talks with Iran regarding its nuclear program, stating, "We're having direct talks with Iran. On Saturday, we have a very big meeting." Trump emphasized these were truly direct negotiations, not through intermediaries: "A lot of people say, oh, maybe you're going through surrogates or you're not dealing directly, you're dealing through other countries. No, we're dealing with them directly." He suggested a diplomatic solution "would be preferable to doing the obvious," seemingly referencing military action against Iran, which US ally Israel has undertaken twice in the past year. Iran, however, contradicted Trump's claim. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that indirect talks would occur in Oman, with himself and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff communicating through Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi as intermediary. Araghchi described […]

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially concluded the recall process against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, with the agency's Director of Voter Education and Publicity confirming that legal provisions for restarting such efforts remain undefined. In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, INEC's Victoria Eta-Messi explained that while the commission followed constitutional guidelines throughout the process, current electoral law does not specify whether a failed recall can be reinitiated or what timeframe would be required before submitting a new petition. "The law is silent on the recall process being started afresh. And we're not sure, even if that were to happen, we're not sure of the window that is required before a resubmission can be done," Eta-Messi stated. She confirmed that the verification exercise failed to meet the required threshold of 50% plus one of registered voters, with only […]

Hungary's government has announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) just before Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an ICC arrest warrant. "Hungary exits the International Criminal Court. The government will initiate the withdrawal procedure on Thursday, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework," Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, posted on Facebook on Thursday. Orban had previously suggested Hungary might leave the ICC after United States President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the court's prosecutor, Karim Khan, in February. "It's time for Hungary to review what we're doing in an international organisation that is under US sanctions," Orban stated on X at that time. The withdrawal legislation is expected to pass easily through Hungary's parliament, which is controlled by Orban's Fidesz party. The ICC has not yet responded to […]