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The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue analyses how the South African president reacted in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting.

Sector-specific considerations will be needed to successfully electrify industry, experts say, and Europe’s climate goals will be impossible without them.

Right-wing Afrikaners groups celebrated the ambush but others in the Rainbow Nation found it "uncomfortable" to watch.

Right-wing Afrikaners groups celebrated the ambush but others in the Rainbow Nation found it "uncomfortable" to watch.

Informal “minilateral” coalitions of the willing and interested have long been a feature of peacemaking. Groups of states identified as “friends” of the mediator or a particular peace process and contact groups bringing together interested powers date back to concert diplomacy traditions and proliferated at the end of the Cold War as conflict resolution activity surged. The incidence of such informal mechanisms grew exponentially between 1990 and 2009.

This report assesses how these mechanisms have evolved in the years since 2010 and investigates their place in parallel to the UN’s efforts to mediate internationalized internal conflicts in Libya, Syria, and Yemen; peace processes in the Philippines, Colombia, and Mozambique taking place in relatively benign regional settings, as well as the anomalous case of Venezuela, where efforts toward a peaceful resolution of the political crisis were mired in international divisions; the geopolitically contested contexts of Myanmar and Afghanistan; and the democratic transition and descent into war in Sudan.

The report concludes that groups have the potential to build internal coherence among their members, as well as to elevate public messaging and facilitate information sharing, but they can also become a forum for competition between their members. In this context, the report offers lessons to help those considering whether a group is appropriate. The “right” group structure will depend on the context, and the adage of “form follows function” is critically important. It is key to set realistic expectations and, in some cases, accept that the “right” structure will be no group at all. Successful groups and partnerships all point to the importance of skilled individual mediators committed to working with each other, whether within a group or without an established mechanism. Finally, some contexts may defy attempts to design or deliver a coherent international peace architecture. In these cases, more modest goals related to specific or localized gains and incremental support to conflict parties and other affected communities should be pursued.

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The post Minilateral Mechanisms for Peacemaking in a Multipolar World: Friends, Contact Groups, Troikas, Quads, and Quints appeared first on International Peace Institute.

Normally the insects are targeted with insecticide, but US researchers say anti-malaria drugs absorbed through their legs can stop them spreading disease.

Le Sénat va se prononcer jeudi 22 mai à Kinshasa sur la levée ou pas des immunités du président de la République honoraire et sénateur à vie, Joseph Kabila, poursuivi pour crime de guerre et complicité avec l’AFC/M23. 

The new rules will ensure that the EU will be able to secure the necessary supply of crisis-relevant products and technologies that are otherwise protected by patents.
Committee on Legal Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

The new rules will ensure that the EU will be able to secure the necessary supply of crisis-relevant products and technologies that are otherwise protected by patents.
Committee on Legal Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

The new rules will ensure that the EU will be able to secure the necessary supply of crisis-relevant products and technologies that are otherwise protected by patents.
Committee on Legal Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

The new rules will ensure that the EU will be able to secure the necessary supply of crisis-relevant products and technologies that are otherwise protected by patents.
Committee on Legal Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Le président américain Donald Trump a réitéré mercredi devant son homologue sud-africain Cyril Ramaphosa, reçu à la Maison blanche, des accusations de persécution et de massacres de Blancs en Afrique du Sud, l'un des principaux points de contentieux entre leurs deux pays. Pretoria rejette les accusations selon lesquelles les Blancs sont spécifiquement visés de manière disproportionnée par des crimes. Le taux d'homicide reste élevé en Afrique du Sud, la grande majorité des victimes sont noires.

The country’s powerful military emerges as a winner from the latest conflict with India.

Pretoria maintains that there is no evidence of widespread persecution of white farmers.

Pretoria maintains that there is no evidence of widespread persecution of white farmers.

The alignment of domestic socioeconomic interests is a key driver for continued Sino-Iranian cooperation, despite U.S.-led sanctions.

L’autorité de la concurrence en Afrique du Sud a annoncé, mercredi, recommander à son tribunal de valider le rachat du géant sud-africain de la télévision et du streaming, présent dans une cinquantaine de pays du continent, par le groupe français, dont le premier actionnaire est Vincent Bolloré.

RÉCIT -  Pour les trois présidentiables potentiels des Républicains, les bons sondages saluant l’élection de Bruno Retailleau à leur tête ne déterminent pas l’affiche du scrutin de 2027.

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have played a central role in financing sustainable development for over eight decades. Their growing prominence in international development cooperation is evident in the First Draft of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) Outcome Document, where they are mentioned over 40 times—a fourfold increase from the Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted at FfD3 a decade ago. The wide range of issues they are now expected to address further highlights this heightened focus...

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have played a central role in financing sustainable development for over eight decades. Their growing prominence in international development cooperation is evident in the First Draft of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) Outcome Document, where they are mentioned over 40 times—a fourfold increase from the Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted at FfD3 a decade ago. The wide range of issues they are now expected to address further highlights this heightened focus...