Author: Alade Adisa

A decline in U.S. influence in Africa means U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will have to grapple with blind spots in its understanding of a fast-changing continent increasingly allied with China and Russia and threatened by spreading jihadist insurgencies.Interviews with eight current and former officials along with a review of U.S. government watchdog reports show that a dearth of staff and resources under President Joe Biden at embassies in Africa undermined efforts to implement Washington’s goals.Advertisement · Scroll to continueThe U.S. racked up diplomatic setbacks over the past four years, including losing America’s major spy base in Niger and failing…

Shell has won its appeal against a climate court ruling that it must sharply reduce its carbon emissions.The oil and gas producer went to the Court of Appeal in the Netherlands following a decision in support of environmental campaign groups in the country, including Friends Of The Earth.That ruling, in 2021, ordered Shell to cut its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels in order to protect Dutch citizens.The emissions curbs included those caused by the use of Shell’s products.The judge in the appeal dismissed all the claims against Shell.The company, which exited its dual headquarters structure…

•World leaders begin plenary speeches today Azerbaijan’s president, whose country is hosting the COP29 climate talks, on Tuesday repeated his insistence that oil, gas and other natural resources are a “gift of the God.”In a robust defence of his country against what he termed “fake news” and a “well-coordinated campaign of slander and blackmail,” Ilham Aliyev said nations should not be judged by their natural resources and how they use them.”Quote me that I said that this is a gift of the God, and I want to repeat it today here at this audience,” he told delegates at the climate…

Kanye West raided his pension pot and used high risk mortgage lenders to fund a $35 million Beverly Hills mansion – a property he does not intend to live in with wife Bianca Censori, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.The rapper, 47, and his wife, 29, borrowed a total of $15.5 million, DailyMail.com can reveal – including a $2.7 million loan from a fitness entrepreneur.The couple closed on the home with 11 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms in the uber-exclusive Beverly Park gated community last month. Neighbors include Adele and Justin Bieber.But the property, jointly owned with his wife Bianca Censori through their…

A black mother with a fair-skinned daughter had to get a DNA test after naysayers questioned if the child was really hers.Mom-of-three Alex, whose husband Rob is white, welcomed daughter Pudge Pudge, 2, via IVF.The couple said they were ‘surprised’ by how ‘different’ Pudge Pudge looked, especially compared to their other two children, who are darker.’I was super surprised,’ Alex told Truly. ‘Her ears weren’t even dark. They were really, really white!’Due to the difference in their skin tones, Alex said that she gets ‘a lot of negativity’ from both trolls online and people in real life.Recalling one instance, Alex…

•How to deal with Trump•PM and French leader plan for US trade war•End of Pentagon defence handouts and Ukraine peace deal Keir Starmer is holding talks with Emmanuel Macron about Trump, Ukraine and tariffs today ahead of Armistice Day events in France.The PM was warmly welcomed by the President as he arrived in Paris – with the looming handover in the US high on the agenda.They are expected to consider whether outgoing commander-in-chief Joe Biden can be convinced to give Kyiv permission to use Storm Shadow missiles against Russia, as well as Donald Trump’s approach to the conflict.The prospect of…

Incoming US president, Donald Trump’s plans for his first day in the White House are quite ambitious, to say the least. After being asked if he’d be a dictator if re-elected, Trump responded that he wouldn’t be, “except for Day 1”. His agenda includes mass deportation of migrants, rolling back Biden administration policies on education, reshaping the federal government by firing potentially thousands of federal employees he believes are secretly working against him, and pardoning people who were arrested for their role in the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. According to AP report, Trump plans to kick-start…

Russia and Ukraine have carried out their largest drone attacks against each other since the start of the war.Russia’s defence ministry said it intercepted 84 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including some approaching Moscow, which forced flights to be diverted from three of the capital’s major airports.Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 145 drones towards every part of the country on Saturday night, with most shot down.The barrages come amid expectations that US president-elect Donald Trump may put pressure on both sides to end the conflict.Ukraine’s attempted strike on Moscow was also its biggest attack on the capital since the…

A transitionary council created to re-establish democratic order in Haiti signed a decree on Sunday firing interim Prime Minister Garry Conille and replacing him with Alix Didier Fils-Ai mé, a businessman who was previously considered for the job.The decree, set to be published on Monday, was provided to The Associated Press by a government source.It marks even more turmoil in an already rocky democratic transition process for Haiti, which hasn’t held democratic elections in years in a large part due to the soaring levels of gang violence plaguing the Caribbean nation.Fils-Aimé is the former president of Haiti’s Chamber of Commerce…

The COP29 climate talks opened Monday in Azerbaijan with a call to show global cooperation was not “down for the count”, as Donald Trump’s re-election hangs over the key discussions.Countries come to Baku after new warnings that 2024 is on track to break temperature records, adding urgency to a fractious debate over funding for climate action in poorer countries.Trump has pledged to once again withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement, and there are concerns the move could weaken ambition around the negotiating table.As the talks opened, UN climate chief Simon Stiell told countries: “Now is the…