Kenyan marathon runner Sabastian Sawe made history on April 26, 2026, by becoming the first person to officially break the two-hour barrier in a marathon, winning the London Marathon with a record time of 1:59:30. This achievement shatters the previous world record of 2:00:35 set by Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago last year.

Sawe’s incredible run was closely followed by Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, who finished second with a time of 1:59:41, also breaking the two-hour mark. Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo took third place with a time of 2:00:28, further solidifying the impressive performance of these athletes.

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In a relentless act of defiance against apartheid, an estimated 3,000 delegates from across South Africa convened at Kliptown in 1955 for the Congress of the People, a multiracial assembly that produced the Freedom Charter, a 10-point blueprint for a democratic, non-racial nation.

Organized by the Congress Alliance, the African National Congress (ANC), South African Indian Congress, Coloured People’s Congress, Congress of Democrats, and South African Congress of Trade Unions, the Congress which took place from 25th to 26th June 1955, took months of nationwide campaigning. Organizers collected thousands of “freedom demands” from townships, farms, factories, and churches as apartheid laws intensified in the 1950s.

“The people themselves must decide the kind of South Africa they want,” Alliance leaders stated. Delegates — black, white, Indian, and coloured — debated and adopted the Charter clause by clause.

The Freedom Charter Demands:
1. The People Shall Govern — universal suffrage for all. 

2. All National Groups Shall Have Equal Rights — end to racial discrimination. 

3. The People Shall Share in the Country’s Wealth — mines, banks, and monopoly industry to be transferred to the people; land re-divided among those who work it. 

4. The Land Shall Be Shared Among Those Who Work It — end to forced removals. 

5. Equality Before the Law— courts not based on race. 

6. Equal Human Rights — freedom of speech, movement, assembly. 

7. Work and Security — 40-hour week, minimum wage, unemployment benefits. 

8. Doors of Learning and Culture Shall Be Opened — free, compulsory education; end to Bantu Education. 

9. Houses, Security and Comfort — slums abolished, decent housing for all. 

10. Peace and Friendship — South Africa to respect rights of all nations.

ANC leader Nelson Mandela hailed the Charter as the “lodestar” of the struggle, saying it proved South Africa belongs to all who live in it;  a direct rejection of apartheid’s “whites-only” vision.

The gathering proceeded under heavy police watch. On the second day, armed officers surrounded the venue, recorded names, and dispersed delegates. Authorities branded the Charter “communist” and banned it.

The aftermath was swift. In December 1956, police launched nationwide raids, arresting 156 leaders on charges of high treason for their role in the Congress. Nelson Mandela was among those arrested. Though banned from attending Kliptown under government restriction orders, Mandela helped plan the Congress and draft the Charter. He and others faced the Treason Trial.

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The Ugandan government has introduced the External Trade (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposing a 30% environmental levy on imported second-hand clothing, citing environmental concerns and a desire to stimulate local production. The levy would increase the current surcharge from 15% to 30% of the Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value, potentially generating revenue and incentivizing domestic textile production.

The Finance Minister of Uganda, Hon.Matia Kasaija has argued that the levy will help mitigate environmental degradation and promote economic diversification. However, stakeholders are divided on the proposal’s impact, with some warning of potential supply chain disruptions and price hikes, while others see opportunities for local industry growth and job creation.

The Uganda Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (KACITA) notes that the used clothing sector contributes significantly to government revenue and questions the levy, given existing tariffs and quotas. The Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) suggests that the levy may lead to higher prices but could also stimulate local manufacturing and cotton sector development. The bill is currently before the country’s Parliament, with a proposed effective date of July 1st, 2026.

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When Nelson Mandela took office on 10 May 1994, South Africa did not only get its first Black president. It also got its first Government of National Unity, a multi-party cabinet born from negotiation rather than revolution.

The rules that produced it were forged at CODESA, the Convention for a Democratic South Africa. From 1991 to 1993, ANC negotiator Cyril Ramaphosa and National Party minister Roelf Meyer drafted an interim constitution. The key compromise was that for five years after 1994, any party with more than five percent of the vote would receive cabinet seats in proportion to its support. That clause compelled a multi-party government and was the price of averting civil war. Ramaphosa’s CODESA team traded amnesty and power-sharing for a peaceful election.

Nelson Mandela’s 1994 cabinet reflected that deal. He served as President alongside two Deputy Presidents, Thabo Mbeki of the ANC and F.W. de Klerk of the National Party. The National Party’s Pik Botha retained the Foreign Affairs portfolio while Derek Keys continued as Finance Minister. Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi was appointed Minister of Home Affairs, despite years of bloody conflict between the IFP and ANC. Six of Mandela’s twenty-seven ministers were white and three came from opposition parties. The message was clear: reconciliation would be institutional, not merely symbolic.

Nelson Mandela’s own path to that cabinet began with his arrest in 1962 near Howick. He was detained while driving without a passport after returning from secret trips to Ethiopia and Algeria where he had arranged military training for Umkhonto we Sizwe. The state had already sought him for leaving the country illegally and inciting strikes. His arrest led security police to Liliesleaf Farm, and the documents seized there triggered the Rivonia Trial in 1963. Mandela and nine others were charged with sabotage. His statement from the dock, “I am prepared to die,” turned the trial into a global platform against apartheid. The life sentence that followed made him the movement’s most recognized prisoner and, three decades later, its chief negotiator.

As president, Mandela resolved conflicts through direct engagement. When Afrikaner generals threatened a coup in 1994, he invited them to lunch and kept them in the new National Defence Force. When IFP supporters felt sidelined, he appointed Buthelezi to a senior ministry and visited Ulundi. When white South Africans feared retribution, he wore a Springbok jersey at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. His approach was to bring critics inside, grant them dignity, and avoid humiliation. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission extended that logic, exchanging amnesty for truth rather than pursuing punitive justice.

The bottom line is that Mandela’s multi-party government was a masterclass in conflict management that ended political apartheid. But the economic terms agreed at CODESA meant the new South Africa inherited the old economy. When racism erupts today, it is not a sudden shock from a clear sky. It is the storm that was always on the radar.

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On 28th March 1994, less than a month before South Africa’s first democratic elections, the African National Congress headquarters became the epicentre of a crisis that threatened the Government of National Unity. Approximately 20,000 Inkatha Freedom Party supporters marched on Shell House in central Johannesburg to protest the 27th April poll, which IFP leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi had rejected in pursuit of constitutional recognition for a Zulu kingdom. As the demonstration reached the building, ANC security personnel inside opened fire from the headquarters. Nineteen people were killed, most of them IFP supporters, and thirty-one others were wounded. The ANC maintained that its guards had acted in self-defence against an armed attempt to storm the building, while the IFP denounced the incident as a premeditated massacre of unarmed protesters.

The killings immediately embroiled Deputy President FW de Klerk and the National Party, the former apartheid ruling party then governing in partnership with the ANC. Mr. De Klerk publicly alleged that the ANC had staged a “planned ambush” and demanded that Nelson Mandela dismiss his security chiefs and surrender the implicated guards for prosecution. The National Party invoked the incident to argue that the ANC could not be trusted with command of the state’s security forces, a position that intensified fears among white voters that majority rule would precipitate retribution. Mr. Mandela rejected the demands outright, stating that the guards had defended the headquarters and that he would not deliver his cadres to political opponents for vengeance.

The confrontation triggered the first major rupture within the Government of National Unity and jeopardised the fragile constitutional arrangements negotiated to end apartheid. With the election date approaching, the standoff raised the prospect of a collapse in the transitional process and a descent into wider civil conflict. The crisis underscored the fundamental distrust between former adversaries who were nonetheless compelled to share power during the interregnum.

Years later, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that ANC security had fired without warning and that the use of lethal force was not justifiable, holding the ANC politically accountable for the deaths. The Commission also found that some IFP marchers were armed and noted that thirteen people had died in related political violence elsewhere in Johannesburg earlier that day. No criminal prosecutions followed for either side. The Shell House massacre therefore remains a defining episode of South Africa’s transition, revealing the extent to which the imperatives of political stability and national reconciliation were ultimately deemed to outweigh the demands of retributive justice.

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My dear ladies and women,

Gone were the days where women have their own trade and businesses, where they can operate at their own time. If I have my own shop, I can open it or close it on days I may have a piled work to attend too at home. But in this day and age, where almost 50% or more of us are also gainfully employed in someone’s company or institution, where you can’t choose the time to report and the time to close. Therefore, there is a formal demand on our time as well but the physical tasks of the home also still awaits you and you can’t use the workplace duties to excuse yourself from performing the home tasks. We got to be stronger and devise ways to go round it.

I am always against the extremities of our behaviors. We should be taken care of but we are not “exclusively entitled” to some of the demands we make. We are to help the man build not to break him down. In reality, we do most of the physically work at home most and are often at the mercy of tiredness than our husbands but consider this scenario. Upon all the tiredness, when our kids are sick we will still wake up in the night to attend to them. I remember situations where I will be sick as well but I have to throw mine over the bar and see to the child’s needs. So, always denying your husband his conjugal right over a long period as it becomes obvious you have predetermined that attitude and it is not tiredness per se, then we have an issue to deal with here.

When our kids say they are hungry we don’t beat them up and say why are you saying you are hungry. We are made to understand that our husbands’ conjugal right is a necessity to their living, it is a natural hunger for them like our children been hungry and as much as sometimes we don’t have food but find a way to provide for the kids, we have to find a way to sort our husbands out amidst the tiredness.

Per my own definition of irresponsibility or an irresponsible partner is that, a case where one is capable of helping the other partner both physically, financially or in any regard without anything hindering him or her and obviously refused to help that person or partner can be described as irresponsible partner. So if by any chance your husband could have assisted you and you can see he just obviously refused to provide the help, just maintain your dignity and keep still. The person is adamant in doing it and no amount of shouting will cause them to do it. You will rather stress yourself and have heartache. Just find your way around, do what you can and if the rest left undone won’t kill someone then leave it there like that. We too we are somebody’s children. If you ask more than twice and can see the person obviously refused to help in that case the person is capable of helping but refused, please keep still and do what your capacity can do. Please same applies to us we shouldn’t refuse to help them when we can obviously offer help.

In all these, I am against the extremities where some women are over demanding than their husband’s capacity, denying the men their rights or even financial support or any other over month because of a small offense or misunderstanding etcetera. The other man who is saying he can take better care of you and he will leave his wife for you, please draw the statistics and see where most of those relationships ended.

We are also much aware of our responsibilities as women before marrying; it wasn’t imposed on us in the marriage. Seeing our mothers do most of them when we were young painted a clear picture of what is expected of us before marriage. It wasn’t anything new being introduced to us. Let us be on guard. Marriage can be more beautiful than we have these days.

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The United States Navy seized the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday after firing on its engine room when it tried to breach a U.S. naval blockade, President Donald Trump announced. The USS Spruance destroyer intercepted the nearly 900-foot vessel, described as “weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier,” following a 6-hour standoff in the north Arabian Sea. After the crew ignored repeated orders to stop, the Spruance fired its 5-inch MK 45 gun into the engine room to disable the ship, and U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded and took custody. “We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board,” Trump said.

The White House said the Touska is under U.S. Treasury sanctions for “prior history of illegal activity” and was attempting to run the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing Iran war. This is the first known incident where U.S. forces used fire to stop a vessel — more than 20 previous Iranian ships were turned back without shots. The seizure came hours after Tehran rejected a second round of peace talks, with Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command accusing the U.S. of “armed piracy” and vowing retaliation. Iranian state media said the ship was en route from China.

The incident is part of a broader 2026 U.S. crackdown on sanctioned vessels. Since December 2025, the Navy has intercepted more than 10 tankers linked to Iran and Venezuela, including the Russian-flagged Marinera in January. With a two-week ceasefire set to expire Tuesday and U.S. envoys due in Islamabad Monday for talks, Trump warned Iran of further strikes on infrastructure if it refuses terms.

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On Friday, Mali declared it had rescinded its recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a position announced during a joint media appearance between Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita. In its official communiqué, Bamako stated the determination followed “a comprehensive assessment of this significant matter, which bears on peace and security in the sub-region.” The Malian government concluded that “authentic self-rule under Moroccan sovereignty constitutes the most pragmatic resolution” and affirmed its backing for Morocco’s autonomy proposal as “the sole serious and credible foundation” for settling the Western Sahara question.

Authorities further expressed continued support for United Nations-led initiatives, including the endeavors of the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy and pertinent Security Council measures, specifically citing Resolution 2797 enacted in October 2025. Bamako underscored its relationship with Rabat as “historic, robust, and deeply entrenched,” grounded in “fraternity, genuine friendship, mutual respect, and productive collaboration.” The declaration also stressed the commitment of Malian leadership, under Transitional President General Assimi Goïta, to safeguarding national cohesion and territorial integrity.

As part of measures to deepen bilateral ties, Mali welcomed the scheduling of the forthcoming session of the joint cooperation commission in Bamako before the close of 2026. The Western Sahara territory has been contested for decades by Morocco and the Algeria-supported Polisario Front, which seeks independence through the SADR. A growing number of states, including Kenya and Ghana, have recently aligned with Morocco’s autonomy framework, which Rabat advances as a political settlement to the dispute. Burkina Faso likewise ranks among nations that have manifested support for Moroccan sovereignty, including via the opening of consulates in the area.

Mali restated its dedication to advancing international peace and security, a stance consistent with an emerging regional shift toward the Moroccan position on Western Sahara.

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a contested territory in North Africa, with Morocco and the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi independence movement, laying claim to it. Spain colonized the area, known as Spanish Sahara, in the late 19th century. The Polisario Front emerged in the 1970s pushing for self-rule, and declared the SADR’s existence on February 27, 1976, after Morocco and Mauritania took control of the territory.

The SADR’s fate remains undecided, with Morocco in charge of most of Western Sahara and the Polisario Front holding onto about 20%. A 1991 truce has kept the peace, with the UN trying to broker a deal. Around 40 countries, mainly in Africa and Latin America, recognize the SADR, while the EU and others see Morocco as the territory’s de facto administrator without endorsing its claim.

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On Monday, the United States Navy instituted a comprehensive maritime interdiction covering all vessels transiting to or from Iranian harbors, while reaffirming its commitment to safeguard passage through the Strait of Hormuz for what it termed “neutral” commercial traffic. President Donald Trump declared that any Iranian fast-attack watercraft advancing toward the cordon would be “promptly neutralized,” drawing a parallel to existing U.S. rules of engagement employed against suspected narcotics-trafficking vessels.

Within hours, Iran’s Joint Military Command issued a countermeasure, announcing that it would proscribe navigation across the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea should the American embargo persist. Officials in Tehran characterized Washington’s action as a breach of the prevailing ceasefire and pledged to deploy naval mines, anti-ship missiles, and fast-attack craft to enforce their own prohibition.

Notwithstanding assertions of operational success by U.S. authorities, multiple sanctioned “shadow tankers” have traversed the strait since the embargo commenced, as Iran seeks to sustain crude-oil exports and associated fiscal inflows. Following the Pentagon’s announcement that seaborne commerce to and from Iran had been curtailed, benchmark crude benchmarks rebounded to approximately $96 per barrel.

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Benin’s Head of the Treasury, Romuald Wadagni, attained a decisive triumph in the West African state’s April 12 presidential poll, capturing more than 94% of ballots cast, according to preliminary tallies released by the electoral authority on Monday.

Sacca Lafia, chairperson of the nation’s autonomous election body, declared via state broadcast that the outcome reflects over 90% of votes tabulated, underscoring Wadagni’s unassailable advantage in the race for the presidency.

The electoral body further reported citizen participation in the presidential contest reached 58.78%.

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