Articles from ‘Independent News Roundup’

The annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) will be held over June 3-6. In its nearly three decades of existence, this event has borne witness to fundamental global shifts and it has shifted along with the world. Founded with the aim of facilitating foreign investment in Russia, it became known as Russia’s Davos in the 2000s, when Western executives descended upon St. Petersburg in their private jets in the hopes of securing…

Russia carries out a series of massive strikes across Ukraine, deploying an arsenal of hyper-sonic missiles in retaliation for Kiev's terror attacks on Russia, of course Vladimir Putin had promised such a response. Outrage in Poland. · Vladimir Zelensky renames an elite military unit after a group that Warsaw considers responsible for the Volyn massacres of World War 2. While Donald Trump tries to broker a ceasefire between Hezbollah and…

The Senate's blocking of Trump's agenda is driven by donor networks, centered on Oracle's Larry Ellison and his ties to Tony Blair, whose Institute spent years building the case for an Iran regime-change war. By Barbara Boyd · Barbara Boyd argues the Senate’s repeated blocking of Donald Trump’s agenda is driven less by narrow Republican margins than by powerful donor networks, focusing on Oracle founder Larry Ellison and his ties to Tony Blair.…

As China doubles down on its economic presence in Africa, the relationship is entering a new phase that goes beyond bricks and mortar. By Jackson Okata, an award-winning independent journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya, whose work has been published by CNN, The Guardian, Reuters, China Dialogue, Openly, AllAfrica, Mongabay, Inter Press Service, Zenger News, and Al Jazeera English · The Beijing Action Plan 2025-2027 includes support for 30…

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has condemned the French seizure of an oil tanker in international waters as “borderline piracy.” Paris had hailed the move as the enforcement of anti-Russian sanctions. The crude oil tanker Tago was boarded by French commandos in the Atlantic, with support from the UK and other countries, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday while presenting footage of the raid. · Macron claimed the vessel posed…

The UK authorities have denied The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur entry into the country days ahead of two events where he was due to speak, apparently over his repeated criticism of Israel. Uygur’s nephew, Hasan Piker, who is a left-wing political streamer in his own right, has said his British visa has also been revoked “at the behest of Israel.” On multiple occasions over the past few years, pro-Palestinian activists have accused the UK’s…

The General Court of the European Union has registered a Central Bank of Russia lawsuit against the European Parliament and the EU Council over the bloc’s €90 billion ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine. · The filing contests an EU mechanism adopted in February that allows proceeds from frozen Russian sovereign assets held in Europe to be used to repay a joint loan to Kiev, the central bank said. · Kiev’s Western backers froze about $300 billion in…

Breaking news on RT - Iranian media reports say Tehran has suspended negotiations with Washington in response to Israeli aggression in Lebanon. · It also follows another round of tit-for-tat strikes overnight between Iran and the US. As IDF bombs come crashing down, the death toll in Lebanon ratchets up. That's as the Israeli PM orders an attack on the capital city Beirut, despite the so-called ceasefire. · As Norway rips up a huge missile…

By Andrew Korybko · The announcement in late April that France and Poland will carry out regular nuclear drills, which analysts reasonably believe are aimed against Russia (specifically Kaliningrad and Belarus), represented the first application of what French President Emmanuel Macron has termed “forward deterrence”. It followed his speech earlier in the year where he introduced this concept, essentially the expansion of France’s nuclear…

Parents, caregivers and former students have spoken out about long-standing concerns around safety, communication and school culture, emphasising that this moment must lead to meaningful engagement rather than defensiveness Written by Richard Shelford-Woodcock on May 26, 2026 and reposted with permission · Recent events at Mercury Bay Area School have sparked significant concern across the wider Mercury Bay community, particularly following an…